That Was Fast

I noticed that the impatien cuttings aren't drooping as much today so I gently unearthed one cutting.
Lo and behold, there are roots already growing in! I can't believe how fast impatiens put down roots from cuttings. It's sort of amazing. So, yeah, if you're a total newbie at propagating plants, start with impatiens.
Just cut off some healthy stems, plant them in soil, water carefully so that the leaves and soil are always kept moist for the first 1-2 weeks (so pick a container with good drainage), and you'll have no trouble growing a whole batch of new plants. Only give them indirect sunlight too. The direct sunlight will dry them out too fast, and you want to simulate a moist environment that will keep the cuttings alive and hydrated until they can put down roots to get their own water source. See how I totally soak the leaves with water? I'm not giving them a chance to dry out at all.

The full propagation tutorials with photographs are here.

I checked on the dahlia, petunia, and fuchsia cuttings too, but none of them have roots yet. Impatiens are just Speedy Gonzales!

Happy Gardening!

Gardening Adventures With Cheap Plants

I've been puttering in the garden lately, so I have no excuse for not getting back into shape. Aside from attacking prickly weeds with a garden hoe, there have been bushes and trees to trim, seeds to plant, and a new garden to fill with soil.
Some of the wooden ties in the garden were rotten, and a portion near the house was oddly unfinished. So V. came over one sunny day and went to work at rebuilding it. It looks much nicer now and we immediately filled it with nice, new soil.

Unfortunately, I also dumped the old strawberry container upside down into it (I wanted to divide them again). It turns out the container was its very own anthill, complete with ant swarms and ant babies that look like rice. Oh joy. I just added an ant infestation to my new, uncontaminated soil...

So all those plants you see there in the picture? They didn't get planted yet. I have to wait for the ants to finish rescuing all their ant babies.
This is my new giant composter! Ooohhh! Aaaaahh! My sister got it for free at a yard give-away thing so we're putting it to good use. No more bucket and "stir stick"!
I stopped by Home Depot and raided their clearance center for plants. They had overgrown dahlia plants there that had just finished flowering. They didn't look so great to the average person, but I could see that they were in the perfect stage for propagating! And for only $1 a pot, it was a steal! V. took them up to the cashier, put them down, and said, "Three dead plants, please" to the cashier. He thought it was pretty funny that I was buying "dead plants", but I know good stuff when I see it :P

The only difficult part with dahlia plants that have just finished flowering is that it's hard to tell what colour their flowers will be unless a wilted flower is still attached to the plant.
Here are some dahlia cuttings ready to become new plants. Note that I just made 9 plants out of one. As the original dahlia continues to grow and flower, I will snip more stems off so I can continue to add to my dahlia garden all summer and fall.

You can follow the tutorial here if you want to propagate some dahlias of your own.
They had a sale on impatiens and petunias so I picked up some of those too. They were also perfectly overgrown (which is why they are on sale), so all those plants in the photo above are cuttings that will be grown into new plants of their own. I have also propagated some fuchsias.

I have been careful to keep them shaded and well watered over the past few days so that they have a chance to put down roots and not dry up. (My dad even put up a big red umbrella for me on some sunny late afternoons!)

I've never propagated petunias before so this is an experiment for me. If it works, I'll post a tutorial.
Meanwhile, I've also been experimenting with crafts. Someone sent me a matchbook notebook and I found it surprisingly useful to keep in my purse to jot down emails and contact information. So I figured I'd make some for a friend, and now I have a whole lotta them! I'll put some in the shop for you.

I'm just making them for fun, so you're welcome to snatch one up for 50 cents a piece. If you want a batch to give out to your friends, just let me know and I'll make you a custom order.

Have a happy weekend!

The Propagated Planter - Travelling in Time

I thought I'd show you how the planter full of propagated plants is doing. Everything in these planters, except the Marigolds is a propagated plant. The Marigolds were grown from seed saved from last year's flowers.

You should save your seeds if you have Marigolds in your garden this year. Just keep the fully wilted flower heads, dry them out, and save the seeds. I'll probably show you later on this year when the Marigolds are in bloom. Right now, they're just fancy leaves :)
So here is the planter right after I put all the little propagated plants in. I put dahlias in the middle, marigolds around them, and impatiens on the outside.
Here is the planter 11 days later. Some of the impatiens have started to bloom. I have discovered that impatiens are really, really good at propagating, so you can keep the tiniest blooms on the cuttings instead of taking them all off. That way, you will have flowers sooner. These cuttings had all of their flower buds removed, but they are already flowering anyways. In the middle, the dahlia has a flower bloom ready to open.
This is the same planter 17 days later. This picture is a little closer, but you can still tell that the plants are getting bushier and that the flowers are starting to really open up. All of the impatien cuttings have flowers open now, and the dahlia has one in bloom with two more ready to go. There are actually 3 dahila cuttings in the middle, so that means one flower bud per cutting so far.

One of the lovely blog readers here asked me how soon she could expect flowers from the dahlia cuttings, so this gives you a pretty good idea of how some dahlias will have flowers ready in about 11 days, and some won't be ready until 17 days later. This is based on a finished cutting that is already about 3 weeks old and in full sun, as you'll see in a bit.

Dahlias are also really good at being propagated so you could also experiment with leaving the tiniest of flower buds on the cuttings. Don't leave any large flower buds or open flowers on your cuttings initially as this will drain too much energy from the cutting too early. Give the cutting a chance to grow strong before it focuses energy on supporting flowers.This is another planter that I started at that same time. I was experimenting with a different kind of arrangement. This one has flower varieties in clumps, and I added some other kinds of flowers like geraniums, some kind of white flower, and some of the pansy/lobelia seedlings.
11 days later, the plants are getting bigger and one of the impatiens has bloomed. This planter is on a somewhat shaded shelf and I notice that the plants are not as big as the ones in the sunny planter. Even the impatien flowers are smaller!
17 days later, there are more small-flowered impatiens in bloom and the geranium leaves are bigger. However, the dahlias are still reluctant to bloom. I think dahlias must really like full sun better. I kept one very healthy, strong dahlia in the propagating area which is bright but shaded all day, and it is also having trouble blooming. It has 2 flower buds, but they are very slow to open up. Hm...

Well, good luck with all your propagating experiments!

Happy gardening!

Impatien Propagation - Three Weeks Later

I'm really loving this flower propagation thing. I have so many more plants now than I began with! I can't wait until they start blooming. It's going to be beautiful!The little impatien cuttings are growing really nicely. I decided to check up on how all the stem cuttings that had no roots last week are doing, and I was pleasantly surprised.
They've branched out lots of little roots and they look like little impatien trees! It's pretty cute.
The roots kind of remind me of noodles...
Out of the 20+ stem cuttings that I have made, only 3 don't have roots. That's a pretty good success rate. Two of them were kind of moldy or something, so I guess I might have over watered those ones or tucked them too close to each other.

Another thing that I noticed with the impatiens is that the roots grow out from all over the cutting base- not just from the leaf node. Perhaps it is not necessary to ensure a leaf node at the bottom cut for impatiens?
I moved all the rooted impatien cuttings into a big pot with 3 of the dahlia cuttings and some of the marigolds I started from seed left over from last year. I think it will look quite lovely when they start blooming, and it's satisfying to know that all of these flowers were "made from scratch" in a sense.

I added more marigolds after I took this picture. I have so many that there's really no need to be frugal. I think I might actually have too many marigolds. I didn't expect the saved seeds to grow so well.

LAST WEEK!
Impatien Propagation - Week Two

Happy Gardening!

Impatien Propagation - Two Weeks Later

It's two weeks later for the little impatien cuttings too. Do you want to see how they are doing? Well, here are some happy pics :)
Based on the sorry condition of a few side leaves, this impatien stem cutting is from the original batch that was placed into a plastic bag (which you should not do!) It has one very long root!
This delightful cutting has very nice leaves so it was part of a batch that was planted a little later. It has a good collection of little rootlets growing out, and some flowers have developed at the top. I would normally pinch back any flowers on a cutting, but since there are already a good deal of rootlets to support the cutting with water, I think it will be okay. If you are wary, you can pinch back the biggest blooms so that the plantlet can focus on the roots more before the younger blooms open up.
This cutting only has a few roots, but they will develop readily over the next few weeks. I am confident it will do just fine.

I have moved any cuttings with root growth to a bright but shady location in my garden where they can continue their development without too much drying sun. I have watered them well and expect them to survive without any problems.

Propagating new impatiens was very easy, huh? In two weeks, I have already found cuttings with developing roots. Some of the cuttings, however, have not developed roots yet. I have repotted them and will check on them again in another 2 weeks time as they can take up to 4 weeks to put down roots.

UPDATE!
Impatien Propagation - Week Three

Happy Gardening!

How to Propagate Impatiens Using Cuttings

I love impatiens and buy them every year to put into my garden. I start off with only a few of my favourite coloured ones, and then I propagate them all throughout the growing season. By the end of the growing season, I have a huge area covered with blooming impatiens, and it's beautiful! You can do this too. Here's how:
I waited about a week for my newly-planted impatiens to adjust to their new surroundings first. They are looking pretty settled now, so I searched for long side shoots to use.
Snip the long shoot off at the base, just below a node (where more leaves can grow from).
Keep your cuttings fresh in water so that they don't wilt while you collect more.
Once you have gathered all your impatien stem cuttings, gather your supplies. You will need some planting trays or small pots, potting soil, clear plastic bags, elastic bands or twist ties, and a small shovel or spoon. If desired, you can use rooting powder, but it is not necessary (I didn't end up using any).
Fill your planting trays with potting soil right to the top.Press down the soil lightly with your small shovel or spoon.
Make a hole with the back of the spoon or a pencil. I left room for two cuttings here, but you can plant more or less.
Take a stem cutting, and pinch off all the lower leaves. Also pinch off any flower buds. You want the plant to focus on growing roots instead of supporting flowers.
Place your cutting into the hole.
Use the back of the spoon or a pencil to push some soil towards the stem so that it is well-buried.
Add more cuttings to your tray until you have used up all your cuttings.
Water generously with low water pressure so that the soil is soaked thoroughly. Try not to splash the soil out of the container or to accidentally uproot your cuttings.
Leave trays to drain well.
Unlike the geraniums, don't put your impatiens into a plastic bag and seal it (to create the mini-greenhouse). I did that this morning, and they now look like this:
Aagghh! They're wilted!!! I think my mistake was putting them into a semi-sunny spot. The makeshift greenhouse heated up and the bags coated with moisture and collapsed onto the plants. It think the impatiens must hate the super wet and hot environment in the bag. So... don't put them into bags.

Luckily, I discovered this after only a few hours. I have now opened up the bags so the plants can breathe freely and it seems like they will recover.

If the impatien cuttings survive, they will be ready to transplant in 2 to 4 weeks.

You can also propagate impatien cuttings by planting them directly into the garden. Just make sure to water well every day so that the cuttings don't dry out. I have been able to successfully propagate most of my impatiens that way.

UPDATE!
Impatien Propagation - Week Two
Impatien Propagation - Week Three
Happy Gardening!

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