Propagation
increase plant is one of the most interesting and rewarding aspects of gardening . Nature ’s usual method is by means of seed , but in many illustration , cultivated plant do not come true from seed , therefore to perpetuate particularly worthy plants , it may be necessary and quick , to circulate vegetatively , that is by division , suckers , cut , layering ( including aerial layering ) and budding .
For inside information ofpropagation by seedsee Seed sowing .
Division
This is a mere method acting of increasing plants , particularly hardy perennials with fibrous root , such as Michaelmas daisies , solidagos , heleniurns , which should be done in fall , when the plants are hibernating , or in saltation when just starting into outgrowth . accomplished cluster are lift with the aid of a crotch and divided into several pieces — an honest-to-goodness knife is useful for this purpose , although where the glob are large and tough it may be necessary to use two boundary line branching , douse them into the clump back to back and then act upon them back and forwards until the clump fall to pieces . sometime pieces of the woody root should be discarded and only vigorous well - root pieces retain . The same applies to certain bush including some of the genus Berberis , genus Spiraea , pernettyas and others that give rise a number of bow , rather than a single main growth . Rock garden plant , such as aubrietas , alpine phlox , some of the campanulas and mimulus , may also be carefully divided and replanted .
The rhizomatous roots of the tall bearded , or flag irises should be lift and divided soon after flowering ; July is considered the good calendar month for this work . Replant healthy , strong pieces only , and at the same sentence cut back the sword - alike leaves to within about 1520 centimetre ( 6 - 8 in ) of the rootage . When replanting , the rootstock should be on the airfoil and not bury , making the roots firm in the grunge .
sure orchids , such as cymbid , cattleyas and miltonias may also be increased by careful division . This is a major operation in a flora ’s life and of course , some upkeep and attention are necessary so far as tearing and shading are concerned , until they have developed a good new root arrangement to confirm themselves .
Suckers
These are shoots of underground bloodline which may often be removed from the parent plant , with the aid of a tart tongue , complete with roots . This put up a ready mean of increase ; on the other hand sealed plants , such as some poplar , plums , Amygdalus communis and rhus ( sumachs ) are liable to ship up lollipop over quite a spacious area which can essay a nuisance . The usual time to transfer suckers for propagation purpose is in fall or spring . lilac on their own root may be increase in this way , also raspberry cane , pernettyas , bamboos , Amelanchier and some rose mintage , among others .
Cuttings
There are various different eccentric of cuttings which are widely used for propagation purposes . The character of a plant used may dwell of unseasoned , green theme - emergence , semi - mature Natalie Wood , hardwood , single leave of absence , bud and roots . Stem thinning may be taken about 7 - 10 centimeter ( 3 - 4 in ) in length of half - ripe shoot in July or August of such plants as cistus , hydrangeas , hebes and the like .
Some , such as those of camellia , may have a heel of the honest-to-god Ellen Price Wood attached Cheer cuttings ) , though most cutting are prepared by trimming them just below a lymph node or joint ( ` nodal ’ cuttings ) with a sharp knife or razor blade . The cuttings should be inserted to about a tail of their deepness in pots of dampish sandy dirt , or John Innes cutting compost , or a mixture of grit and peat , or in a sandy spread bed in a cold build . Such cuttings should be shaded from the direct sun and be light sprayed over with tepid pee each morning until roots have shape . Any cuttings that show sign of damping off should be removed .
In the spring young shoots may be taken from the foundation of such plant as chrysanthemums and Dahlia pinnata which have been brought into early growth in a warm greenhouse or human body . These are hump as soft stem carving and after they have been prepared by trimming them flawlessly below a node or joint and dispatch the low-down leafage , they should be inserted to a quarter of their depth in moist , sandy grime in a propagating skeletal system with a temperature of about 55 ° F ( 13 ° C ) .
Delphiniums , lupins , heleniums and many other plants , such as the middling tender lemon - sweet-smelling verbena(Lippia citriodora),may be treat in this manner . Cuttings of the more raw plant such as dahlias may be root more quickly if the propagating frame is supplied with bottom oestrus and a very moist atmospheric state is maintain , by stick in the cuttings in pots of moist sand or other rooting mixture , and plunging the crapper in moist peat in the frame , and spray themoverhead each day . However , as far as the hardier plants , such as lupins and delphiniums are refer , too much heat and too moist an standard pressure may easily lead in the loss of cuttings through damping - off disease or other fungus disease . Once such soft stalk cutting have root they should be potted on an individual basis , or in some instances they may be planted out in the open air , provided they are not neglected . They should be protect from unmediated sunlight and drying winds while they are becoming established .
tough - wood cuttings sometimes refer to as naked cutting , are hire in October or November , of pieces of Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , shrubs , Ribes uva-crispa , currants , hedging plants , such as privet and lonicera , and various other works . Climbing pink wine may also be increase in this fashion , but the pct of intercrossed afternoon tea and floribunda pink wine that root is so short that commercially it is not a workable proposition .
The cuttings are made from art object of the current year ’s growth , about 25 - 30 centimetre ( 9 - 12 in ) in duration , pencil - thick , with a clean - cut made just below a bud eye . Remove all the leaves except a few at the top and introduce the cuttings in sandy grease to a astuteness of about 10 - 15 cm ( 4 - 5 in ) , take the soil firm around the cuttings . fain cuttings of hedge plants , gooseberries , currants , and other really hardy plant life , may be enter in sandy soil in the clear , choosing a reasonably sheltered place in fond shade — beside a hedge is often a suitable spot for a row of such thinning . cutting of more choice shrubs should be placed in sandy soil in a cold physique , or have cloches placed over them . Most of these laborious - wood cuttings will have made base by the following spring , when they can be planted out or potted up and maturate on for a while before they are imbed out in their lasting positions .
Leaf cuttings
good for you , well - educate leaves of numerous plants render a useful way of propagation . Those that root specially easily by this mean value let in various begonia , such asBegonia male monarch , gloxinias , genus Saintpaulia , streptocarpus , and some fern , both tender and hardy . After withdraw a leaf from the parent flora make a few lightheaded incision with .a shrewd knife across the vein on the bottom and then lay the leaf on the control surface of moist compost , consist of peat and needlelike sand . Peg the folio down lightly ; hairpins are utilitarian for this use . foliage cut should be shade from lineal sun and have a pretty warm and damp atmosphere . Begonia bequeath , among others , will produce root quite quickly , even when just place in a saucer of water , but the difficulty is that the base are so tender that potting on the young plantlets is quite a problem .
camelia are oft increased by substance of leaf - bud cuttings , which are similar , except that the leaf is take from the current year ’s growth , complete with a plump , hibernating bud with a smallpiece of stem wood sequester . Such leaves are inserted in sharp , damp guts in pots or in a propagating frame in March in aristocratic heat . With the aid of mist extension it is potential to carry on with much larger turn of cut over a long menstruation and the percentage that root is usually greater .
Rooting cuttings in polythene film
An interesting way of rooting hard - wood or semi - unvoiced - wood cutting without inserting them in the normal rooting compost is to use polythene film . The cuttings are prepared in the normal manner and a piece of film about 20 — 25 centimeter ( 8 - 9 in ) broad and , say 45 curium ( 1 ft ) long , is placed on the propagating bench . On one half of this , along the length , is placed a layer of moist sphagnum moss . The cuttings are then placed on this ( their bases may first be dipped in hormone rout powder if desired ) about 1 - 2 centimetre ( 1/2 1 in ) apart , their tip projecting over the sharpness of the polythene strip . The lower half of the strip of film is then folded up over the moss and the cutting . Then , starting at one destruction and work towards the other , the strip of film with the moss and cuttings is rolled up tightly and tie top and bottom with genus Raffia or fillis . root should eventually form and these will be seeable through the clear polythene . When all or most of the cuttings have rooted the scroll can be undo and the cuttings pot up or implant out , taking care not to break the brittle young roots .
The advantage of this method are that once the axial rotation has been tie up no further watering is needed as moisture will not evaporate through the film ( the roll should , however , be kept out of lineal sunshine , on the greenhouse shelf or bench , or even on a window - sill ) , and that a number of cuttings can be root in a quite small space .
Hygiene
When prepare cuttings , specially soft stem cutting which are liable to be attacked by soil - assume diseases or by virus diseases transmit by insect vectors , it is advisable to take precautions against such attack . Always use a uncontaminating razor blade or knife , if necessary sterilise the sword in a sterilant or disinfectant such as a watery solution of Jeyes Fluid . When a wad of cuttings of , say , dahlias or chrysanthemum is being train for root it is all important to ensure that they do not flag while they are waiting to be inserted in the compost . As before long as each thinning has been make from the chrysanthemum BM or dahlia tuber , drop it in a container of air water to which a few pearl of Jeyes Fluid has been added .
Virus disease may be transmitted by nurse pestilence such as aphids . For this understanding , when quantities of cutting are to be rooted , it is advisable to fume the greenhouse beforehand and also to spray stools and Tuber with a suitable insecticide and to dip cutting in an insecticidal solution before they are rooted . Trouble with damping - off diseases can be prevent by watering John Innes cutting compost with Cheshunt Compound . This is less necessary with pure sand or sand / peat miscellany as both these should be pretty sterile .
Root cuttings
These consist of piece of root about 5 atomic number 96 ( 2 in ) in distance taken from plants with fleshy roots , such as anchusas , oriental poppy , gypsophilas , verbascums , romneyas , seakale and Equus caballus - radish . This is an fall or winter job , the roots being lifted and then cut into firearm of the required length . The cuttings are ordinarily made from roots which are about the thickness of a pencil , though where seakale and sawbuck - radish are concerned they are made from side - root and may be thick than this . When making the cuttings make a light , flat cut across the top and make the base wedge - shaped , then there will be no problem as to which way up the thinning are to be placed when they are rooted in mysterious boxes of flaxen dirt .
The top of the cutting should only be just below the open and the pieces of ascendent can be order side - by - side , horizontally or vertically ( hero - shape close downwards ) , and made unshakable in the soil . The boxwood should be support in a cold frame or cold greenhouse for the wintertime months , and may be support in the open in the spring . When top growth is evident , which is usually by the spring , the cuttings should be planted or potted up separately . With plants , such as herbaceous phlox , Primula denticulata , or the little alpineMorisia monantha , which have much thin , thread - like roots , these may be treated in the same personal manner except they are merely placed lying on the soil in box , or pots , and then lightly cover with sandy ground . The greenhouse , evergreen , blossom bouvardias may also be increase in this manner , but with these it is best to take the cuttings in spring and take them along in gentle fondness .
Pipings
The rooting of pipings is a method of propagation used primarily for members of the dianthus family , particularly carnations and pink . pipe are in effect a type of cutting , but or else of using a knife to make the cutting , the shoot is pulled out from the main stem . The crown of the result shoot is maintain gently between the ovolo and forefinger , just above the first node , and pulled until it slides out of the lymph node where the first pair of leaves has spring . The main part of the stem should be hold with the other hand . There is no penury to gear up it in any further way , and the pipage can be insert in a sandlike compost to root in the usual way . Pipings are usually taken in former summer from young non - flowering shoots .
Vine ‘ eyes ’ Pieces of dormant one - year vine retinal rod , each with a plump bud , are dilute into length of about 4 cm ( 2 in ) , which are virtually prow cuttings . With the help of a incisive tongue remove a cartoon strip of wood 3 mm ( 1/4 in ) heavyset from the wood behind the bud to encourage antecedent geological formation . The slice of rod are then pegged down individually into tidy sum containing sandy grease and placed in a propagating physical body with a bottom heat of 75 ° F ( 24 ° C ) and maintain moist . When roots have formed and top ontogenesis is evident the piece should be potted separately and grown on under glass in a temperature of about 60 ° F ( 16 ° ampere-second ) .
Layering
Numerous shrubs , such as rhododendrons , magnolias , syringas ( lilacs ) , sturdy heathers , as well as figure , loganberry and naturalise pattern of blackberry bush , are readily increased by this means . With these industrial plant the work is done in the autumn or during the dormant season , as with clematis , jasmine and honeysuckle . delimitation carnations and garden pink , however , are layered in July , after they have flower , and the layers will root in a matter of hebdomad in the strong stain . The more permanent shrub may take six months or longer to break sufficient roots for the layer to be severed from the parent works .
A stratum should dwell of a long , sound shoot that can be bent down to the ground where it is pegged down into moist dirt to which peat and astute sand have been added either in the open ground or into a flowerpot filled with a similar compost . Before the stratum is pegged down , or kept in position with a stone or brick , a gash should be made with a needlelike knife on the underside of the stem , so that the radical is lop horizontally for about 3 - 5 cm ( 1 - 2 in ) , the cut being made so that it passes through a node or spliff . This is the part which should be pegged into the soil . The target of making the cut is to checker the flow of sap and the cut will then callus and roots develop at this point . The same object may be attain with many shrubs by only twisting the shoot , or bending it until it is partially broken , at the point where it is to be pegged into the ground . With such vigorous plants as the blackberry and loganberry all that is necessary is to peg down the tip of a stem and this will quickly make roots in dampish ground . This is know as tip layering . With strawberries , the runners are pegged down in June and July . source are made cursorily and the rooted layer can be severed from the parent flora in August and September and transfer or pot .
Layers of clematis should not be made from the current twelvemonth ’s growth , but from parts of the stem that are 18 months old or more . This also is done in the dormant time of year and the same method implement to the climbing honeysuckles ( loniceras ) .
Aerial layering or air layering
This method is useful with certain industrial plant that can not readily be layer in the soil because of their erect wont . It may be used with deviate success with a wide range of mountains of flora , admit camellias , prunus , sweet gum , marvellous rhododendrons which can not be layered in the ordinary manner , conifers , and so on , as well as certain glasshouse plants , for example , Ficus elastica , the India - natural rubber plant , when it becomes leggy . The basic principle are the same as for average layering , but as the branch can not be dead set to the ground , the priming must be taken to the leg . However , soil is not used , instead damp sphagnum moss is the root medium .
Another difference is that a complete ring is cut around the shoot with a piercing knife about 23 centimetre ( 9 in ) from the solar apex and then a generous handful of moist sphagnum moss is placed all around the wound , after any leaves on this part of the root word have been removed , but not those at the tip . The moss is kept in place with a piece of polyethylene ; black-market polyethylene used in a three-fold layer is good for this purpose . This is then carefully tied top and bottom to take form a neat trivial bundle . Healthy vernal pencil - thick shoots of ripe wood of the previous twelvemonth ’s growth should be chosen for air layering , not old , backbreaking - Grant Wood . April is considered the best calendar month to do this study , but in a late time of year May or early June may prove satisfactory . When roots are to be seen in the moss , the stratum should be severed from the parent and the unseasoned plant very cautiously potted in an appropriate soil compost . This is tricky , for at this stage the roots are raw and easily relegate , also the period during which the flora are do further roots into the dirt compost can be a unmanageable one , so that they will take careful attention and breast feeding until they have become conform to their new conditions . Careful shading from direct sun and daily spray with tepid water will assist them at this period , either in a cold flesh or cold greenhouse . sealed glasshouse plant may be propagated in this manner and these will require much warmer conditions when they are being grown on . The time for an air layer to make beginning varies considerably with the type of plant , in some representative it may be many months , though the time may often be slim down by the exercise of a hormone root pulverization sprinkled round the cut on the stalk before dampmoss is placed around it .
Budding
This is a method widely used by commercial-grade growers , in finical of roses and yield tree . By selecting nearly concern antecedent stock on which select buds are inserted vigorous plants are obtained more quickly than if they are propagate by other means . Budding is done from June to about mid - August and showery weather is the most favorable , blistering dry weather condition being forfend whenever possible . A plump bud from the current year ’s outgrowth is choose and cautiously cut out with the aid of a sharp bud knife . Start the cut about 2.5 cm ( 1 in ) above the bud and end it about 2.5 centimeter ( 1 in ) below . The bud , complete with a thin sliver of Mrs. Henry Wood beneath it can then be removed , with a piece of leaf - stalk which is helpful when handling the bud . This should be cut back back later . Next a neat , T - shape section is made into the bark of the stock plant and with the aid of the hold of the bud tongue the layer of bark is open up so that the bud may be inserted in the T - cut , pushing the bud as far down the upright cut as possible . It is most authoritative that the bud is not take into account to become dry before it is put in position . at last bind the bud in position with raphia or adhesive tape measure . Bush roses are bud as most as possible to priming coat level , but stock roses and weeping received prunus , and the corresponding , are budded on inventory 2 - 2.3 m ( 6 - 7 ft ) in height ( 2.3 - 2.5 megabyte [ 4 - 4.5ift ] for stock rose ) . If the bud turn brown and shrivels , this is evidence that the bud has not ‘ take ’ ; this is usually manifest within three weeks . Where the rose bud has demand it will be necessary the following February to bring down off the grow top of the rootstalk , above the period at which the bud was inserted , leaving about 2.5 centimeter ( 1 in ) of the stem of the stock above the bud for protection .
Scales
Plump scales , mainly from lily bulbs , provide a useful means of increasing stock . These are best remove from the parent medulla soon after flowering , or in the autumn , and placed in boxes check moist peat and sand . modest quantity can be put in polythene bags containing moist sphagnum moss where they will soon start to make roots . The bags should be hung in a cool , shady shed or garage . deliberate potting will be necessary as the trivial theme are brittle and well broken . Lilies increased in this manner will , of course , be true to colourize and will not vary as will plant raised from seed .
Gladiolus cormlets
At the base of gladiolus corms , when they are lifted in the fall , will be set up numerous corm - lets , known colloquially as ‘ spawn ’ . Where good varieties are concerned it may be worthwhile transfer and salt away these cormlets , set them in trays of dry peat and lay in them in a freeze - free position for the winter . In March or April , they should be plant out in well - drained beds to grow to a blossoming size of it which is ordinarily reached in three years .
Hyacinth bulb propagation
Thetwo methods used by commercial growers to increase hyacinths are known as excavation and notching . Both give the same result , but the first method bring out legion small bulbs , while those on notched bulbs are larger in size but less numerous . With notched bulbs four or six cuts are made with a sharp knife across the base of the bulb , like the spokes of a cycle , to form a shallow fin - shaped channel . The digging method ask careful scooping out of the base of the bulb to leave a conic slit . In both illustration , the nucleotide is then dusted with small-grained Methedrine . The bulbs are then placed upside down in an airy room with a constant temperature of 68 ° F ( 20 ° C ) , and high humidity . This work is unremarkably done in September and in about five weeks time bulbils will start to form on the groundwork of the mother lightbulb . The temperature should then be leaven to 75 ° F ( 24 ° C ) and in November the bulbs , complete with bulbils , should be imbed in shallow boxes of sharp sand and protect from frost for the wintertime . In the spring the bulbils are remove from the mother bulbs and stored in a dry precondition until former fall when they are engraft up and grow on until they achieve blossoming size .
Mist
Modern electrically contain mist multiplication units are fitted with jets that emit a fine mist spray to wrap cutting with wet in rules of order to raise the relative humidity . This used to be done with the aid of a hand syringe but it is much more accurately carried out by the ‘ electronic leaf ’ which is placed among the newspaper clipping . As presently as the ‘ leafage ’ becomes ironic the nebuliser is turned on for a predetermined full point . Cuttings inserted in a arenaceous propagating bottom heated by galvanic dirt - warming cable television will root more chop-chop than in a cold underframe , and with a mist unit instal it is not necessary to shade off cut , except during very spicy , sunny conditions .
easy shank cuttings root under mist must be pot at an former microscope stage and produce on in a glasshouse before being hardened off . Semi - heavy - Ellen Price Wood cutting can be left in the mist for a longer geological period as they do not usually make so much top growth , and hard - wood cuttings can stay in the carving bed until the spring , if necessary . Mist propagation is not the answer to all the problems of rooting cuttings , but it is particularly useful with magnanimous - leaved evergreens , such as camellia , and it has also proved successful with acers ( maples ) , large - blossom clematis hybrids , various conifers , dahlias , Daphne , hibiscus , ilex ( holly ) , magnolia , Mahonia , pittosporums , pyracanth , rhododendrons and azaleas , syringas ( lilac ) and viburnums .
Rooting compounds
chemic substances , know as rooting internal secretion , are available both in liquid state and pulverization shape and are utilitarian for accelerating the rooting of cuttings that may otherwise prove difficult . They are not the answer to the rooting of all type of cuttings but when used according to the Lord ’s instructions can evidence to be a valuable aid . With the powder , the cutting is prepared and then the foundation is dipped into the pulverization before being insert in the rooting compost . When using the liquid formulation the fain cuttings are suffer in a container with 2 - 5 cm ( 1 - 2 in ) of the liquid in the bottom for some hour before being sneak in in the rooting compost .
The existent substance are used in minute quantity . For case , one of them , naphthoxyacetic acid is used at the rates of between 2 parting and 25 parts per million . Three other substances , alpha - naphthalene - acetic acid , indolylbutric dose and beta - indolyl - acetic acid , are used at rate ranging from 10 - 200 function per million , bet on the type of carving which is being root .
