softwoodpropagation

GLENNS GARDEN

PROPAGATION

SOFT WOOD CUTTINGS

Soft wood cuttings are taken in late spring or early summer while new growth is still soft and bendable.Choose a cutting about 6" long from this years growth and remove all but the last two leaves at the tip. Dip your cut end into a rooting hormone and then insert it into perlite The cutting should then be placed in a mist bed.in a partially shaded area. Set the timmer to mist every 20 minutes throughout the day. The mist can be turned off from just before sunset till just before sunrise.To check out our mist system go to our greenhouse pages. Rooting should take place anywhere from two weeks to a month. You can check for rooting by gently tugging on the cutting resistance means that roots are starting to form. Once well rooted the cutting should be placed in to potting mix and kept wet for about two weeks water with a week solution of souble 20-20-20 fertilizer mixed at 1/4 strength. As new growth starts to form cut back on the watering to leave the soil start to dry out a little on top. Increase the fertilizer solution to full strength and alternate every other time with fertilizer or water. After six months you should have a healthy plant ready to be transplanted out side. Remeber to harden off your new plants by slowly exposing them to the outside for a week or two a little longer each day. Take special care to water them for the first year at least once a week once transplanted.

A six inch cutting is inserted in to perlite and placed in the mist bed. The leave fell off this one but it still had a bud at the tip that begain to swell.

After six weeks this cutting had rooted and new growth had started so it was transplanted to potting mix.

After two months new growth was doing fine. The last two weeks switched to a formula of 1tabl. spoon per gallon of 20-20-20 water soluable fertilizer.

At the begining of the fourth month plenty of growth.Just waiting till the weather is warm enough to transplant outside.

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Finally ready for the move outside the plant is healthy and ready to go into the landscape.