Cuttings from last summer

Hi ya,

Is there a section on propagation on this site?

I took these cuttings last summer. senecio (Brachyglotis), Euonymus, rosmary and lavender. They have spent that time in a cold frame. This winter was so mild, so I was lucky they didn't all die. Some of the lavenders and rosemary did fail however, and now I'm left with these.

It's all very well reading up on how to take cuttings. But little is written on when the shrubs are ready to repot, and plant out, etc.

See pictures on how they are today. What are the next steps?

Thanks Anoushka

 

There will be others along who can help you more, but I would wait until they have filled their pots (you will see roots poking out of the drainage holes), then either pot them on again or plant them out.

 

Yes (its here), but asking questions here is just fine

I put my cuttings several-to-a-pot and if they make enough root before Autumn I pot them individually into 9cm, otherwise I leave them in the "communal" pot until Spring - trouble with that is that they need potting on as soon as they burst into growth, which is the same time as all the rest of the seed sowing and pricking out etc. - hence my preference to try to do them in Autumn.

Once they are in 9cm pots (or similar) there are two signs that the pot is full or roots and the plant needs potting on:

The first is roots poking out of the bottom
The second is that the pot needs watering more often - and eventually more than once a day in hot weather (because otherwise it starts to wilt before the day is done). Feeling the "weight" of the pot is the easiest way to determine how dry it is, and thus how quickly it is becoming dry.

Then you can check them. Turn pot & plant upside down and support between with the plant's stem between the fingers of one hand. Give the pot a sharp knock - e.g. whilst holding it upside down knowck the edge of the pot sharply on the edge of a table. The plant will fall out of the pot, into your hand (thus only an inch or so from the pot into your hand). You can then lift off the pot, examine the roots, put the pot back on (everything is still upside down) and then turn the plant & pot back the right way up again.

I pot-on to a new pot about 1.5" bigger than the previous one - that is juts big enough that I can poke the new compost down, around the old rootball, with my fingers.

 

Opps, yes, there is a section on propagation, which I actually started a post on the other week.

I did what Monty Don suggests, a number of single cuttings around the edge of a larger pot. When they root ( test with a quick tug ) which took about 6-8 weeks, I then repotted them on in to the pots you see now.

Just checked and the Brachyglotis has roots coming out of the base. I will repot those tomorrow.

Thanks

 

They look pretty good to me - some you lose but some you win!

 

I have very limited success with cuttings, to the extent that I've all but given up trying (except with certain very easy species). But what I have found with the few that have taken is that often the conventional tests result in total destruction for me. I now wait until there are signs that the new plant is pot bound (lots of roots poking out the bottom). I find that any other way, the compost falls away taking half the immature roots with it.

 

So you get to this stage and then it goes wrong when you repot! I hope I don't kill these off. I'm really proud of them :-/

What does convention say? This is where there is little info, or I just don't find it.

 

Thank you. These were all taken from my mothers garden on shrubs planted over 25 years ago. I have loads of perennials from her now also. Funny how gardening could become so sentimental. It's like passing down to other generations. Some of these will possibly go to my brother if he moves.

The Brachyglotis is the strongest so far and showing roots below. I'm particularly interested in the Euonymus 'emerald n' gold' as this particular plant is a very cheerful vivid lime colour, it glows, and the leaves are large. I've noticed with the newer emerald and gold plants I have bought have smaller leaves and the colour is more dirty looking. So not as nice in my opinion.

 

I work on the basis of strong new top-growth. A stick will often sprout, but its not indication (initially) that it is healthy ... but strong new growth usually is.

But I have done Box cuttings that had what looked like good growth (albeit not massive) the following Spring ... pulled them up, no roots ... next Spring ... same thing. Stayed alive for ages before actually making some roots - No idea how they can survive that long. (Having said that I probably took 1,000 cuttings and it was only 2 or 3 that did that; a few percent died, the rest all behaved "normally".)

 

These definitely have roots. I only repotted those that developed roots in to their own pots.

The yew in the background has not developed roots. Itsodd that it lives still. I also did box hedge cuttings, months passed with no sign of roots. and I too had to chuck them away.