PLANT PROPAGATION - THE BASICS - MARCH 2013

Just have to check in and tell you that I finally was able to propagate African Violets from a leaf. I could not believe it worked. Never before have I ever been able to do it in soil or water. This was in a soil mix. Just goes to show you , if you keep trying you can do it. Thanks to all those wonderful people who gave me advice. JB

Well the ground hog ate all my native ones The red ones are doing excellent ..Pic of the red one below .. Thank you JB.....
Peace lilies dropped over from seed , more seeds in progress to try again ..
Spider plant is already making babies from over hanging stem ..

Hi Ju, The native pussy willow should come back. If they do not, let me know and I will send you some cuttings from mine. I have a few very strong stock plants that I can cut from, plus I have some rooting in a vase on the deck. I assume they are rooting since I cut them weeks ago just for decoration. Your black PW looks great. It will grow out of that pot soon I am sure. They are like weeds and get so big if you do not keep them trimmed. I just love them.
My spiders you sent me look wonderful. They are so happy and really moving right along.
I am sure your other spider will reproduce big time. You have a green thumb for spiders for sure. Nice to talk to you again. I no longer lurk on the BP so tell everyone I said Hi when and if you get on there. JB

I haven't gotten anymore of the Hawaiin Spider but it is growing real good the past few days , Going to give some new potting soil and mulch mix and some grow formula .. before long spiders everywhere (""poof'''
Those plants always give me the impression they are going to be as large as the kitchen table ..lol

What is the Hawaiin Spider, Ju?

Center white stripe only Spider Plant ,,

OK. Never heard it called that.
thanks. Have a good evening. JB

JB,
When I used to grow A. Violets, I started them with leaf cuttings. Takes patience but is faster than seeds and they reproduce the same as the original. Glad for you that you was successful.

Congrats JB, I know you have been trying, glad it has finally paid off for you.

I just finished working outside, well, not finished totally, but for today am done. We do seem to forget how much work it is when we sit around all winter. Our muscles don't remember, from one season to another. Did I say SORE????

Most of my plants that usually make it year to year have decided to go to the Great Nursery in the Sky this year. I guess they knew I needed a break. It is a little early tho, maybe I am wrong. Hope-hope-hope.
Huggs, Lee

I am working so hard my muscles are just giving up and stopped hurting. Yesterday I was on that mower for two hours after a morning of cleaning bird cages and helping the girl clean and last night I was hurting but not as much as other times. I think I am getting numb. Gardening is also good for the part of weight loss called EXERCISE. lol

Anyhow, now I am looking into the little plants called streptocarpus. They are adorable and you can propagate them as you do AV. Learning lots of new things lately. Bought some from Robs Violet Barn. I need to get into something other than what I am doing now. The changes in the weather is affecting my Greenhouse humidity and heat. It is only 10 x 12 but on cold days when the sun comes out like today , the heat in there goes up to 90 plus with all the doors open and vents open. Yet, the wind off the ocean is cold and the humidity drops. I can not explain it but some of the tropicals are not happy. Oh well, just another hurdle to try and hop over .....lol good to see you Lee.

Anyone propagate the streptocarpus?

Sounds like Streptococcus. Nope don't want to ever have that again. lol

I Have 40 roses now give or take and most of them are in bloom. It looks so pretty and smells so good. There was a time about 7 or 8 years ago that I did not have a hope in the world of having anything grow here but weeds. That is why I chose Hell in zone 11(Sunset zone that is) for my name at the time. Everything kills plants here and I had never lived where there is so much vacant land near with critters eating under ground, because I had always lived in a tract house. Wind, salt, sun, bunnies, gophers, ants, Caleche soil. Who knew Daves Garden and all of You ALL made it possible to hope and try and succeed and even contribute to this. Thank you.

I am so worried about all of you. Dave, I hope you are not any where near where in Okla. they are having all the problems. How far is Tulsa to the area that the tornado hit? I wish you would check in and let us know you are o.k.

I have a question about the golden vicary pivot that someone, I think it was Evelyn or Sharon, gave to me as cuttings, and I do not remember what I did with them. Do you put them in soil or do you start them in water? I sent Evelyn a Dmail but I am not sure she is the one who gave them to me. I swear I think I am beginning to forget things. I hate getting old.

I need to take cuttings of my Star Jasmine but it keeps blooming and I do not want to destroy any buds since I thoroughly enjoy the aroma they send off when they bloom. Here is a pic of it I took this morning.

I have all the Holiday/Christmas Cactus stock plants I need now. 40 different species and that is all I have space for. I am now gathering some African Violets and some Streptopcarpus baby plants to grow and see if I can propagate them. I have finally accomplished the AV propagation but now I want to learn how to do the streps since they are so popular and fun to have. I understand they are more difficult to propagate than AV so i am not getting too overjoyed before I see how many I kill. If anyone has any thoughts about the propagation of Streps I would be happy to hear them. There is a good thread about them on DG so I am watching that also.

Stay safe everyone. It has been 7 months since our big storm, Sandy and many people still are not in their homes, in fact, the one town lost most of their houses and so far have torn down over a hundred houses, some will never be replaced. Others must still come down and there are 53 still in the Bay that need to be removed so they can begin to use the bay to boat in again at that one area. So sad. So, if you are in an area that is having damages, my prayers and hugs are sent with this message. Bless you all. JB

I watched the National news the other night about ,after the storm , about sandy . Sounds like lots to do with lots done ..I have a few small new White Center Stripe spider plants only a few though . Only pretty soon ..
I have not had a lot to say lately , gets that way from every so often .
Storms are really putting everybody down the past few years , everyone just has to keep on keeping on , All that can be done really ,,
Besides there is nothing to say unto people who have lost everything , words can't say it ...

OK you tomato plant people. Is there a difference from the regular tomato plants you buy to put in your garden and the patio tomato plants? If I want to put some tomato plants in containers, would I buy just regular plants or patio plants? Thanking you in advance. JB

Difference in height and stem, Patio tomatoes have thick trunk stems , There are lots of choices , made for patio pots these days ..People were talking about a full size tomato named (new Big Dwarf ) for patio pots and containers .
Most of the patio types are smaller , but their good!

Thanks Ju, I looked at the leaves and they seem bigger and stronger and firm compared to the regular garden variety. I wondered if it would not be difficult to put a regular tomato in a pot and keep it trimmed without cutting the blooms off. They can get so big.

Their more difficult to grow that way , only sure , you can do that , the bigger the pot , the bigger the bigger plant , My garden tomatoes grown in pots did not do as well , but I am not that good with vegetables in pots .
Have you been watching the earth bucket videos ? Makes everyone want to try that ..lol just wondering ..

No, I have not had time to watch the videos. Will try and do it one of these days. Stay well my friend and stay safe in this crazy weather. JB

JB,
My daughter has grown Early Girl in a large pot last year in her greenhouse to extend the season. She got tomatoes. will do it again this year. She pinched off all shoots beginning to grow in the leaf axils to allow the energy to go to fruit production and keep the plant manageable . Bees were still able to fertilize the flowers since the door was left open a bit. I think the size of the pot was 20" across.

My SIL is doing it this year. We will see. Thanks for the comments. JB

Last year all of my tomato plants were in containers...one way or another. Most of them were in "Square Foot Gardens"...4' X 4' X12" beds, though I also put a few into pots...large 5 gallon pots, no earth buckets or anything fancy like that. Rite Aid had a 70% off sale so I bought a couple extra large plastic pots. They were actually bigger than a typical 5 gallon nursery pot. I honestly do not know there actual size, but they were large and grew large tomatoes. I probably should have trimmed mine back, but they did great.

This year I put my cherry tomatoes in them, and the larger ones in the SFG beds. None in the ground...the gophers like them too. I tried them several years in the ground, putting my leftover seedlings and one by one, they disappeared.

I am in agreement JB about my worries for Dave and those near OK City, but Dave is not right there luckily, he is about 45 minutes or more away he told me. Still the rash of Tornados is really unnerving.

I watched CNN off and on all day yesterday and they were watching the storms and tracking them. Several times them mentioned Tulsa, which is think Dave hails from. But this morning I have not yet put the TV on. Please if anyone hears from Dave, let us know here on the thread.

JuJu wrote this information on a chat group he is on and I am sure he will not mind me copying it to this thread. I think the information is very interesting and it may help some of the people on this thread grow bigger and better plants. Some of you are already privy to this from the other site, then there are those who are not as fortunate, so here it it. I think he should do an article for DG on this subject. A word to the wise Ju.

Let's do roots !!!
“Willow Water” – How it Works
“Willow Water” is a homebrew plant rooting hormone that is easily made and can be used to increase the strike rate (growth of roots) of cuttings that you’re trying to propagate.

The way that it works can be attributed to two substances that can be found within the Salix (Willow) species, namely, indolebutyric acid (IBA) and Salicylic acid (SA).

Indolebutyric acid (IBA) is a plant hormone that stimulates root growth. It is present in high concentrations in the growing tips of willow branches. By using the actively growing parts of a willow branch, cutting them, and soaking them in water, you can get significant quantities of IBA to leach out into the water.

Salicylic acid (SA) (which is a chemical similar to the headache medicine Aspirin) is a plant hormone which is involved in signalling a plant’s defences, it is involved in the process of “systemic acquired resistance” (SAR) – where an attack on one part of the plant induces a resistance response to pathogens (triggers the plant’s internal defences) in other parts of the plant. It can also trigger a defence response in nearby plants by converting the salicylic acid into a volatile chemical form.

When you make willow water, both salicylic acid and IBA leach into the water, and both have a beneficial effect when used for the propagation of cuttings. One of the biggest threats to newly propagated cuttings is infection by bacteria and fungi. Salicylic acid helps plants to fight off infection, and can thus give cuttings a better chance of survival. Plants, when attacked by infectious agents, often do not produce salicylic acid quickly enough to defend themselves, so providing the acid in water can be particularly beneficial.


Willow water can be made from cuttings of any tree or shrub of the willow family, a group of plants with the scientific name of Salix. The more cuttings that are used and the longer they are soaked in water, the stronger will be the resulting willow water. Recommendations for the exact method of soaking vary. Cold water can be used, and soaking times of four or more weeks are often quoted. Other gardeners use boiling water to steep the willow twigs and soak the mixture for around 24 hours.





How to Make “Willow Water”
Here is the procedure for making willow water:

Collect young first-year twigs and stems of any of willow (Salix spp.) species, these have green or yellow bark. Don’t use the older growth that has brown or gray bark.
Remove all the leaves, these are not used. Don’t waste good green material though, compost the leaves or throw them in the garden as mulch.
Take the twigs and cut them up into short pieces around 1" (2.5cm) long.
The next step is to add the water. there are several techniques to extract the natural plant rooting hormones:
a) Place the chopped willow twigs in a container and cover with boiling water, just like making tea, and allow the “tea” to stand overnight.

b) Place the chopped willow twigs in a container and cover with tap water (unheated), and let it soak for several days.

When finished, separate the liquid from the twigs by carefully pouring out the liquid, or pouring it through a strainer or sieve. The liquid is now ready to use for rooting cuttings. You can keep the liquid for up to two months if you put it in a jar with a tight fitting lid and keep the liquid in the refrigerator. Remember to label the jar so you remember what it is, and write down the date you brewed it up, and to aid the memory, write down the date that it should be used by, which is two months from the date it was made!
To use, just pour some willow water into a small jar, and place the cuttings in there like flowers in a vase, and leave them there to soak overnight for several hours so that they take up the plant rooting hormone. Then prepare them as you would when propagating any other cuttings.
The second way to use willow water is to use it to water the propagating medium in which you have placed cuttings. Watering your cuttings twice with willow water should be enough to help them root.





In Summary
As you can see, this is a garden potion that is really easy to brew up, and it keeps in line with the Permaculture principles of avoiding waste and caring for the Earth – no purchased synthetic chemicals, containers, it’s all natural, and best of all, free! So, next time you’re out on a hot summer’s day enjoying the shade and natural cooling provided by a majestic willow, grab a few twigs and take them home to help you in propagating plants for your garden!

Read more: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1313784/#ixzz2UyT9YCCX

it is also here .http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/propagation/all/
I have had some success with this , playing about ,,
not an article writer ,,

I would love to try it but I have only "curly willow" and until I have time to read it over a few times and digest it, I need to see if I can get the willow needed. I must admit I have not read it fully and have not really understood how you get the contents together to work with. Hopefully after today I may have time. We will see. If you have any suggestions Ju I will be happy to listen. LOL

That is a wonderful thread Ju, thanks, it was new and I had not had time to visit it, I apologize for putting your info on here without first asking you, you could have saved me the time and sent me to that thread. It was started just yesterday so I do not feel to bad about not catching up on it. I am not sure how many of the new people on this thread will get to see it but I do hope the information is shared by all. I found it very interesting. Thanks again. JB

Professionals like boiling it .I make like it like coffee or tea , tea in the nuker (microwave ) or stems and leaves in the coffee pot filter , thing though is after you have to clean the coffee pot .
When it gets old I use a little milk to re-activate it (willow water ) I ain't doing much other than playing , but it works ,,
I am going to use some with milk &honey next ..
Any willow will work ,I am trying to root shortly a couple more sandbar willows and my salix discolor are trying to get started but are going slow , The red stems are growing great ..
results I like anyway , might not seem so great but after something sets for weeks , does nothing , some of the root tonic gets reaction rather quickly ,, hey I'll take that ,, lol
Well that and something of the Vitamin forms I am playing with ,, it's interesting ,, besides all said I can use it around vegetables without the fear of poisoning , me or anything else .. that is a good one with me ..
Back later ..

Are you saying any Pussy Willow brandhes will work as well as a willow tree branch? JB

That's the story ! JB Truth is I just like the sandbar willow , because they are super easy to root ,, only thing is ,, my last efforts at rooting them froze .. lol more to come .
Yes that's what it all says ,, any salix .

OK, I have plenty of that.....now all I need is the time and I am good to go. Seems to be one hell of a lot easier to just by the root gel. LOL.

Time, availability ,more time For some it is !!!^_^

You are so wise, Mr. Ju......hope this heat is not harming what is left of that brain of yours. It is not my best time, but it sure beats snow. Hope you have a great evening. I am going to Facebook and play games. Nothing wrong with me.....ah ha....ah ha....whatever.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/propagation/all/

Went on over to here !lol I did it , I did it I restarted a thread ,, yeah, I know Big Deal ... !! lol

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1315835/ this is right .
Someone is always there to remind me ..

I have an Amaryllis that set three seed pods. The red one I posted photo of on Back porch. One seed pod popped before I expected so they self sowed on the spot. I have some of the seed and I gave some to my garden helper. I am getting ready to sow some just by putting them in the holding garden.

Should be interesting. Sharon