DP Tool Club 17/CD_ASCQ_17_101194.iso/vrac/grow1.zip/GROW.CT

Text File | 1994-06-04 | 9KB | 243 lines

Cuttings and Division

Cuttings allow for cheap and often easy reproduction of
a favourite tomato plant or a special rose.  However,
cloning does produce specimens that are genetically
identical, with the same attributes, weaknesses, and
strengths.  Your begonia, depending on where it came
from, may be identical to your neighbour's.

Cuttings are easiest with non-woody plants; deciduous
shrubs and trees are also fairly easy in spring.
Hardwood species and some evergreens may prove
difficult, though most plants can be reproduced in this
manner.

Plants that have been pruned prior to the current
growing season produce the most vigorous shoots and are
most likely to root well.  Rooting hormone can be very
helpful; refer to that section of this program.  If
rooting is very difficult, stand cuttings in willow
extract one or two days, then pot up; can also water
with willow tea.

A sharp, clean knife should always be used.  Keep
cuttings moist, cool until ready to pot up.  Take
cuttings in early morning, an hour or two after
watering.

Use only new growth from young specimens, if possible.
Softwood cuttings taken in the spring root best.  Keep
damp, i.e. enclose pot in a plastic bag, or mist
frequently.  Good indirect light and temperatures of
60-80F/14-27C are ideal; bottom heat may help.

Semi-hard cuttings are taken from mid summer to early
fall, and are harder to grow, but share the same
requirements.

Hardwood cuttings are taken at the start of the dormant
season, when leaves have dropped, and as such, humidity
is less a priority.

Grow in rooting medium consisting of well-draining soil
or peat mixed with sand, perlite or vermiculite.  Peat
mixtures especially are sterile and protect against
disease.  Inspect regularly for growth, and pot up
rooted specimens; these'll resist a gentle tug.  If
unrooted, place back into medium.  Remove any cuttings
that rot.

Cuttings, especially if harder to root, may be tied into
small bundles, prior to planting as if they were single
specimens.  Protect, and watch for fungal infection.


Stem Cuttings

To take a stem cutting, cut immediately below a leaf
joint, some 3-4" down a young tip.  For woody plants,
select the joint where new and old wood meet.  Ideally
the cutting has at least three nodes, or stem divisions.

Remove the leaves from the lower half, breaking these
off cleanly, and leave an upper 2-3 leaves.  Dip in
rooting compound if desired.  Insert some 2 to 3" deep.

Non-woody plants often allow multiple stem cuttings to
be taken, one below the next.  Tip cuttings are the most
vigorous, but these may not branch whereas lower
cuttings, if used, are more likely to do so.

Cut on an angle to identify this as the lower part of
the cutting (it points downward).  Use a straight
transverse cut to identify the cutting's upper end.  Use
only upgrowing material:  some cuttings try to maintain
their initial direction of growth.

Large leaves left on a stem cutting can lead to
unacceptable water loss, and failure.  Any such leaves
should be cut back, or removed, though the average
houseplant must have a few good leaves left on the
cutting.  Of course, growing in a covered pot or
propagator can minimize this problem.

Hardwood cuttings are somewhat different:  the top cut
is made just above a newly dormant node, and the lower
cut some 6" down, just below a node.  Dip in rooting
hormone.

If a single-stemmed tree is desired, plant with the top
node just below soil level, otherwise, plant with third
node at soil level.  Plant in well-drained, protected
soil, such as in a cold frame.

Coniferous cuttings can be started from young, vigorous
growing tips, taken with a small brown hardwood base.
Strip needles or leaves from the lower 1 1/2", dip in
rooting hormone number three, and plant 1 1/2" deep.

Succulent cuttings are taken from a soft, non-woody
stem.  Leave these to root in air, or at least allow a
few hours or days to callus.  If potted, water only
sparingly, and do not keep in a moist environment.
Here, benign neglect is the best policy.

Some plants will root in water (plant up if roots 1"
long), i.e. the spiderplant, or even by resting the
runner with its new offspring onto fresh, moistened
compost.


Heel Cuttings

Heel cuttings are treated much the same as stem
cuttings, but are simply torn from a larger branch.
This is the preferred technique for semi-hard materials,
such as maturing new growth on trees and shrubs, in the
summer, and for hardwood cuttings, taken in the fall.
Use this technique also for new growth less than 4" in
length.

Very thin cuttings are taken, i.e. no wider than 1/16".
Trim the thin tail on the heel cutting, remove lower
leaves, and plant up gently.  Use a rooting hormone.
Usually rooted without bottom heat.


Leaf Cuttings

Leaf cuttings involve cutting across the leaf, potting
with the stalk side of the cutting facing down, into the
compost.  Alternatively, some leaf cuttings are planted
with the stalk still attached, and yet other leaves may
be cut into 1-2" squares and be potted up individually.
The outer part of the leaf should always point up.

As leaves loose moisture easily, and have no ready
source of water, minimize transpiration losses by
enclosing all such cuttings in a humid environment, and
don not allow to dry out.  Warmth aids propagation, and
a soil temperature of 70F/21C is usually ideal.

The simplest leaf-stem cuttings involve cutting the
stalk 2" below the leaf base, again with a very sharp
blade.  Plant with the leaf base level with the soil,
and bury leaf and stalk at an angle, shallowly.

Some leaves, i.e. of begonias, are simply laid flat on
the soil, pinned down if needed, after making small
nicks 1" apart across major veins.  The old leaf will
slowly fall apart as new plantlets take root.

Leaves may also be cut into squares some 1" across, and
buried vertically with the veins of the leaves pointing
upward and outward, about 1/2" deep.

Transverse sections of lance-like leaves may be taken
from some species:  the leaf is cut into sections 2-4"
across and are potted with the central vein and one cut
end pointing up, and the other completely buried.

Good levels of humidity are essential for these types of
cuttings.  Use freshly harvested, mature leaves, and
sterile compost only.

Succulent leaves can often simply be broken from the
stem, and kept warm and shady.  Await the appearance of
roots and small new plantlets, which may take months,
and do not worry about wrinkling.  When new growth
appears, lay flat on soil in a small pot.  Water lightly
and infrequently, and ignore.  Or plant up after a few
days' callusing, into very well-draining compost, and
water infrequently.

Leaf cuttings are more disease-prone than stem cuttings,
and should be potted in a sterilized soil mixture, or a
peat-based compost.


Propagation By Division

Divide clumps after the plants have finished flowering,
or in spring for fall-flowering species.  Water plants
well for the two days prior to division, and wait for
cooler weather, later in the day.

Knock plants from pots or dig up and pull the rootball
into sections, each containing part of the crown and a
few good roots to support it.  The rootball often will
naturally separate into a few discrete clumps:  follow
nature's guidelines.  You may need a knife or pair of
pitchforks to separate tougher root systems.

Both leaves and roots should be trimmed back, and any
dead parts of the clump discarded.  Each new section
should contain both healthy roots and shoots.  Replant
immediately and water well, protect from light and cold
for several weeks.

Rhizomes or tubers may bave to be cut into pieces, each
with one or more shoots, buds, or bud eyes.  Replant,
and protect as before.  Suckers may also be cut or
pulled off, each with a good root network, and similarly
protected.

Plantlets produced on runners may be rooted while
attached to parent plant, or be separated from the
parent, and rooted.  Plant in warm moist soil and
protect from sun for week or two.


Air Layering

Air layering shortens plants as well as propagate them.
It is more energy-intensive, and may or may not work.
Use this technique if other methods are less successful,
or more mature specimens are desired.

Air layering is done in early summer, except where
otherwise marked.  Cut upward into the bare stem at 45
degree angle, about 1.5-2", and place a matchstick in
upper end of the cut to keep this open.  Dust the
surface with rooting powder.  Work dampened sphagnum
moss (soak in willow extract or vitamin B1 solution
overnight) into and around the cut, to form a ball
extending sev inches either direction, held in place by
clear plastic.  Keep moist, and support the weakened
stem, if needed.

When roots are seen, months later, cut this section
off cleanly, without disturbing root ball, and pot up.
A light peat-rich compost will be easiest on the new
plant.  Trim the remaining stump.  Keep both warm and
shaded for several weeks.


Tip or Trench Layering

Stem tips are bent toward the ground, and are inserted
vertically into soil some 3-4" in late summer.  As new
plantlets develop next spring, these are removed and
planted, keeping the very tip of the original shoot
still attached.