Plant propagation discussions-April 2019

JU, here are some leaves from my crinium. Just to show yo how the snails clean the earth here in the desert.

I am on here early and it is cold, for us. Around 58 degrees and suppose to rain, but no rain so far.

Volunteer from Hospice will be here at 4pm so I can give the dogs a quick walk.

When I get the flash light out and go looking for snails, I sure find some spots that need cleaning.

I need to get busy and propagate some succulents.

I think I will run over to Home Depot while the volunteer is here because they have potting mix on sale and I need some combined with cactus mix for propagating. They are about 5 miles away.

Just got that idea, so I had better go comb my hair since I was outside in the wind refilling the hummingbird feeders.

Keith, what have you been doing? Good to see you will be on here more Gypsi.

I have the umbrella over the pot because the pot is cement and the water runs off the roof and floods the pot. Pot is too heavy to tip and drain out the excess water.

Ping Tung Eggplants finally setting blooms. Tabasco Peppers growing crazy with increased heat.
Sun Sugar cherry tomatoes going strong.
Still waiting on the Prudens Purple, so far so good.
Cukes are tiny, but growing fast. This is the Munchers.

Propagating kittens. This is Lucy Sunshine, a 1 mo old female gold tabby. She was on a construction site, paraded out and sat on someone's boot. The man took her to his church and my granddaughter sent her to me. She had a split lip, and a broken bones in a rear ankle, so walks funny. Vet deflead her, and now I am making sure she gets socialized, held, fed, etc. Doodle doesn't know what to do with her. But they only hiss occasionally. Remi on the other hand, has a kitten, she has slept with him. Follows him when she can, and I am glad for the babysitter! Shadow has nothing to do with her and stays totally out of her way.

Hi Sharon,
You should know better than to ask me what I've been doing because I will tell you and by the time I'm done you will be wishing you had never asked.
The answer is propagating like a mad scientist filling my greenhouse to the breaking point and wondering what I am going to do with all this stuff. Also spending lots of time birdwatching with the new feeder and checking for prospective tenants in all the bird houses I have created over the winter. Rent must be too high or quality lacking in construction as tenants are not flocking in. I was really hopeful for my 2 wood duck houses as there was a male wood duck swimming in the creek watching me install the second one. However I think I was too late and his mate was already nesting elsewhere so maybe next year. Yesterday I had 2 pairs of tree swallows checking out one of my 3 houses intended for blue birds. At this point I will be happy with the swallows because they will eat some of our Oxdrift mosquitos
Since you are going to be doing some succulent propagating I would like to share my recent successful experiment with that in a separate post so that I can post more photos to support it

As you know I have been propagating succulents for many years by stem cuttings twice a year. God says you don't grow tender succulents in the Arctic and my response is watch me. So in the fall I take stem cuttings to move inside for the winter and in the spring I behead any gangly stock and start fresh cuttings for the migration to the outdoors for the short summer.
In spring of 2017 I started dabbling with leaf cuttings as it is hard to increase your inventory of some varieties by stem cuttings. This is a lot slower process but I was having moderate success by simply laying the leaf cuttings on top of my homemade succulent soil mix. I would guess I was maybe having 30 to 40% success rate with this method.
As I started to spend a lot of time on Pinterest in the winter I was constantly seeing Pins showing leaf cuttings in vials of water. This just seemed wrong to me for the longest time but finally this spring curiosity killed the cat and I embarked on an experiment on March 11. See photo #1. I emailed my sister and her comment was why so many. I replied that the success rate with leaf cuttings is not very high. Well lo and behold I had 100% success. 29 of the babies in photo #2 taken this morning are the result of that experiment. The secret to being successful in vials of water is to let the cuttings lay out and callous over for a few days so they dont drown from too much water intake.
Leaf cuttings are not the way to go if you are in a hurry but if you have time the quality of the baby plant is superior as you get a high percentage of cluster heads. The triple headed dark Echeveria in photo #3 is one of my original leaf cuttings from 2017. If you are wondering why it looks like there are spots on the leaves I had just misted them before i took the photo. Its just water droplets.
There you have it. The moral of the story is think twice before you ask me what I've been doing unless you really want to know. LOL
Keith

This message was edited May 24, 2019 9:42 AM

Keith, asking me what I'm doing produces similar results. One thing is obviously producing too many day lilies.

Another is I found a fig rooted on top of a waterfall and the owner of the tree let me cut off the rooted part. After a day in soil it looked terrible so I dug it up and put it in water, then cut back to where there were moist leaves, and another cutting with no roots had a moist leaf. i'll just show you what I started with for now.

I also managed to collect some orphaned sedum that we had to remove from stone we were cleaning and sealing and I am pleased that some of that is doing well for me in a pot. and I haven't got a pic of the sedum where i got it from or in the pot. Been pretty busy. I want a soil recommendation for sedum and I know I'm in the right place.

Wulfie (and all the other dogs) got a walk on Tuesday.

My climbing roses started from cutting from a bush I bought in 1992

Wildflowers on my corner. At the top there are some forsythia and a wisteria, and a white quince. The quince is buried in coreopsis, pink buttercups and a purple wildflower that may be ironweed. (showed up with a seed mix years ago)

Nice wildflower patch Gypsi. If I were growing sedum in a pot I would use 2 parts Sunshine Promix BX with mychorize and one part Cherry Stone poultry grit. Its hard recommending to someone so far away because i dont know what stores in your area would have that is equivalent to ours. Then all my pots get a good dose of 14-14-14 slow release fertilizer that feeds for 6 months if that helps any
Keith

that helps a lot. Don't know if I can get the sunshine promix but I can try. Poultry grit is easy. and a 14 14 14 - is that a dry fertilizer or a wet one, or a stick?

That is a dry fertilizer. The original one I used was Plant Prod and is getting hard to find. Plant Prod also sells a 16-16-16 and this yesr I got 16-10-10 ftom Nurseryland. Both are slow release and designed for use in hanging baskets or containers. The idea is to fertilize once when you plant and last for the season . I will send a photo in a few minutes. Warning. Veŕy expensive here. For the volume of containers I plant it costs me close to $200 a year. I know, I am a fanatic. Drives my poor wife crazy!

These are the ones I was able to get this year in Winnipeg. No one in Dryden sells it anymore

will check these out, thank you for sharing your secrets!

Sedums down here are like roses, fast drain medium, Water once a week if it hasn't rained in 2,
Deer arrived last nite, working on repellents, dunno if this will ripen in house with those teeth marks in it, but this is what I just brought in house. Cukes growing so far, 4) pic of the Celebrity after deer- still growing. 5) new slime growth, leaves mustard yellow color on anything it touches, new to me.

This message was edited May 27, 2019 3:38 PM

Stuff in bloom around the yard.

No problem Gypsi. You can keep that slime down there Kitt. That looks brutal. Nice flowers though

That small cucumber would not get any bigger in my garden. That is the size I like them.

Looking at your propagation Keith, no wonder we have not heard from you. That will take forever when you get ready to move them outside.

I will try the succulents both ways. I will keep photo records so we can compare. I just need some bottles like that. I have nothing even similar.

Kitt, your tomatoes look terrific. My Juliette is putting on big time. Celebrity is OK and Early girl has none. Kitt, the new kitty is adorable. Are you going to keep her or just fostering? That slim looks like an alien form. Yuck.

Gypsi, that fig tree is really rooted. Hard to transfer from water to dirt. I remember reading the soil needs to be really moist for the transfer. Google it, of course, in your spare time. Your day lilies are beautiful.

Everyone's hard work is showing up. I have flower in the back of my car that I purchased Friday. Hopefully they are still alive. I will plant them tomorrow in two bowls near the patio in the back. It is an area that is in Vern's direct view. Had violets but they are done.

Vern did not have a good day. Was really scary this morning. He has had a really bad headache two days in a row and he never gets headaches. This morning the caregiver could not get him awake. He was somewhere but not here, for several hours. Around 2pm he finally came back to earth. Still kind of weird but did eat some soup that i blended. And then some ice cream.

You all have a wonderful Sunday and have a great Memorial Day. Hugs, Sharon

I couldn't get early girls plants this year and I didn't get my juliette seeds started, but I do see fruit on my cherokee purple. Orange fruit. will take a pic tomorrow.
I'm going to start some tomato seeds when I am home to water them, early girl does pretty well as a fall tomato and juliette as an any time tomato. Spring was just so busy.

The fig was quite sad in dirt, but had 2 leaves that were not dry and crinkly, one on the lowest limb, so I cut the top off, and one on the next lowest, so I trimmed the top from and dropped them both in water. Will take a look tomorrow

So many chiggers here right now, I had to go to town to tend some business and wore sandals so I didn't go in the garden or the yard, hope nothing died. Will sulfur up and go out tomorrow. Hope your plants survived Sharon. Sometimes other things get in the way, glad Vern came back for ice cream...

Sharon those little vials that the succulents were in came from The Dollar Store here. Give that a try. Verns condition sounds so much like my Dad's last year. Some days they couldn't wake him and then he would suddenly wake when he was ready. They called me to come home the one time when he had been sleeping way too long then shortly after I got there (3 hour drive) he woke. I spent the night in his room with him just in case and then he was good again for a while. I really feel for the 2 of you.
Kitt, I stole your idea of putting the Tumbling Tom tomatoes in a hanging basket. Doing well. Still in the greenhouse of course but is starting to bloom

I might have to get a succulent just to try that leaf propagation technique. Trouble is how much sun do they need? I get too much or shade. My ice plant is alive on the east side of my north facing front porch.

Moved my Tumbling Tom to porch- more shade for that tiny basket and morning sun. I also have just been watering with fish emulsion so it is looking better than that 91* garden sun.
Got worn out too early so am foregoing the fire and s'mores after a huge supper. Feet up, eyes droopy.
Our hugs and prayers for Vern, wish I was Gypsi's age kinda, but don't want to go back- I just want the energy.

Vern came back today his old self. Got up after a ed bath and sat at the breakfast table with the care giver and ate a large omelet and some dump cake. Then by two he was going down again. I feed him some soup for dinner. Right now he is sleeping. His daughter called today and h got really frustrated while he was trying to talk to her and grabbed my arm with such force, I have a big time bruise.

I did get a few things lined up to do tomorrow with gardening. We will see how that goes. I have been on the couch all day keeping an eye on Vern. Today was windy and cold. High of 72. Will be in the 90s soon and then my poor garden will not know what to do.

Keith, my caregiver is a dollar store expert. I will show her the photo tomorrow of the bottles.

This is a plant that is in the greenbelt. I took a photo when I was walking the dogs this morning. It has other stems and many seed pods. Anyone want some.

Kitt, Little Sunshine is adorable.

First photo is Boots watching us walk by on the greenbelt while she is sitting in one of my pots inside the fence. Second photo is the desert plant I was referring to.

Kitt, I am with you on the not wanting to go back in age thing. Wish I could just hold out where I am but no going back. I feel sorry for the young having to grow up in this world today. We had the good life but its all going to pot.
Sharon, I hope that aggressive reaction Vern had today is rare. That is not something you need. Good luck with the bottles. I had no idea where I would find them but I showed Kira what I needed and she told me the Dollar Store had them.

Dollar store, Hobby Lobby, Michael's type stuff are those little bottles.
Last bed has been set on the metal fabric, needs to be lined and filled, but I am in no hurry in this heat, and I can fill and tweak a bit slower with this one. In the meantime the deer left stuff alone last night- I had so much stuff up in around my plants, chuckl.
I picked that pickling cuke this morning, it will probably get sliced into vinegar, salt and water tonite.
I figured my fennel and dill and parsley were going to be short of needed this year, I have Black Swallowtails cats everywhere! I even noticed another plant returning I had thought died, a couple of milkweed hiding in the weeds! I will need to water again there as well come tomorrow early.

Vern awoke this morning near his recent normal but quickly after breakfast deteriorated. He feels like he may have a fever so we gave him Tylenol. That was at 2pm and he has been asleep ever since. I did not seep well last night but am not tired. Hopefully I will do better tonight. I was going to plant a few new annuals in one of Vern's pots right off the kitchen patio area but he wanted to go to bed. So that did not get done.

We had big time wind last night and that might be why I did not sleep. Then about 3 minutes of rain. Just enough to get everything spotted.

House keeper was here today so the house is nice and clean. She called me into the kitchen to review what science experiments, that were growing in the fridge, I wanted to keep. And then she had many bottles over a year past best by date.

Kit, that new bed looks fabulous. My mother used to slice cucumbers and place them in vinegar and water. I never got the portions right so they never tasted like Mom's. I loved them. But I spent a lot of time in the garden, just eating the right off the vine Mom made sweet pickle relish out of cucumbers and red and green peppers. Best sweet relish you will ever taste. I have the recipe if anyone wants it.

My problem with age is I forget how old I am and I think i am just moving and grooving then I walk past a mirror and this little old lady is walking by.

Hey guys, thanks for the info on the little bottles. My caregiver can pick them up for me.

I am still on the snail hunt. Last night I found a very large one chomping on one of my largest succulents. I snail hunt when I take the dogs out for their last potty, just before my daughter and her husband get here to help put Vern into our bed.

Right now I need to put the garbage and recycle cans on the street.

Talk at you tomorrow. Hugs, Sharon

oh Sharon I so get the mirror thing. I've worked in the sun for years, 20 years doing ponds, and the wrinkles are way past olay stage. I'm not getting a tacelift, I have mirror aversion techniques...

Today was the last "cram" day for ponds, got 2 done in Dallas, got my pressure washer stolen from truck on the first one.Filed police report, bought another washer, did 2nd job. New washer is in my garage. We have a job thursday, meantime I'm off a couple of days, except i do have a filter to clean and a pond overhaul to bid... sleep is coming.

Kitt, your raised are The Envy of Dave's Garden!!! It must tried a lot of soil to fill those suckers.
Sharon, is there any way Vern may have a bladder infection. My sister -in -law was a nurse in the long term care unit where Dad spent his last couple years. She said there were 2 things that really sent the old fellas into orbit: full moons and bladder infections. We're past the full moon.
Gypsi, sorry to hear about your theft problem, no profit on that job!

some profit, I had 2 dallas jobs yesterday, the one with the theft broke even, the 2nd one paid enough to cover my helper for the day and give me $25 left over, lol.

I had the numbers off the washer, may call some pawn shops in that area...

That recipe for cukes is older than my great grandparents, Sharon. It starts with Brine water, then add in a dash of vinegar( I love Heinz apple cider vinegar, but distilled white is good too.) Thin sliced cucumber, a few curls of red onion, and ice them down a bit. Remember the salt, it has to taste right with the brine water- like not quite as salty as you would gargle a bleeding tooth you just pulled! dash the vinegar til it TASTES right, but the cukes are going to soak it up. Some folks use suger in that recipe, but I don't like it with sugar.

Thanks Kitt. I will try that. Costco has cocktail cucumbers that are just like young cucumbers.

Keith, I thought of that and they tested and said no. I had a woman friend that lived to the age of 102 and a UTI took her down.

Gypsi, I totally dislike thieves. Such creeps. Me, being you, I would have looked up into the heavens and said, "I do not deserve this". I am so sorry we have such low lives in this world.

Sharon, I am with you when it comes to a hate for thieves. When I was in retail I was always the "Go To" on duty cop when staff smelled a thief. I may not be tough but I can outrun the best of them and I've caught my share. When I was at Canadian Tire I chased one right off the property, across Hiway 17 and kept him cornered in a fence by the railway tracks until the cops finally found me. I quit worrying about getting them charged because that was a lost cause but at least the cops got his proper name because he lied to me and I issued a trespass notice so that he could never return to the store without being charged. Issued a good number of those in my time. One time also at Canadian Tire I noticed a guy with a lot of merchandise stuffed in his pants. I followed him outside until it qualified as theft, had staff call the cops and I ushered him back into the store to a washroom and told him to remove his pants . He had 9 baseball gloves stuffed down the legs of his baggy pants AND no underwear! It turned out he was an escapee from the mental institution in Thunder Bay. I could keep going all night with these stories but I guess this is a Propagation Forum. LOL

Chasing down thieves in Texas isn't safe - too many are armed and they really don't care if you live or die. I did walk up the alley and asked a neighbor if he'd seen anything. I know it wasn't anyone from that neighbor hood. Gardener or contractor probably. but if they will steal in broad daylight no telling what else they will do.

Have a 4 year old here, have to run

well my fig propagation effort is quite dead. but apparently there is one sedum I can grow It's in the new bowl, and it's on the ground under the bowl, next to the porch, by my hardy oxalis.. And my first tomatoes, Cherokee purple. Pics from May 26th.

Just figured I'd see if anyone still visited here

Actually I am still watching the thread , I like the tomatoes ,
I Have not had much to talk about ..
1 coreopsis and penstemon ,
2 iris .
3 a not so good photo of a Monarch chrysalis .
4, 5 Swallowtail larvae on fern leaf dill

Occasionally I get to come thru when Ms Warbeast is terrorizing someone else. 'Leave the ears alone Lucy' No, Lucy kitty, he is bigger than you.. Ummm, Lucy, usually the dog chases the tennis ball.
That lemon catnip that fungus was on is blooming really well.

Ms Warbeast is a lively one, did she try the catnip Kitt?

and Ju, now I know what penstemon looks like.

none of my cats are interested in catnip. Fish is another subject. Ms Lucy came from the New Braunfels (N San Antonio) area. Found on a construction site when her tiny limping toes walked out and sat on a workers boot. Trip to the vet got her fleas chased and the info she is 1 month old May 27, the guy took her to my granddaughters church ( she is a youth director there) and my granddaughter took her home. Broken ankle bone was the limp. Her kitten dislikes Lucy intensely, so Ms Warbeast was relocated to me to babysit. Took 3 days to get her fed enough to quit eating fingers when the dish was set down. She was more belly than kitten, but she grew so fast she is having a hard time keeping the belly full. I hear other kittens have been showing up there now, but my SIL growled at his granddaughter, so subject closed. Chuckl.
Berry picking today, another 4# in the freezer and I am done with blueberries. Beautiful Ju!

Gypsi those are "dark towers" restarts There are many penstemon or beardstongue varieties Those I show are a tough plant ,
The poppies we talked about transplanting are getting ready to bloom ,

I found penstemon seeds on my march seed invoice but none got planted. Any idea if I would plant spring or fall in Texas? Most wildflowers do best planted in fall here.

yes those hungry kittens do need to eat regularly. My daughter didn't get her cat fixed quickly enough, and my granddaughter is wearing scratches from playing with the babies.

Gypsi I have some sprout but I have not gotten any other than the runner plants to grow , The penstemon bloom stem laid on the ground will make runner plantlets , I have several that did not bloom this time ,

1 rose salvia

Thank you for the heads up Ju. Maybe I will try to sprout the penstemon in the greenhouse in like january, so it can go out during our best weather in March