Advertisement

Brandies: Watching seeds sprout create excitement

 
Most fruit trees take a long time from seeds, but this mango was a seed just four years before this photo was taken. Now it is blooming immensely.
Most fruit trees take a long time from seeds, but this mango was a seed just four years before this photo was taken. Now it is blooming immensely.
Published Aug. 26, 2016

Only gardeners might understand how exciting it is to watch seeds sprouting.

I don't grow nearly as many plants from seed in Florida as I did on the windowsills from every January to spring in Ohio and Iowa. But I still grow a few things that way: milkweed, morning glories, Queen Anne's lace and zinnias in pots.

Son Mike has already started planting a few more rows of beans every week or so and watermelons. Early September is a good time to seed cabbage, cauliflower, celery, collards, kale, Swiss chard and cucumbers.

Okay, seeds take a while. Cuttings are quicker. And seeds don't always bloom the same color as the mother, since there is a father involved. Cuttings will be exactly like the plant that they come from.

When I first learned to root cuttings, I thought it was magic. I still do. You can use the pieces you prune away and have a new plant growing within a few weeks. There is a very complete column on how to root cuttings with nine different photos on my website. Check it out if you haven't tried this yet.

I am still learning. For a long time I didn't root in water unless the plant is very easy to root. Now I root my milkweed from the pruning of the leggy stems, some in post and some in bunches in a water glass so I can watch the roots grow.

Any cuttings that root in water should be planted in soil while the roots are less than a inch long. The water roots are a good start, but they also have to put out soil roots.

I am also finding that some plants, like my sprawling torenias, will actually root better in water than in soil or other medium.

Mostly I put the cuttings in perlite in dishpans with holes in the bottom or right into the pots I want them to grow in soil. They need to stay in the shade and have constant moisture but good drainage until they are rooted and putting out some new growth. Then pot up the ones from the dishpans and gradually move them all into more sun as needed.

Many of our plants are easy to root. Some, like roses, are a bit more difficult. I have about 50 percent success or less, but most of my rose bushes came from cuttings. Some, such as the Petrea or sandpaper vine, I can't root at all.

One more way to multiply plants is to divide clusters. This is especially useful for bromeliads. After several years, I have enough of the Blushing Bushes to do that, and they are just beginning to bloom.

Propagation can be rewarding if you want more plants for yourself, your friends, or your club for sales. It takes time and the cost of at least top soil or better to fill the pots. And there is no use to multiply past what you can use, so be wise and put the rest on the compost pile or as mulch around the banana trees.

But somehow I just can't stop. So I will be at Willow LaMonte's Open Garden from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sept. 4. And from 10 a.m. to noon on Oct. 15 and Nov. 12., I will have my usual open garden at my home with books and plants to sell and free cuttings. Come and help make my addiction useful. If there is something in my garden you would like me to propagate for you, email me and I will do my best.