Although it doesn’t hurt to experiment with growing any plant or herb from cuttings, many annuals that grow readily from seeds may not be worth the effort.
The cuttings of some plants, particularly fruit trees that are grafted onto rootstocks, will not grow well even if you manage to force out some roots with the help of rooting hormones. But the following plants give excellent results.
1. Sage
Take 4-inch semi-ripe basal cuttings in fall and pot up. Keep the rooting medium warm and moist throughout winter and then transplant in spring.
2. Thyme
Grow several varieties of thyme from tip cuttings taken in summer and inserted into some moist potting medium.
3. Basil
They are easily grown from seeds, but add to the variety by rooting up tip cuttings taken at any time of the year and kept in a warm, protected place out of direct sun.
4. Rosemary
Take 3-5 –inches long tip cuttings in spring from new growth, or use heel or basal cuttings in fall for rooting in cold frame.
If you don’t want a lot of rosemary plants, root a few cuttings directly in individual pots covered with a plastic dome.
5. Lavender
Take 3-inch tip cuttings in early spring and root them in a cold frame. Transplant the rooted plants into garden beds after 4-6 weeks. In summer and fall, heeled cuttings can be taken for spring planting the following year.
6. Horseradish
Lift the root in early spring and cut into 3-inch sections. Plant them a foot apart directly in the garden bed.
7. Comfrey
Dig up a plant and take root cuttings in either spring or fall. Directly plant in a deeply worked bed and cover with mulch. Its roots grow deep into the soil and bring up the nutrients.
8. African Violets
Cut off young, healthy leaves with 2-3 inches of leafy stalk. After poking a hole with a chopstick at a 70-degree angle, insert the stalk of each leaf into a tray of moist compost and sand. Keep the tray moist and warm and in brightly lit area.
9. Rex Begonia
All you need to grow these big-leaved beauties is a single leaf. Make a few slashes on the prominent veins on the underside of the leaf and lay it on a moist bed of peat moss and sharp sand in equal proportions. Weigh the leaf down with a few pebbles so that the cut edges remain in contact with the bed. Keep in a warm, well-lit place and watch the new plants appearing at these cut edges.
10. Snake Plant (Sansevieria)
2-3 inch sections of the leaf can be used to make new plants. You can thus make a large number of plants from one parent plant. The only problem with this method of propagation is that the new plants will not carry the original variegation. Sections of rhizomes should be planted to retain the variegation.
11. Aluminum Plant (Pilea cadierei)
Take tip cuttings with 3-4 nodes. Strip the lowest pair of leaves and trim the stem at that node. Insert into moist rooting medium and keep in a warm place. Keep the medium moist at all times until new growth appears.
12. Coleus
Growing tips, as well as side shoots, arising from the axils of leaves on this plant, will result in new plants. Water the plants very well before snipping off growing tips with 2-4 nodes. Remove the lower leaves and stick into some moist rooting medium. You can insert the cuttings into bottles of plain water, but water-grown plants need extra care while transplanting.
13. Geranium
6-8 inches long cuttings can be rooted, but it helps if the parent plant is allowed to wilt slightly prior to taking the cuttings. Withdraw water for a week and then take the cuttings 12 hours after watering the plant. The rehydrated stems take root more easily.
14. Philodendron
You can find a large variety of philodendrons with attractive leaf patterns and colors, but the good news is that all of them are easy to grow from cuttings. Tip cuttings with 2-3 nodes are the easiest to root because they start growing from the tip as soon as the roots form, sometimes even earlier. Mid sections with 2-3 nodes are also good, but it may take some time for new shoots to develop from leaf axils.
15. Jade Plant (Crassula)
These fleshy-leaved plants are great for gifting. If you have one plant, you can make several with stem cuttings taken almost any time of the year, as in the case of most houseplants that are tropical in origin.
Take 3-4 inch long cuttings with a sharp blade and keep them aside for a week. A good callus formation protects the fleshy stems from rot. Insert the cuttings in a well-draining potting mixture used for succulents. Water occasionally, allowing the potting mix to become nearly dry in between.
Happy cutting!
This article is shared with permission from our friends at naturallivingideas.com (in partnership with FamilyLifeGoals.com)
0 komentari:
Objavi komentar