Monday 9 August 2010

Propagation - A precise science


1. Cut a stem off a plant and place in vase
2. Add other flowers
3. Leave said flowers in vase too long and petals are all dropped and messing up your window sill/table/shelf
4. Eventually get round to throwing flowers away - not in bin but on flower bed to decompose naturally.
5. Notice that some have begun to root
6. Place in soil or pot somewhere and hope for the best
7. et voila!

A new Gaura.

When will I stop being amazed by plants?

10 comments:

hillwards said...

Plants are amazing! About seven years ago, I put a mango stone (from a supermarket fruit) into a pot of compost, watered it and sealed it in a clear plastic bag and abandoned it under a window. One day a month or two later I realised that there were some beautiful pink leaves coming out of the pot, and the bag was promptly removed and the mango flourished. Until we moved house last year and started building work. Along the way I'm ashamed to say we neglected some of the houseplants, the beautiful glossy leaves dropped off the mango and eventually this weekend i decided that the "dead stick in a pot" that I was occasionally still watering was really beyond saving. I took it down to the compost heap, and on a whim decided to bang the compost off the root to see whether the original mango stone was still there or had entirely decayed. Well, the stone had decayed, there were just a few woody roots. And a beautiful pale pink shoot about a fingertip long emerging from the top of the tangled roots! It is now repotted up, residing on a windowsill in the sun and I vow not to neglect it again... Amazing plant!

Cheryl said...

Hi Liz....I agree, it is just amazing.

My father uses this method all the time....I am always surprised at just how many times he is successful.

Su said...

That's the kind of propogation I do too! And I was given a beautiful acuba propogated by my friend via the same method!

Curbstone Valley Farm said...

Ha ha! That's the same propagation method I've been using for Basil and Mint. I bring cuttings indoors, and set them in a glass of water so they last a little longer in the kitchen. Invariably somebody sprouts roots, and gets replanted in the garden. Recycling in action :P Love your new little Gaura, he'll look lovely all grown up.

Kala said...

I hope you never stop being amazed by plants! I wish I had your passion.

VW said...

That is very cool. I've found mint doing that in my flower arrangements before, but not guara. I keep meaning to try rose propagation by cuttings but haven't gotten around to it. Someday . . .

Alice Joyce said...

That very magic is one of the things that keeps us gardening, I dare say.
xoxo
Alice

Bangchik and Kakdah said...

Their zest to grow is amazing. While animals have brains to do the thinking, I just wonder which part of a plant does that.... to grow, to bend, to shed leaves, to flower and so on .... ~bangchik

Chloe m said...

Tiny little miracle right there. I get excited about stuff like this. Only other gardeners can really relate to the excitement. I told my husband last night that the beans were starting to produce and he was not as thrilled as I was. How could you NOT be?

debsgarden said...

This is definitely my preferred propagation method. Once at work someone took a rose from a cut flower arrangement and stuck it in a can of seven-up. Sometime later we noticed new growth on the stem. Upon investigation we found that the florist rose had sprouted roots! A co-worker took it home and planted it.