PLANT PROPAGATION.....THE BASICS II

Sorry, off topic, I do not have the other thread watched anymore, I think I undwatched it ages ago.

On topic, I have found that Cl. improved Blaze roses are easy to propagate. Easier than most. I got my Peggy Martin rose baby and it is doing great. With some patience I will have a cool bomb/flood, draught proof winner one day.

Dawn, you should come back to the old thread. Very calm now. Everyone is taking their meds.

LOL, don't be a smartass Sharon. Is that why you haven't been on there Dawn? LOL, aw come on we aren't that bad.

Dawn, just be careful you don't get in over your heads. You are smart enough to figure that out. Even if you love it, it isn't worth that. There will always be another.

Sometimes I think we should all come back to one thread. This hoping around makes my head ache. So we get off topic too often I know, but how did we manage before?

I think it is appropriate to have a separate propagation thread.

I admit and agreed that when I came here initially and had a "propagation question" I was intimidated because of the "chatter" about who was taking their meds and who was not.

I for one am taking my meds.

I found a VERY old fashioned pink rose in the backyard of a vacant house in the neighborhood. I am going to take some cuttings and see if I can get something started.

Do you remember that miniature white rose I dug up several weeks ago? I dug down at least 20". The rose in the ground is putting up new growth AND


ONE of my cuttings rooted so I will have a tiny white rose to give to a nice lady friend here. I have never tried to root roses, so I was thrilled with this. I tried at least 6, and this one stayed green the longest with foliage turning brown. It occurred to me to put the pot in a plastic bag and that made the difference. Tiny leaves came out and still coming. I may be on to some NEW fantastic hobby. :)

If only I had room for a rose garden. There's always the front lawn . . ..

A.

p.s. Good thing I dug up the rose when I did - I saw again this week that the people living in this house have TOTALLY decimated the front of the house, shrubs all cut down to nothing, every green thing removed, a beautiful wooden arbor/arch that had jasmine on it is completely bare. The second tiny rose that was next to this one is completely gone and now covered with a heavy layer of mulch. I think the rose may rise again - I will make a point to get up close when I walk the dog and kick the mulch away from the curb where the rose was last seen. There may be more digging in my future.

Amanda ~ Did you root your rose cutting in water, or did you put in soil with rooting hormone?

All I had was seed starting mix, but I used growth tips and dipped the stem of each in rooting hormone. I watered well once and let it drain thru and then no more water until tending towards the dry side. I have a lot to learn.

Most of what I have read about starting roses says to do this in the fall, so I was surprised to root this one.

Amanda, you know when I said I think I cooked all the seeds I was trying to start? Well, I decided the thermostat was bad on my heat mat. So, I went on line and found another one, $30. Well, I have been expecting it and the tracking for UPS said it went to a town that actually has my physical address, but not my mailing address. So, that post office sent it to my mailing address, and the tracking shows it delivered.

Thursday Bob got a card in the mail box for a package. Friday he went in and asked the part time person for the pkg. She couldn't find it. So, Saturday he went back and asked her for it. She said she couldn't find it. He told her to go look again. She said she did and it wasn't there.

Ok, now tomorrow, he is going in and hopefully the post mistress will be there and he is going to tell her that if I don't get my package, it is going to cost her $30. He and this gal are pretty good friends. She gives him some of her home made sausage etc. But he is so mad at the part-timer that he wants her to fire that person.

We'll see what happens. One of them gave my pkg to someone else and it was not returned.

Amanda we crossposted. Have you guys ever read Seedpicker's thread on starting roses? She is pretty good. Jen

Stinks about your package - have you contacted the seller yet? Better go at it from both ends. You'll be lucky if you get relief from either end.

Not read the rose-starting threads. Will get over there one day when I am ready to go at that hobby for real. I think I'd better get cuttings from the old fashioned pink rose I found the other day. It's an open/flat bloom with only a handful of petals and it is climbing over a dogwood or something to get to the sun - so I suppose it is a climber. The main stem is pretty far back into this thicket, so I won't be attempting to dig it out.

Keep you posted on the plant rescues.

Did I mentioned pulling up some helenium today in a horse pasture? It has what looks like a tap root, so they have come back pretty strong. I'm glad when plants make it easy for you to take some along. It does help to have water on hand and something to wrap the roots in, I must say.

I don't even remember where the chat thread is, what is the link to it? No that is not why I don't go there, it took me a long time to realize I must have not watched a new thread and lost it a while back and never bothered to ask for the link or location of the thread, just talked here.

We did not get the house, somebody else's offer was higher I guess. Sadly I saw us there and loved the neighbor and the street and the area and even the little home with all it's light and planter areas, established plants. It was not meant to be but I still have tears in my eyes. Maybe they will fall out and we will get it cheaper. Oh well.

Next!

My heat waves have hit and plants are looking shotty all of a sudden, but not totally.

Good score on the rose and the timing Amanda

Hey there - so sorry about the house - it happened to me a pile of years ago and we were devastated. xox

Here is a link to the "chat" thread. Hope to see you there.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1259691/

A.

So sorry Dawn, but like Amanda says, it wasn't meant to be. You will find another and love it.

I was shocked to get an email from a friend who, she and her husband had bought a condo from his mother. They really loved the condo. Then in her email she told me they had bought a house in a gated community for over 55s! She included pictures and the house and yard were beautiful. But, he is 2 years away from retirement, and they do go on a lot of cruises. She said the condo was just a lot of elderly people. They wanted to be around active adults. Her term. So, anyway, they are in the process of moving. She said she sold their condo in one day for cash!!! That was amazing. She said they had to be out by the 28th of this month.

Wow, they really did things in a fast way. Some people can do that. Others like myself, have to stop and think, and rethink everything.

ttyl, jen

Sharon - will the Sunset Hibiscus flower the first year from seed?

Yes, they should. I am just heading to bed. Have a great day tomorrow. Good luck on the job, if you want it. I was such a work horse and now I do not think I could do it. Sharon

Sorry about the house Dawn.... once I went back and looked at the photos Tehachapi made perfect sense! I agree... you and hubby will find another... -:)

You'll have to forgive my ignorance... but what are 'growth tips'? I don't think I have ever seen them (or heard of them) until just recently.

I pinched a penstemon - or as Sharon says... I did some 'dead-heading'...-:) when I was up in Sonoma... a lovely burgundy flower with an inner white throat.... very pretty and dramatic....I dipped it in rooting hormone and popped it into some vermiculite - not sure if it will survive.... anyone have experience with propagating penstemons?

Nancy

I did some dead heading last year of some Rudbeckia flowers and after they dried I flung them about the front area by the driveway. I have two large bunches just starting to flower. I deadheaded another one today at Trader Jo. I only deadhead when the flower is wilted and spent. But of course my little hand held torch helps with the wilting. I deadhead at the big box stores or very large nurseries. They do not care.

Nancy will get a visit soon from the FBI. Flower terrorist. LOL.. Sharon

Most people don't know how to start plants from cuttings, one day they'll catch on at those big box stores - actually, one of my contacts at a big box store caught a woman taking cuttings of all the shrubs - gardenias in particular - he chased her out.

Nancy - a growth tip is usually the terminal stem (the tip!) of new growth from a plant - when taking cuttings to root it's usually recommended to take new growth as that may ensure greater success. Also remember when putting your cuttings into soil or hormone or water to cut just below a node (i.e. include the node when trying to root). I keep trying to learn more - I often don't have supplies on hand for these things, but the hormone powder is always around.

Not doing much propagating right now. I'm trying to cope with all the seedlings I started this spring.

I do not take cutting. Just seed pods. That would take a lot of nerve to take a cutting.

Lowe's take broken bags of potting mix and marks them down. They caught a customer cutting bags.

Later, Sharon

Can't believe the nerve of people. Don't they realize that is the same as stealing? They should have called the police. 'course they wouldn't have done anything anyway.

Sharon, I want to direct sow some annuals out in my perennials. But, with all this rain the weeds are way ahead. How do I toss out some Calandulas, Marygolds etc. without digging them up with the weeds? We have another week of this wet stuff. Even my deck planters I am planting are waterlogged. I planted some tomatoes today in my Earthbox on the deck and they probably will just start swimming.

I am kind of sorry now that I put the cover on the hoophouse. I think my garlic especially would do well in this rain.

This is a delonix seedlings. I received 5 seeds from a young man in Tucson, Arizona. I have had the seeds for about 8 months. I just planted them about a week ago. I was also told to plant them with the long side of the seed to be in the upright position. IE, the seed was longer than wider.

I was delighted when I went out yesterday and two seeds had germinated.

Photo one was yesterday. Photo 2 is today. It is another plant that will have to spend the winter in the garage.

Sharon, you didn't answer my question. Jen

I did answer it somewhere or I am really losing it.

I said I have no idea because I do not get weeds. I do have one weed, but I normally look for it everyday. I do not want it to get out of control. I cannot remember the name of the weed. I will post a photo tomorrow if I can find any. I did dig up a couple tiny ones today. And I use a very large amount of mulch. I also said I do not get many weeds because we get very little rain.

This is the photo of my Delonix today. I was told today it needs to be in a smaller pot. No problem during the summer but will need to be in the garage in the winter and a large pot is difficult to keep watered correctly. This pot will never be moved unless there are 3 guys to do so. It is concrete and was on close out when they closed Target's garden center. I got the large and medium size.

Sort of a propagation issue - speaking of moving pots around:

I have had a shrub rose in a heavy glazed pot. I am thinking back and it must be 10 years if it's been a day.

I noticed recently a nice new growth spurt and even more recently, water began to back up in the container. I imagined that the roots must have gone thru the drainage hole, and I was right. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough for about 1/3 of the plant to suffer wilt since I picked it up and moved it.

I've been meaning to put her in the ground. I waited a couple of days to see if those shoots would perk up, but no. I guess I need to cut back the growth that's been affected.

AND I'm going to have to smash that pretty blue glazed pot to bits to get her out of there. Woe.

Does anyone keep roses?

Should I do anything else? trim roots? The pot could be 20".

Thanks.

A.

Sorry Mandy, I do not do roses. We have several outside but that is not my department. I hate to break old containers like that. WAAAAAH. JB

Amanda ~ This could be the new opportunity for a new art project. Collect all the pot shards and then either cast them into concrete, or maybe make a new pot out of it. Also it could be made into tiles....there are SO many possibilities....

It spoke to me when you said heavy glazed....then some recycling ideas came to mind. ^_^

Thanks Ev - I like the notion but hate to have stuff like that hanging around till I'm ready to "do" something with it. The pot is at least an inch thick.

I guess I'll do that later today or tomorrow. Do we have a chisel?!

Dunno. It is a beautiful blue color.

Get a hori hori knife and cut the rose out and save the pot. jen

Amanda roses are pretty forgiving, you need to b1 it for a few days and put in a shadier spot for about 2 or 3 weeks, if it looks wilty after you ripped it's little feet out of the ground. This lady just sent me a rose sucker that she dug up, it was warm when she sent it and it completely lost all leaves, but I put news paper in the pot and on top of it and kept it under a shady tree while it recovered. It just bloomed and is leafed out now. Get it out of the sun for now. Fertilize it too with a nice time released fertilizer and add a little epsome salts. It should look good. Mine had no leaves, but did when I got it. I cut it back too, so it did not have to work so hard to recover.

Thanks -yeah she's in a shady spot. I am going to prune the wilted stuff. Amazing what a couple of roots have done to this sweet rose. At least 1/3 of the canes have been impacted. I will cut those back. She's been a reliable blooer for years in that pot. And she deserves to be in the ground. Jen I am NOT going to hurt her further. :P

The spot she will go into is in FS naturally, but as with my seedlings if necessary, I will erect some kind of protective structure with a sheet over it or something to make her transition easier.

Keep you posted,
A.

Jen, here are two photos of the weeds I get. I have crushed granite covering the side yards and portions of the back that are not in flower bed or dichondra. In the flower bed you can see how black the mulch is and that stops weed seeds from germinating.

This is today's photo of delonix today. I included it's little sister in the background.

I organized some seeds today and I am going to plant them tomorrow. Sharon

Sharon, how much of the crushed granite do you put on? How deep? Is it the black stuff? You and Dave both talk about using it. I have never heard of it up here except from you guys. But Dave was using it as a walkway type of thing I think.

That Delonex is going to be a tree. You said you have to take it in the winter. How big will it get in a pot?

Well, Bob went to bed. Guess I will read for a bit and then do the same. ttyl,

Wow, where has everyone gone.

Jen, the decomposed granite comes in different colors. Mine is a salmon southwestern color. My mulch is black. The granite is probably close to 10" deep and the mulch is about 6 to 8" deep. I use the mulch to protect the roots of the plants from the direct sun and to maintain moisture. They use crushed granite in the southwest. In your area they probably use pea gravel. You can actually get it in a rusty red. It is used to control weeds and hold down dust.

This is today's photo of delonex. The young man that sent me the seed lives in Tucson and he and I are going to try and keep it pot size. If it gets to big I will have to make it it's own greenhouse. But that will probably take many years.

I'm here dearie.

No propagation today I'm afraid. I am wondering about a Rudbeckia that is a very lovely color - mostly brown with some yellow showing thru under the rays. It is in a sea of Rudbeckia I have growing, and is a natural variation. I am growing some R. 'Cherry Brandy' from seed also on the other side of the sea of Rudbeckia. I was disappointed in one plant last year - looked more brown than cherry, but this year I see that the flowers start brownish and then deepen into the most beautiful color.

in any event, I suppose I would try to root some cuttings of this R. hirta that is brown with some yellow showing thru the ends of the rays. Does anyone have experience in trying to root cuttings of rudbeckia? I do believe it is R. hirta.

Thanks.
A.

Amanda, this was posted on another thread in propagation. Some one was asking has to get cuttings of zinnia to root. I have only used deadheaded seeds.


"The cuttings are soft and the foliage flops so quickly."

Conventional cutting methods with zinnias fail in the same way, because the zinnia stem and leaf tissues are very vulnerable to bacterial rot, and they lose water through evaporation from their leaves and collapse long before they have had time to strike roots.

I use diluted Physan 20 to sterilize my cuttings and the water that they are supplied with. I use a good rooting hormone like Dip 'n Gro, which has two different rooting hormones. And I keep my cuttings under fluorescent lights under a humidity dome for up to 10 days to give them time to strike some roots. The Physan 20, rooting hormone, fluorescent lights, and humidity dome are the prerequisites for success with zinnias from cuttings. They might help with your problem cuttings.

Hi guys!

Sorry I've been on the road the last two weekends.... haven't been online much.... playing 'catch-up' at home now...anyway.... the penstemon didn't survive... not sure why.... (:-
Fortunately the plant FBI hasn't caught up with me yet.... -:)

Thanks for the explanation Amanda.... that makes perfect sense.... I too am learning so much.

One thing I could say about the rose .... when transplanting to the ground... the best advice is to dig a big, big hole.... at least twice the size of the roots. I got this advice from a rose grower once and it really made a difference.... compost in the bottom of the hole if you have it and keep it moist for the first few days until the roots settle in. I sure hope it survives.

Linda sent me some pink caprice lantana last summer and I actually succeeded in keeping it alive.... it's blooming today and so very lovely....

I have very good luck propagating snapdragons for some reason.... I pinched one at the hotel we stayed at.... it was on the side of the hotel where no one could see it so I didn't think they would mind... a very pretty gold/orange color and I hope to plant it next to the orange wallflower if it survives. Actually Amanda, I instinctively pinched correctly following your advice, although I didn't really think about why at the time.... I think the colors would look so nice together... hopefully once I get it rooted... I can get it into a shadier spot next to the wallflower because it's getting HOT!!

Did your family come and go already Jeanette?

Goodnight everyone... I'll try to catch up on the other thread in the morning. Nancy

Amanda, on the Rudbeckia, if it is a lot of them, they will mix up the colors because of the pollination. I am sure because I have gotten colors I never planted.

Nancy and Sharon, you guys are weird. I have never heard of taking cuttings of annuals before. Snapdragons, zinnias, etc. Tell me, do they continue growing etc. through out the year? Never heard of it.

Yes Nancy, they were here a short time but it rained all the time they were here and that is really miserable 'cause we really don't have any places to go except outdoors kind of activity. I have told them the last 3 years now to make it a different time.

My SIL has to put in for his vacations at the beginning of the year. He tries to gear them around golf tournaments etc. too. Think that is why this area get s the short straw for this time of year. LOL, he will learn. He does not fish in the rain.

thanks for the info on the zinnias Sharon. Like roses which are susceptible to everything, I am surprised at how they thrive in humid conditions. I have never tried to root a zinnia cutting. But that info probably applicable to Rudbeckia too. Though the Rudbeckia is a perennial. I'm not sure if it's R. hirta now that I think of it. I grew it from seed the first season. It's awesome.

Jen - of course you propagate an annual the same as any other plant. To clone a trait or characteristic that you prefer. The natural variations in the plants are how we get the stunning hybrids and cultivars. When you take a cutting you get a clone - I know you are not stupid, and know this already. So I can clone the brown one if I want to to have more, and that is why I inquired. :P

Nancy - I tried to root snaps last year, but failed. They looked just like my daisies Leucanthemum x when I was pruning them so I tried and hoped they would be as easy. Since I have been hanging on this thread I have learned to try more than one way to root things. Pinch a few and put some in water, some in hormones, etc. I hope you get that pretty to root.

Speaking of success - and quite by accident - I started blue shrimp plants from seed I received in trade. I was thrilled with the glaucose blue/green foliage. I planted a bunch of seeds in one 4" container. When I transplanted them I guess I planted too deep, and/or the soil was too heavy. In any event, all of them crashed. I tried an emergency transplant of the transplants, and all crashed some more. As they were passing, poor dears, I cut the tops off and inserted them into a seed starting medium with no water, no hormone, no nothing. I spritzed the soil only a little every couple of days. they crashed. Except for one.

I now have a single, very healthy and about 5" tall blue shrimp plant (Cerinthe major), and I will do NOTHING with it until the roots are busting out of that 2" square pot.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/216/

Have a great day. Good luck rooting those annuals!!!

A.

p.s. I bring many many many "annual" plants inside to overwinter as houseplants. Prime example - pelargoniums, alternanthera, ageratum, impatiens, begonias, coleus, blah blah blah. It's all trial and error. My coleus from last year wintered beautifully in my bedroom east facing window in a fast draining soil-less mix. They are back outside in the same pots they came into the house in in November.

p.p.s. Thanks Nancy on the thoughts on the rose. She will go in the ground this week. The tiny rose I dug up from the neighbor's yard a couple of months ago has flowered already and is flush with new foliage. I have never had to break one out of a pot, and I worry, of course. ;)

Hi Jeanette.... my snaps grow most of the year... but when our climate warms up too much they stop flowering. I think they are actually perennials here.... at least some of mine seem to come back for 2-3 years before they finally exhaust themselves. I've never tried the zinnias.... they sprout so easily from seed here.... Speaking of that... I have tons of them flowering right now... so cheerful! Sorry about your rainy family vacation.... I know you still enjoyed having your family there!! -:)

Amanda... I had a gorgeous cerinthe major in a pot... it was doing fantastic and suddenly it began to turn brown.... I thought it was too moist... but the soil felt just right... not dry, not wet.... I eventually lost it and don't know why... I grew it in sun, but with shade from an overhanging tree during our hotter daylight hours.....so I think the light was ok.....I have let it die back... hoping to harvest some seeds. I planted this one as a plant... have never tried growing them from seeds. I hope I can manage to sprout some! I think your method of varying methods is a good one... just like everything else in life... sometimes slight changes bring results you don't expect.... I will hold onto that thought!

I went out to my garden today and found out some critter has been munching on my tomatoes.... it just breaks my heart... my husband looks forward to my tomatoes and has been asking about them, he will be so disappointed. This is the first year I have had this happen before they are even close to ripe. I noticed one plant with 6 wonderful large tomatoes on it..... about 2 days ago.... today 4 of them had been chewed to bits.... it's too late in the season to really get another good crop because the heat is really kicking in and most of my blossoms will fall off now... I was just devastated. Really took the wind out of my sails. I think next year I will have to put them in the front where the cats can guard them. I don't have as much room, but what else can I do... they just don't do well in pots. I did notice that the dogs were barking about 3am the last couple of nights.... I went out one night, but didn't see anything.....

Oh well...

On the bright side.... my delphiniums and verbascums put out new flowers.... both gorgeous! And I also have more of the lantanas that Linda sent blooming... the first batch was pink and yellow and the other plant is solid yellow.... really pretty!!

Does it get cold where you are in winter Amanda? I live in a climate where not much suffers in winter... although we do get some low temps, it's not enough to freeze anything...my challenge is keeping everything from drying out in summer. Planting everyone in a place where they can withstand the heat with a minimum of water and then making sure I do water when they really need it. As some of my trees mature that helps with shading. Tonight I will go out and deadhead all my roses so I get another bloom. We just had a spectacular bloom on all the roses, but now they are all spent.....This year is the first year I have had really big blooms on my jacarandas... they are so pretty and getting tall enough to provide shade for the lawn and the folks walking in the evening to escape the heat! Well ... have a great day everyone.... gotta get back to work! Nancy