Thursday, May 07, 2009

Propagating plants from cuttings


First let me make it clear, when God was giving out patience, I didn’t get the memo. That’s the reason that propagating plants has never been part of my gardening experience.
My 96-year-old Dad on the other hand has been blessed with an abundance of patience; that’s why he is the king of propagating. The man can turn any weak cutting into a beautiful tree or shrub. Many of the plants in my garden started as cuttings in Dad’s garden. My father is from the old school of gardening; he believes that buying plants is a sin and he is never shy about asking anyone for a cutting of plants he would like to see growing in his garden.
This week I decided to give the practice of propagating plants from cuttings a try and purchased rooting hormones, I got cuttings from my neighbor’s red hibiscus, my own Persian shield, and a cool plant that I don’t know the name of from another neighbor’s garden.
If I am successful it could bring my gardening hobby to a new level of satisfaction and it will surely help my wallet during these tough economic times!

6 comments:

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

Good luck Rusty!It's a good way to expand your garden collection of plants. Will wait for the pictures of these plants in a month or two.

Anonymous said...

Hey rusty jut a tip when you are making cuttings to reduce wilting through transpiration (loss of water) prune the older leaves by half. hopefully they all strike. I usually have to make a few cuttings to get one to strike. If I'm lucky and the weather is on my side I have a few extras that I give to friends or grow on just in case something awful happens to the choosen plant.

Unknown said...

Propagating is so much fun. I am so pleased with the Rose of Sharon Tree I rooted last year. Good luck!

Brenda Kula said...

Sounds like a wonderful idea! I am not possessed with patience either. But I do have root hormone. And will try this.
Brenda

Wicked Gardener said...

Here is my tip: After taking off all but a few leaves, I put the plants in a clear plastic storage tub, like a mini green house. This ups the humidity level and decreases the stress on the plant, especially during our dry springs. I'll leave them in there about a week or two. If they are doing well, I'll wait until they get new leaves. I've found this has upped my success to about 70%-80%. Also, and indicator that a plant will propagate easily is the stem. If it is square (mint, coleus, salvia) it will propagate with hardly any effort. The Persian Shield should do well. Hope this is useful to you!

Chris and his Herbs said...

I usually stick to herbs. To propagate them, you just need to put cuttings in a glass of water. They're such feel good plants!