Gita, so sorry to hear of such a hard, drippy day! Are you able to douse yourself in water a little just to stay cool?? It sounds like hard work to do all that watering on such a hot day--and only 2 people!
Yardening June #2, 2014
Cat--YES!!! More advice!
ALWAYS cut off the blooms from anything you are going to root!!!
Maintaining a bloom with NO roots is a huge load on the cutting.
It will NOT survive.
Also--trim off any unnecessary leaves from the cutting--leave just the
growing tip. Make sure you have a couple leaf-"nubs" under the soil--
for roots to come from--as well as above to grow new leaves from when rooted.
You may also want to take a few more cuttings and just stick them in a bed--
no jar--no baggies over them--and keep it watered. That is what my neighbor does,
and they all root.
Good luck!!! G.
thanks so much, Gita! That is very helpful! I took off the blossoms and leaves and extra stems, then dipped them in rooting powder again and stuck them in the soil below the first leaf nibs. Fingers crossed!
Sally, my yarrow does attract pollinators but they are really tiny ones. The great big bumble and carpenter bees seem to prefer the salvia.
This message was edited Jun 17, 2014 6:19 PM
It was hot out today but my point was that I'd rather be in the garden when it's hot and muggy out than be stuck inside working. Basically gardening>work :)
That does sound like a tough job G. I can't imagine having to do that all day long. I have a bunch of things that need planted and these last couple days have left them really thirsty. Good thing I check them daily and water if needed.
The potted plants at HD all dry out so fast b/c all the pots are filled with pro Mix.
That does not hold a lot of water and they dry out in a blink.
Then think that many are in just 4" pots--and the majority are in 6" pots.
Besides--the shelves on those racks are about 10"-12" apart--and the plants are
jammed tightly on these shelves and get no sun or air.
Watering between the shelves can be quite difficult. That is what i will be doing tomorrow--
as no one got to that part of the yard to water today. Oh, welll--I just think pleasant
thoughts as i water. It can be a relaxing job....just overkill!!
G.
Yesh! Too bad they don't schedule more people to water. I guess to them it's less expensive to just let the plants suffer.
Cat,
Every plant is different, and every plant acts differently at different times of the year. If you don't succeed this time, please don't give up. Most of the time I am unsuccessful at cuttings but I'll tell you about the instances where I have had success:
1. Hydrangea. These are among the easiest cuttings to take. I filled a terra cotta pot with clean sand, watered it well. I took cuttings from stems on the mother plant that did not have flower buds, just growing stems. I tried many different lengths, the longest ones with several leaf nodes did the best (~six inches). I stripped off the leaves except for the top two fully opened leaves. I pinched off the growing tip. I cut each of the two fully opened leaves in half, perpendicular to the midrib. I dibbled the sand and then placed the cuttings. Oh I don't use rooting hormone. Water the sand again. Plastic bag over the pot for humidity. DON'T LET THE CUTTINGS DRY OUT! It took a while but I got 3 out of about 6 cuttings to take. When you see new growth coming out from the top, you can start fertilizing and thinking about transplanting the new plants.
2. Ninebark. In progress now! SSG cut the branches for me at the Spring Swap and it looked like some of the twigs did have flowers on them. No biggie. I stripped off the leaves in the same way as #1, again tried lengths ranging from 3-5 inches. This time I cut the bottoms of the cuttings just BELOW the leaf node. I always thought you should just above the leaf node but for some reason I started doing this and have more success. Again, no rooting hormone. I used clean Miracle-gro Potting mix, put all the cuttings in a 6" pot, put the whole thing in a ziploc on the counter next to the window. There's new growth already, and I'm starting to open the ziploc slowly to allow the babies to acclimate to the lower humidity. We are not out of the woods yet, still vulnerable to fungal growths, but so far I have 8-10 cuttings that look like they might have rooted. :) That reminds me, I need to put a little weak fertilizer in there.
There's lots of books at the library on plant propagation. I really liked Plant Propagation from A-Z, because it had a comprehensive list of plants, when to take cuttings, what method works best. I've failed miserably at rhododendrons, honeysuckle, azaleas, oak-leaf hydrangeas, etc.... The boxwood cuttings would have taken if I had remembered to water them. :( Rooting hormone doesn't work for me. I don't get the concentrations right, which is weird coming from a scientist who works with concentrations every day.
Now, once you get the hang of cuttings, you should try grafting. That is SERIOUSLY fun stuff.
Gita, I wanted to tell you we enjoyed some of that great HD customer service when we bought the grill. Once we got a guy flagged down, he told us we could either take a boxed or fully assembled grill, Then checked the assembled ones and found they had all lost one of the feet, He got one in a box, carried it all the way to Mark's truck for us on his shoulder! Nice guy.
How hot is it "up there" - we we're hovering around 89-95 today, not "too" humid, but it was hot as blazes watering the plants - desperately looking for shade to stand in!! At this rate, I'll have "fried green tomatoes" without the actual cooking!!
thanks, Typ, that is very helpful! I think I'll try some additional ones--this time choosing stems that don't have flowers on them, and cutting just below the leaf node. Just wondering--what is the reason for cutting the remaining top leaves at midrib?
Sally, congrats on that grill!! I look forward to seeing photos of you and hubby with it, freshly grilled burgers in hand! :-)
Bec, it is *hot* here right now! :-o In the low 90s yesterday, expected high 96 today. Hoping for thunderstorms later in the week.
fried green tomatoes indeed!
Catmint, when I do any cuttings I cut remaining leaves in half crosswise. It reduces the amount of leaf that the cutting has to support, plus it shows me easily which leaves are NEW since they are whole. You want some leaf so it can make energy, but not so much that it wilts too much.
93 in my van at 12:30 pm yesterday when I left for work.
Cut the leaves to reduce the leaf surface area. You need some leaf for the new plant to photosynthesize but also need to reduce the surface area to reduce water loss when the leaf transpires. If the leaves are small, then it's okay to leave the whole leaf. But for big leaves like hydrangeas, cut the leaf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transpiration
I always take WAAAAY more cuttings than I can possibly use, there are lots of opportunities for them to die so while I have 8-10 potential rooted ninebark cuttings, I am really only hopeful to get 4 plants. This is a statistics game, which you can also read about in those books. 100% success is rare for most woody plants, esp. without a professional setup. Save yourself some space and put 8-10 cuttings in the same pot. Just don't leave the rooted cuttings intertwined for the whole summer, that wouldn't be good.
Sally, we crossposted! It took me a lot longer to say what you said though. ;)
haha, but you were more complete. Between us I suppose we got the job done!
I rooted cuttings of nine bark once also, it may be one of the more willing shrubs.
Here I am up early to enjoy the cool part of the day, but going to work soon enough I don't want to get dirty.
Thanks for all the cutting info ladies. I too am interested in practicing that this summer. I think I've just completed my first successful cutting so far. It's a helianthemum. I had a 20oz soda bottle on top of it with the bottom cut out and plastic wrap on top to seal out air. I used rooting hormone. A couple of days ago I gave the cutting a little tug and it didn't pull out so I'm assuming it rooted? Is there a better way to tell something rooted?
I was harvesting some blueberries this morning (yum!) when I noticed that a bag of Leafgro has been torn apart. Could this be raccoons? Or squirrels? I'm always leaving bags of mulch and Leafgro on the lawn but I've never seen this before. Btw, the blueberries nearby have been left alone and the raised beds haven't been dug up.
Sequoia: Yes, a gentle tug is the tried-and-true method of determining whether a plant has rooted.
Catmint: I have always heard that it is best to not take cuttings of a plant while it is blooming (even if you cut off the flowers). So if you don't have luck with your rose cuttings, try again when it is not in bloom.
Thanks Sally, Typ, and Happy! That is all very helpful. I'll go out this evening and take some more cuttings.
SSG, sorry to hear about the bag of leafgro! That must have been a tasty smelling bag! :-)
Seq, after the tug method, you should still wait till you start seeing new growth before thinking about transplanting. Might want to consider giving it a weak fertilizer. Gradually take the plastic wrap off, and if the plant is outside, on days like this you really need to be careful because the bottle can have a greenhouse effect and cook your plant. Oh yeah, I killed cuttings that way too....
Thanks Typ! I took the bottle off a couple days ago. Are you talking like a liquid fertilizer? Any recommendations?
I don't think it matters what kind you use as long as it's balanced and can be diluted. I use the Miracle-gro that comes in liquid form in a little bottle (marketed for houseplants) because that's just what I have on hand and I can drop a few drops around the soil and then dilute it by watering the soil with tap water.
I got out early this morning before work (while it was still cooler out) to plant a couple sedums and do some mulching and watering. I hope to take some pictures tonight of how things are looking.
Ok, thanks Typ, maybe I'll pick some up next time I'm at HD.
If anyone ends up with milkweed seeds, I'd be happy to take some off you hands!! It's only 11:30 here & already 89 with 52% humidity???watering will be v e r y late tonite!!
I usually always have asclepias tuberosa in early fall. If you remind me around that time I can mail a few pods out.
That would be great! I'll of course pay for whatever!!
Oh that wouldn't be necessary, just make sure to remind me because I am notoriously forgetful. It's best to wait until they've dried on the plant before harvesting and that's around late October. They definitely grow easily from seed though. Mine are close to blooming.
Gita, yesterday I was out back (at work) cleaning up perennials and moving them around into a more "intelligent" placement... goodness it was hot! Then, someone got the bright idea to turn on the sprinkler system.. all over the perennial tables!! ACK!! So now I was "steaming" instead of roasting. ;) I tell ya, I was totally drenched-dripping wet!! Did I go inside? HECK NO!! =) Turned out the high yesterday was 97 down here, and 99 today. So glad I was off today!
NO outside work for me today - just could not bear the thought of it. =/
Just unpacked 50 plants from Santa Rosa, this time I made SURE they are all under 15"!! The Coreopsis that was supposed to be 'shorter' are reaching heights of 5' or more! Either they love my clay/dirt or the fertilizer!! BTW - they have 300 plants on sale right now for $2.99!!
Becky, which Coreopsis are the ones that are getting 5' and more for you, and which new ones did you get?
Lemme see, I got 2 types of Veronica's, 2 penstemons, phlox David, 2 campanulas, solidago & a tiny, shorty grass with blue flowers
What a pretty selection! Can't wait to see pics after they're all in place. :)
The coreopsis is 'Full moon', very pretty paler yellow, but taaaaaall!
I noticed 'Full Moon' in a nursery recently--very pretty! I also really liked 'Route 66'. I was good though and did not buy one even though I wanted to! :-)
Oh those are a gorgeous one, the yellow is so gentle and yet rich at the same time. WOW, they sure are tall for you! They must love you! :)
I'm watching you Catzowsky, aalllways watching!! ALWAYS. ;)
LOL Speedie-Roz! :-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtWBlDC2-ss&feature=kp
I didn't know coreopsis grew that tall! Bec, you must have super-powered soil and sun! :-)
This message was edited Jun 19, 2014 4:58 PM
Ill get them all in the ground this weekend, in between working & hubby being gone - desperately hoping for rain, so it'll cool down a little - however, we're supposed to get 95+ degrees next week! It's only June!!
Yikes, that's too hot for newly installed babies! I wish I could share some of my rain here with you. Time for hose duty. =/
It was pretty hot, muggy and buggy here today and a few raindrops fell, but I got a lot done anyway....planted more Swap plants, thinned out and replanted some Great Blue Lobelia seedlings grown from seeds that germinated much better than I thought they would, mowed the lawn and did some pond cleaning.
I knew I had some NOID plants growing in my yard, some of which are from seeds I collected in Utah almost 2 years ago, but I spotted a few mystery don't-remember-sowing-seeds-there plants today. Fortunately, the mysteries have flower buds so I shouldn't be in suspense for long.
I have some kind of Western sunflower that just started blooming even though it hasn't reached 3 feet yet. I'll take photos when there are more flowers (already thinking ahead to the seed swap!).