Propagation with cuttings and water

My Magic Window

I am constantly seeing what I can propagate in water, and surprisingly...more than you would think possible. And in some cases an excellent success rate, more than 80%.  Besides the Ivy, I have Gardenias and bat wing begonias.  Both are from plants that I had propagated last year off of cuttings. 

Here is what I have learned:

First: Clean water is a must, I constantly change out the water in my cutting bottles.  So its a good idea...if you can...to have your Magic Window above your kitchen sink or in the bathroom.  Makes it easier.

 GARDENIAS

one year old gardenias from cuttings

 Timing is everything with gardenias, after the bush has flowered and new bright green growth has appeared take your cuttings.  I go down and make a cut right above a leaf node, my cutting are usually between 4-5inches long. 

Pinch off about two inches of leaf so you have a nice stem to go down in the water.

Be patient, keep the water clean and before you know it you will see tiny bumps where the leaves were that you pinched off.  These are the roots forming.

Once your Gardenias have a good root system established you can plant them in a small growing container.  As they grow be sure to transfer them to larger pots.

 BAT WING WAX BEGONIAS

 

one year old begonia from cutting

These are allot of fun because they root up so quickly.

Make cuttings that give you a long stem with two leaves.  Remove any flower and extra leaves, my stems are about 1-2 inches long.

These will push out roots rather quickly...almost too quickly.  I have actually taken cutting from my cuttings while they are still in water.

After a good bit of roots have developed pot them in starter pots. 

I propagate these year round I bring my potted ones inside to take cutting from keeping them in a sunny location and watered.   

Before the first frost in the fall, I will take cutting from those that remain in the ground.  Giving me a yard full of there bright green leaves and red blooms year round.

The Front of the House

First off lets start at where we enter...Not a bad looking home, but very dated,  with the hedge going across the front...ick.  But baby steps first, my goal is to landscape without spending much money.  In other words use what I have.  And I can do this in several ways, cuttings, separating and collecting seeds.

 THE ISSUES

Underneath this giant window is a built in planter box...at first glance you would think...OH so many choices, what to do with this.  But...see the over hang?  Yep...dry shade. Well, I could put a rain barrel under the drain pipe right next to it and run some drip line from it to keep that area watered...this would take care of more than one issue. But that would be costly.  Any suggestions?

And here is the other issue that could be resolved with a rain barrel as well.  Isn't this special, the drain pipe go's right across the path in front of where you would step up onto the porch.  Who thought this would be a good idea? And the drain pipe directs the water to the side of the house where there is an erosion issue! UGH!  really people?  This leads me to the water fall and the delta.

I am standing in the back yard looking towards the front at the street.  CRAZY!  When it rains this turns into a water fall and becomes a swampy delta at the bottom.  Second problem, I know you say throw some trees, bushes and plants in...cant do it.  The home is on a septic system and it is in the back yard.  This is the only accessible rout to the septic.  But I have an idea to make it a long curve, wide enough to get a truck down but curvy.  Also I have started a plan to slow down the erosion. What is this amazing plan Carrie, you ask?

MONDO GRASS...and lots of it.  This place is covered in this Stuff.  And it is one tough plant, you can plant it anytime of the year...no matter the condition and it thrives.  This bed is in the front yard at the top of the waterfall slope, we just planted it.  I will be moving some shrubs and separating some hostas to put in this bed.

This bed is an established bed of mondo that has helped slow down some of the erosion.  I have a few azaleas that were moved from another part of the yard in this bed.

And here is the top of the hill where it all starts at.  At one point Crape Mertals were planted, good idea, wrong spot.  But they will stay, and I will transplant and move Mondo Grass, Lilies and Irises up along the road.  I would like to get some Hydrangea as they have an incredible root system...but the cost.  What is a girl to do?  Any suggestion or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Propagation now in Pots

I thought I would give an update on my Propagation Post from November.

As you can see it has been going very well.  I have a big table set up in front of the sliding glass door in my basement and they really seem to like it there.
The Bat Wing Begonia's and the Wax Begonias were my most successful.  Between the two the Bat wings won by a small margin.  And this is very nice because as most of you know the new specialty begonias are very expensive.  The mother plant is doing well and seemed to have enjoy the trim.

As you can see she is putting out new leaves and enjoying the bright light in the school room...we gave her a heart to show how much we love her.  She was purchased from Kroger at the end of the year for $3.00 and worth every penny!

The Coleus and Inpatients rooted in the water, but each and everyone one died after the transplant to the bean cans I saved.  This year I may try rooting hormone on cuttings and then putting them in soil. 

I also rooted, in water Variegated Ivy it got transplanted to some hanging baskets that I had ferns in...I wanted it to trail down the side and look and pretty.  It is doing very well. Several types of succulents (that you can see in the photo) were just stuck in some soil I had about an 80% success rate with these.  I found that the trailing sedum type didn't do as well as the others. 

Also I must say in Georgia we will have several days, weeks even.  Where we have nice weather, during these times the kids were recruited to help me carry my transplants and all the ferns I divided outside.  I made sure they got the best organic soil, have been misted and watered on a regular basis...The plants not the kids.

Once they have been in the ground or at there outdoor destination I will post how my propagation experiment is progressing.  Hopefully this will help everyone who wants to increase plants without decreasing wallets.

Division - Gardening on the Cheap

This past summer I purchased four humongous ferns for $4.50 each, at the grocerie store of all places. I needed something to make the pots of sand that anchor my canopy look good. And at that price I just couldn't pass it up.

As you know I have been working like crazy on propagating and seed collecting to expand my plant population at our home. The four ferns turned into 12 for next spring. I went to Low's again and they had the coconut lined planters for a few dollars each. I paid between $2.00 and $3.00 and got the ones you see here. The ferns are in my basement now...we have a threat of frost, so in they came.

So why am I going so nuts with all this free and awesome buys...well, we don't know if we are going to inherit or be able to buy the house from the estate at this point. And I am a person who has to garden. So If I cant put it in a pot to take with me, it has to be something I am willing to leave behind.

Another little cheap plant hint for southern gardeners...keep an eye out for Jonquils (daffodils) to go cheap. You can still plant them even after the first frost. As well as many other fall bulbs.

Happy Gardening

Propigation

Over the Past few weeks the Kids and I have been taking cuttings and collecting seeds.

Trinity got me started on the cuttings, she likes to make flower arrangements and place them around the house. She is actually really good at it, putting together things I would have never done.

Bat Wing Begonia

As her creations fade I'd go around and collect them, I noticed after awhile that one arrangement didn't fade, on further investigation it had rooted. My little girl is a smart little flower fairy.

Coleus

That was all it took, I was out cutting everything in sight and putting it in water. I thought I would share with everyone my findings on what took root.

Wax Begonia

I have not tried to root the Bat Wing Begonia yet, but I'm betting it will since the Wax Begonia did.

Impatient

Also I am not sure since they are annuals how they will survive. Once rooted I am planning on potting them and putting them back in the window. I will let you know how it go's, if I succeed I have saved a bunch of money and I will have more annuals than I could have bought.