February 2021: MAKING MORE PLANTS: THE SCIENCE, ART, AND JOY OF PROPAGATION

Downloaded book from Amazon the 26th of Jan. 2021

note: wash hands when working with plant, an watch out with the sharp instruments that this book uses.

lists “helping hands”

The author loves plants who is obsessed by seasonal changes

using propagation you can star new (more) plants

making new plants is pretty cool! it’s rewarding

know each plant as an individual. The author start in 1996 to start the propagation garden.

Propagation is different for each plant

The author likes to see the seed grow

Trial and error are great teachers

When weather warms (like 50 degree F.) tuber are brought up from dark spots from storage

for good propagation you need a good nature presentation

start different techniques for the propagation journey

The botany of propagation

you have fungi, mosses, and ferns

talk of sexual …know fern reproduction

most important food crop is rice, wheat, and corn that come from the grass family

These are the most recent flowering plant

fungi produces millions of spores set adrift from the wind

each corn silk needs to be pollenated 🙂

hummingbirds like the color red.

fruits used to help distribute the seeds.

seeds need germination

hormonal acid ABA (abscisic acid) responsible for winter dormentation

maybe conditioning with this inhibitors?

plants reproduce by seeds

plants can grow without any sex…like cuttings from a stem (location 388)

use grafting to create more plant (location 416) like wrapped twigs (with dormant bud)

Why sow?

sexual propagation comes from seeds

a seed is one of natures most ingenious gifts. The spiritual cosmos starts with the seed

seeds can be widely planted

could create a new plant

seed sowing is fun 🙂

seeds can be potted up!

use plant for foliage??

A hybrid is breeding between two different species

can have hybrid viger! for new plants F-1 first generation

Grow Your Own

maybe use day lilies (practice for about 3 years)

select particular “needed plants” (location 606)

Heirloom Purity

keep out other pollen

Hunting and Gathering

we pick seeds from all over:(

North American Rock Garden Society is a resource

The Source

original species

some hybrids are starle

some plants can be obtained thru the mail

maybe use a public garden catalog

Collecting Dry Fruit

contains seeds

harvesting dry fruits is “touchy”

might use a stick or cone to knock off the fruit

fruit must be totally dry to complete the the process of extracting

store dry seeds (need dry/clean seed)

put seed on top of the fridge, or in a closed jar

talk about ferns and spores location 823)

gathering seeds is an investment in the future 🙂

cones (pine)) have a sticky covering

to extract seed from a cone use a paper arch for support

seeds in cones can be discorded wasier with dish washing soap

cleaning seeds use a newspaper, and of course wash your hands

“faith in a seed”

Conditioning

a seed responds to warm weather and water

there are germination inhibitors in seeds to prevent premature sprouting

lack of oxygen could be an inhibitor

chemicals are applied to some fruits

varibility study:

put 10 seeds on a paper towel

fold towel over so they are covered

dampen with a spray bottle

slip into a plastic sandwich bag (zip loc)

place in a warm spot (75 degree F)

see if the seeds are obstructed

this is the test batch

Dry Conditioning

lightdryness is an inhibitor

Hard seed coat will prevent germination

The fire in yellowstone destroyed many seed germination inhibitors

seeds can be cleaned by using sand/or sandpaper

Light

for conditioning

stratification is chilling and warming

so nature has the control (its forces)

for seeds soak the seeds for up to 3 days changing water twice

40-45 degree F is the best (used for stratification)

cold is a big facto in conditioning

for propagation we have to mimic

Two step germination

there is a resting time in the 1st or 2nd winter (location 1101) period of conditioning

Sowing

sow seed inside with windowsill garden

create a propagation calendar

hardy seeds can be planted in a pot

some plants like a little neglect

The Great Indoors

like owning a greenhouse is a gardeners dream

use greenhouse windows

Artificial Light

need a commercially purchased “floral cart”

most seeds should be between 70 and 80 degrees

need thin cut electric heat

soil is the foundation

mixture of clay, moisture, oxygen, sand, and organic material

do we want to grow an indoor nursey?

good garden soil are in compassion

1 part drainage material to three part prepared mix (location 1257)

use a riddle to sift material (1278)

A perfect sowing medium holds both moistue and air

use a thin layer of chicken grit which prevents disease

clay pots are better for growing than plastic

need square plastic pots

seeds to be planted twice their thicknessave trunks that look like seeds

use grit

Water

once seed draws water it cannot go dry!

when seedling have true leaves, they must be transfered

humus, grit, drainage material, peat bases mixes (location1443)

Ferms

they look like trees

ferms was many spores for reproduction

Vegetable Reproduction

plants made from cutting will be larger than those prorogating from seed

for partial plant you need to help relieve stress

plants grow faster in warm climates

high humidity helps grow roots

sweat box (location 1684) propagator

Potting Up

keep young plant out of sun

depth of pot related to the length on the roots

softer material the better it will grow roots

trees don’t grow that well from cutting/ maybe seeds???? (location 1848)

herbaceous plants

most cuttiing come from sections of stems

herbaceous plants have soft stems

cutting need to be three to six nodes long (nodes where leaves appear) (location 1873)

when a cutting is right it will “snap”

most spring cutting will take between 2 – 3 weeks

judges to take cutting by it’s condition note the date or calendar

propagators usual use peat moss location 2194

Nearing Frame to propagate rhododendrons. Must be place directly north

in a water frame is bad for o2

edible figs are excellent to practice rooting

worms hate wet cutting and they will leave

avoid chemicals

Leave Cuttings (location 2378)

1 leaf can yield 100 “babies”

Simple Layering

for a shrub two years old

Simple Layering (locATION 2493)

propagating plants (location 2507)

mounting is for plants that have become to big.

Air or Chinese layering

Grafting is botanical fusion

grafting can help with disease resistance (location 2642)

grafting is great for propagation

Kinds of Cuts in grafting

v shape

witch craft

cleft graft

divide perennials after 3-4 years

plants with thick roots are easier to divide

big bluestem is easier to propagate thick stem

you need to prune the crowns and remove dead clumps in the roots

Geophytes are earth plants

can be grown from sed

Lilies can sprout in 3 weeks (some) are two step germinators

Corm appears like bulbs

tater tots are grown underground

Creeping Rhizomes can be used for propagation it stores carbohydrates

Roots

absorb moisture for the plants

always propagate with the largest roots

What’s a sweat box?

when propagating watch out for polarity of the roots!

you need patience to propagate plants

seed refers to species (no fruit)

seeds dry then die

Guide listed for propagating ornamental plants

talk of sowing of hardy seeds in winter {location 4655)

Red Pig Garden tools handcafty

check out chapter 5 (synopsis)