Plant Propagation: The Basics Spring 2016

welp, I ended the day with cutting down the big tomato in the basement and started propagating it again, and put the bottom with new growth outside .. now to tackle all the passion vines, calico vine and clerodendrum growing together.. my duranta golden dew drops is blooming.. the first growing area is now almost void of plants, so I don't have to turn the T5 on now..took the day off for my Birthday, slept until 10:15 am. Joe and I got the rain barrels outside undone and cleaned out and put back together, and then took me to a Movie and out to eat at Red Lobster after. ( I ate a whole lot of shrimp) Then we went for a walk this evening and I went down to play in the basement garden after that. It was a fantastic day. :)
I grew chia for my grand cats. They liked it.

OMG Debra, that's quite the jungle you've got going on in the basement. What is that gorgeous blue flower in the third picture?
My wife shouldn't have anything to b---- about with the couple propagating areas I have in the basement once I show her this. I have a 3 tier stand in one room that is the winter home for all my succulents. They have now been moved to the greenhouse and that area is my seed starting area for the next month. Then I have a 4 foot lighted shelf above her washer and dryer that is home to my family of coleus all winter and is currently the propagating shelf for my newly rooting coleus. Each set of new starts stays there under humidomes for two weeks to get rooted then out to the greenhouse.

I need to propagate New geraniums from cuttings, mine are all leggy. Is this hard ?

Thanks Ox, my Joe has given me the whole basement to use as a year round greenhouse/ nursery, since no one else uses it for anything. :D There is only one room in the whole upstairs that has NO plants in it at all. Joe used to B___ about it, but decided it was worth me being happy in winter. Now he helps by telling me what is blooming and bringing in the rainwater and such. He was the one who told me about the Duranta and the Oleander blooming. He is home all day.. I work.
Gypsy, you can take those leggy stems and cut them to about two inches from the crown, and bury them to the leaf tips in a new pot with vermiculite and potting medium. That is how I do my Citronella and Coleus every year. They will grow fine.

Same here. The wife works, I am home all day and loving it. But I am the plant/landscape fanatic here. Always have been but retirement takes it to a whole new level. Just came in from the greenhouse where I transplanted 180 new babies, mostly flowers and 32 peppers. Exciting weekend coming up. On Saturday 2 of my 3 daughters and I take our annual drive to Winnipeg Manitoba where we will hit a couple of greenhouses and bring back a car full of new babies. Much anticipated after the long winter we've been having

Last kids moved out in December 2009 (they were grandkids that time) and I have filled my place up with chickens plants, bees and aquariums. Used an empty aquarium as a mini indoor greenhouse this past winter, it worked pretty well.

I will do the geraniums tomorrow, Debra, after I get some vermiculite

This message was edited Apr 13, 2016 8:04 PM

Joe finally got the lawn out front spread out with weed and insect killer, so now that the scotts is on, he is hoping it won't rain for a few days. I've got about 30 tomatoe plants and about 15 peppers so far, growing outside in their community. I told Joe I am not planting tomatoes and peppers until after it rains this weekend, since this is anew garden bed, I am not trusting it when it rains. too much clay still ( I think so anyway).. I cupped up some rogue pink showy primrose tonight. when they are where they aren't supposed to be, I pot them up for give aways.
I need to get the rest of the brugmansias out, the remaining EE's transplant my moonvines and japanese glorys I started, and then I think I will be set, until the next round of seedlings are big enough to move. The aquarium is a great idea, I used mine a couple winters ago before I got these last two fish. I started a new bog garden Sunday, so can't wait to see it after this next round of rain. once it settles in, I'll get my bog plants back in. *sigh* two more years til retirement..

Debra: I dabbled a bit with bog gardening at the back entrance to my Japanese garden. Was my first attempt and I think I made a bit of a mistake. There are 2 separate bogs. On the left side of the bridge in the picture below the whole thing is planted with cattails and to the right is a larger one with goats beard, Japanese irises, and some kind of non flowering iris looking plant with variegated leaves and wild marsh marigolds. I dug both areas out and put in pond liner. Where I believe I made a mistake is that I don't remember if I read that I should put a few drainage holes in before I filled it with dirt or I just thought I should. Anyway I poked a few holes in the liner with a pick fork. So the problem is when there are long dry spells I have to add a lot of water or they dry out. Do you have any drainage holes in yours? The deer really love the new leaves and flower buds on the marsh marigolds in the spring so as soon as the snow is gone I have to get out there with some Bobbex spray

Chuckl, drainage holes for a bog should be off the top- an overflo. Like a farmers pond would need in case of heavy rains washing the whole restraining wall away. I made mine with a shelf for plants, then on a side toward where a low spot was, I made a flat drain tray to carry overflo into the yard. Cant give ya pix, we opted for xeriscaping plants when the drought hit and the snakes moved in for the water.

I use overflows, but I have ponds with bogs growing in mainly water too. I use the plants to filter the water on most of mine.

My bog garden was a pond, then that pond leaked, after several attempts to keep the pond, i gave up and filled it with sand, peat and soil , there my swamp milkweed, horstail reed, and other marshy type plants grew. Joe had to dig it out and it was wmptied, the plants are in heavy compost peat until their new home gets finished, there are three small holes on the bottom, and three small holes on each side , got the first layer of sand, then compost, then peat and vermiculite in and then heavy topsoil. waiting for this rain we are supposed to have. Joe said someday, I might be able to get a new pond,, but until then, I'll just get another little water fountain type mini pond tub. The reed, water iris and swamp milkweed are up and going in the holding pot, so I need to get this going.

I have been playing around with bogging ajugas, and I have a Texas Star Hibiscus that has been living in my pond with no dirt since 1999. It seems to limit the takeover size, which is NOT a bad thing. Dies to the roots each winter, never comes out of the water. I have a LOT of seeds if anyone wants any

Very interesting to see how you all do your bog gardenings and the different areas where you live. For instance Ox lives in Canada, doesn't say zone? The rest of you live in pretty much hot/warm areas, and the difference in plants. Very interesting.

No, I didn't want to eat the Chias. Robin is right. I wanted to know if you have experienced growing them and if they are invasive. But there again, the growing conditions would be so different it might not matter anyway. Thanks tho, if I do grow some, maybe I will beat the deer to it. And blueberries. jen

old fashioned Sempervivum
2 possible iris garden ,
3 winter sown poppies
4 Here comes the purple prince tulips
5 Green wheels sempervivum ,
I am delighted of the convo here , this thread ,, Hi all

Great succulent varieties JU. Where do you have them? Next to a path where you walk I hope. So you can see them. I hope to get outside with my daughter tomorrow and plant, direct sow, a lot of seeds. I have not done that before so wish me luck that they all, or a lot of them, germinate and grow. We'll see. My daughter brought me over a half dozen tomato plants of Bush Early Girls she started for me. Better than starting them over here when she was either bringing seeds or plants. So, a lot to do.

Bob has to go to a funeral tomorrow. A fellow who was the mayor pro tem of Ione. He had diabetes and had a sore on his toe they couldn't seem to get healed. It went to his knee where it got infected and paralyzed him completely. Died 2 days later. Is that weird or what.

We had another one several years ago that was the post master in a small town the other side of us, had an infected tooth and never went to the dentist. died of the infection. Some very weird goings on around here. Now you know why I spend so much time at doctors. But can you imagine how that tooth must have hurt? I don't know if he could not stand pain, going to the dentist? the tooth being infected must have hurt more than that. Don't know.

Well, gotta clean up the kitchen. Bob made dinner so I told him I would clean up the kitchen and make the morning coffee. ttyl,

I'm diabetic ,, sort of ,, Yes Diabetic sores are a big cause of the fatalities from diabeties ,,
Their near the drive a walks Jen , .. I was playing some today , probably to tired to do much tomorrow ,

I will work on this some more tomorrow , another I know works ,,

Diabetes is pretty dangerous stuff. Be careful with your gadgets Ju.

Infections are always bad. Tooth or whatever - doesn't take long to go catastrophic.
A friend of my grandsons was on his way to work on our backroads, following a school bus that was driving way slow. He passed and accidently managed to knock a guy on a 4wheeler? Quad? Into the fence. The 40yr old man bled out before help could arrive. I keep thinking ' are they even legal on the roads'? So now an 18 yr old is apt to face maximum punishment for vehicular manslaughter since the lawyer for the family is pushing for maximum fines. Barely out of hischool. I know the hi speed traffic dodging drivers have gotten out of control on speeds - and that includes truck drivers. I also know a great many of the truck drivers that are speeding dont have licenses...had one try to force me off the hiway yesterday- deliberately, in a construction zone that he wasnt even trying to hold his lane. We call police and get NO response til there is a mess to clean up. Some of the states are actually sitting on the road, but cant do anything if they dont have visible eyes on the offender. Summer is coming, I know it is! Time for work, Be safe guys, keep your eyes open!

You too Kitt stay safe ... at least try to naturally .


1 Stems sticks and Debris , mostly fleabane and sunflower stalk
2 After their cut , about a minute , you can see the bearing came out of place . but this was a quick test , not a full go .
3 the entire Device .. The drill might make 600 rpm on a good day ,, But works really nice on this ,..

A couple of Tomato seedlings outside and ready for the weather ,,,
I will finish the device tonight or tomorrow ,

ok, guessing the crown is where the roots meet the surface of the dirt and the upper plants start! Here goes.

Yes Gypsy, the crown is where the above ground growth starts.

here is mine...a tomato that was four ft tall, I cut it back.. and some other shots of the new do around the back yard.. and Ju, if you ever get that thing patented, I want to try one of those. LOL

Your shredder looks great Ju, I hope you had a beautiful day like we did in MI. 80 degrees today and I spent as many minutes as I possibly could outside. Yay! Nice looking Tomato seedlings too.

Kitt was right, our summer starts abruptly.

Thank you all for the cheerful !!!
Debra , Patents are for marketing ,these are made with made tools , They would have to be my own tools etc for patent , I can give one as a gift ,
If I had another drill I could send you the entire thing , All except the drill I can do , The smaller auger I have , Maybe a couple more , I will see how a few work , and you will get one ,

Robin it made it into the 80's here , it got summer time hot for a few hours ,
My other Tomato seedlings molded so I cheated and bought a Bonnie Cherry type to go with the thinner looking Golden Jubilee ..
Nice to have nicer weather isn't it ...?

Oh and Debra ,, nice plant pics !!!

This message was edited Apr 17, 2016 12:44 AM

Looking at all the pictures I think spring has sprung. Those tomato seedlings look great JU!! Debra, what are the two tall poles(?) sticking out of the top of your house, or the other side of it? Not sure. That is a tall tomato Debra. Yes, all it takes is a bit of good weather for folks to get in the mood. My daughter and I seeded a ton of zinnias, marigolds, few perennial seeds, so am going to be anxious to see how they do. Oh yes, and the yarrow you sent me last year JU, the white and rose. They do well when there is not a lot of water. So, I put them under the cedar tree since the tree uses most of the water not too many things will grow there. But the Yarrow seems to like it. I had some there and pulled it out a few years ago 'cause it had become so tangled and a mess. Oh I know, I could have just cut it off, but it was the end of the season and I was cleaning stuff up. So, there it went.

Well, time to get busy. A lot to do today since my daughter is leaving tomorrow and I want her to show me how to transfer pictures from my camera to the computer. Then I might be able to show you my flowers when all those seeds start blooming. LOL, cross your fingers, eyes, and legs. ttyl, jen

Lol Jen about Debra's picture. The two tall poles sticking up from her house are stakes for indeterminate Tomato plants.

Just kidding, they looks like electrical wires.

I'm so glad you've been busy in the garden, it'll be awesome to see some of your pictures...yay!

Well, I'm back finally. Had little luck on my search for vermiculite the other day. Walmart had none, Lowe's had one small bag. I did buy it, but I doubt it is enough for rooting the cuttings I want to try. So I'm just going to leave them in water & see what happens. So far most of them look good. Some of them have lost the bigger leaves that I left on them, but still look like the tiny new leaves are alive and healthy. So we'll see what happens. I do have another I'd like to try some cuttings from. I know it only as a "Variegated Hawaiian Hibiscus." Beautiful foliage, but has never bloomed for me. Do you suppose it is too late this season to take cuttings?

Wow, just 'previewed' this, found 8 typos to correct, guess I'm too tired to mess with posting now, maybe later.

Vern (Rusty)

I forgot vermiculite, but the organic potting mix I use is light, fluffy and has some, so geraniums underway.

Gypsi, what was the Hibiscus you were talking about in one of your posts I read yesterday. Was that one like the one Rusty was just talking about? a Hawaiian Hibiscus? Maybe she can tell you Rusty. jen

Gypsi, what was the Hibiscus you were talking about in one of your posts I read yesterday. Was that one like the one Rusty was just talking about? a Hawaiian Hibiscus? Maybe she can tell you Rusty. jen

I've got some blooms...yahoo! the weather's been great the last couple of days.

Robin Nice Tulips !!! Pretty Hyacinths ,!!! The Pink is neat !!!

Beautiful pictures Robin. Frame those!! Jen

Oh Robin, those colors are gorgeous. Great shots!

Awesome Robin!!! Sure beats anything up here but if this rain keeps up the snow will soon be gone. Out in the open all that's left is remnants of banks from winter plowing. Went into the bush behind the house today to get a wee bit of moss for a succulent hanging basket I was creating in the greenhouse and there is still quite a bit of snow and ice left there
Keith

Thanks for the compliments, Ju, Jen Debra and Keith but oh, I have more...

Texas Star Hibiscus and I have thousands of seeds. in a pond can be confined. In the ground this can be a very large clump.. Dies back to ground in freezes, returns in spring, pinch centers to get multiple blooms per stem, each stem has its own root system, doesn't branch much, blooms about 6 inches across. Very nice.

I love the pic's Robin) and Gypsi
There will be blooms here in a while

more pics. I bagged 3 paper bags of weeds yesterday, got 2 buttercup squash and 4 butternut squash planted in the garden, weeded the onions and asparagus and the garden, a couple of flowerbeds, found my returning asclepius tuberosa, and planted the 10 pack of hollyhock roots I found on my kitchen table that I bought a month ago.

Also rescued one of my expensive not been on the shelf and marked down dahlias. It was developing the classic droop that means fungus to me. So I moved all potted dahlias to the porch, and moved the drooping one to a bare pot, coated the roots in cinnamon and packed it in dry potting soil. Checked this morning, it isn't dead yet. Dahlias hate my ground (either dry or flooded) so this year they are staying in pots.

Photos: my garden full of wildflowers after I pulled the giant gone to seed broccoli and ome weeds. The fenceline garden with a texas sage, some asclepius tuberosa on the far right end, hollyhocks between, peace rose buds, and the pot with the plants Debra sent me, I put all 4 in, 2 made it. not sure which two