Does anyone know how to propagate confederate jasmine, and when would be the best time of year to do so here in Houston?
There are lots of other plants that I would love to learn how to propagate, but other than ya'll, I haven't found a "great" book that gives detaild instructions on how to make more plants to share and trade at the next round-up. :)
Tabitha
The best time for soft growth or soft wood cuttings is early Spring. Once my daytime temps start reaching the 90's it's harder to keep my cuttings turgid. This is not to discourage you, just a reminder to try again if these don't work "right now". If you are going to try them now it may be best to start when a few days or rain or overcast weather is in the forecast.
With vines or or other plants with a long distance between leaf nodes your best bet is to use a "heel" cut. This is cutting of 4 or 6" lateral growth out of another vine or stem. It is still best to use soft wood.You can find pictures of it on the web, google 'heel cutting' or 'Medial cutting'.
Another option is to 'air layer', I would still use the 'heel'' area, scrape the back of the node, dust with rooting hormone and put in a moisture retaining potting mix. This takes much longer, but has a higher rate of success doing hot weather, just remember to water the pot and keep the mix damp.
Don't worry about a book;0) there is tons of info on the Propagation Forum. It took me a long time to get the hang of doing cuttings. Some of the info on the Propagation Forum can get confusing, all of it is correct for the person doing the cuttings, just didn't always work for me.lol It's a matter of experimenting and finding what works for you. Good luck and have fun trying.
I use a form of trench layering.
Take a long vine like this with several leafy branches. Do not cut it from the mother plant.
This message was edited May 17, 2008 6:21 PM
Wound the main vine by scraping a small amount of bark off in several places.
Dig a trench the length of the vine and place the vine in it.
Bury the vine, leaving the leafy branches exposed. Now the hard part, wait a couple of months.
This message was edited May 17, 2008 6:07 PM
I forgot the photo for the last post. Here it is
Here is one I planted about a month ago. You can see where the roots formed where I wounded the vine ( white arrows). But roots can also form on the veritcal leafy branch ( red arrows).
Finally just cut the vine into rooted sections and plant.
It's a very easy and dependable method and you don't lose any cutting because they aren't separated from the mother plant until after they have rooted.
This message was edited May 17, 2008 6:20 PM
Thanks all for this info. Thanks too Madrid for asking the question! When it is in bloom, I wish for more plants. Is it o.k. to root while in bloom? Weather has been a bit milder still.
That was an awesome explanation! The pictures were very helpful.
I was telling a friend how wonderful Dave's Garden was and how much I loved the little confederate jasmine you gave me at the College Station round up. She said she loved the few vines that grow along her fence, but she wished she could have more plants to fill in the empty spots between them. Now I can tell her how to propagate it, and maybe she will grow a few more for me too. It smells heavenly.
I am really enjoying the many plants I got from you, and hope to one day be able to grow some to share. The bat-face cuphea is one of my favorites.
Tabitha
The bat-face cuphea is one of my favorites also.
This is the mother of all the cuttings I brought.
WOW! How long did it take to grow that big?
The plant is a little less than a year old, but it got almost that big last year before I sheared it back. I cut it back to about six inches in february of this year and it was back in a couple of months. Cutting it back a little will help it grow fuller.
