Rooting Water Or Compost.

Tonight I'm going to show you some busy lizzie cuttings I took a few weeks ago. I usually root this sort of thing in water as it works better that way for me but just as a little experiment I put some in to water and some in to compost just to see which turned out the best. First of all though I will show you how I root them in water. In this instance I used an old 35mm film canister but the top of something else works okay.
As you can see when removed from the container they have all rooted well and are ready for potting on.

For this I used six pack containers but three inch pots would work just as well.
Right, now back to the experiment. These are a different sort of busy lizzie but are much the same as any other. The one on the right has been rooted in compost and the one on the left in water.


The one rooted in compost has a better root system although this was the best one of the lot, the rest being no better than the ones rooted in water. The main difference with the two ways being that several of the ones rooted in compost had rotted off whereas none of the ones in water rotted at all so for me rooting these kinds of plants in water is the best way. Fuchsia's along with Begonia's and no doubt several other kinds of plants can be rooted in water. In fact it would be interesting to hear what sort of plants you've manage to root in water.

The last thing to say about this is that when you plant them up just fill the pot with compost and prod a hole in it with your finger and insert the cutting and then work some compost back around the cutting and then just tap the pot on a hard surface. Don't go doing a lot of pressing and firming as you could damage the roots and that would be shame after you got this far. Just a gentle tap and a little watering in is enough to settle the cutting in to it's new home. It might be helpful to shade it a little from the hot sun for a few days until its roots develope.

I will have more on shading your greenhouse in a future post.

Bob

Rooted Dahlia Cuttings.

Good evening all. Tonight I’m going to show you my first Dahlia cuttings to root this year. There were seven in the pot and all but two have rooted. Below is how I root the cuttings in sealed plastic bags.



Below is how this particular pot came out of their bag. Still looking green and pretty fresh. I've heard it said not to let the leaves tounch the sides of the bag as they will rot but I can't say I ever have much trouble in that respect.

The best way to tell if your cuttings have rooted is to look under the pot and if you can see roots through the holes in the bottom then it’s safe to tip them out. You can of course tip them out anyway but you run the risk of the whole lot dropping on the floor and I find if you can’t see any roots through the holes in the bottom of the pot then even if they have started making roots they won’t be taking any harm. Below you will see one root coming out of the pot but even so it wouldn't have hurt to leave them another week.
Here below are the five cuttings with roots. When potting these on in to three inch pots you have to be very careful not to break off the roots as they are very delicate at this stage.
As the two cuttings that hadn't rooted weren't showing any signs of rotting I repotted them in the hope that they too will make some roots.
Bob.

Rooting Cuttings In Water.

All readings are taken from a sheltered location in our

garden and cover a 24 hour period starting at 6pm.

Low Temp: 1.6C

High Temp: 14.7C

Rainfall: 0.3mm

Strongest Gust of wind: 2.0 mph

Weather Today: Mostly sunny after a frosty start.

Tonight I'm going to show you a couple of Begonia's that I saved from last summer. They were actually runts that got held back at planting time because they were too small so I kept them in the conservatory as pot plants all summer and then on through the winter. Then around February time when they started putting on new growth I started taking cuttings from them. I suspect a lot of you will already know how to take cuttings from them but for those who don't here is how I do it. Its very simple and hardly any trouble, all you need it a sharp knife and some sort of small container that holds water, I prefer a clear one that way you can see when the roots are forming without having to keep disturbing the cuttings. I think in my example I used the top from a tub of toothpaste but anything similar will do.

Below are the two parent Begonia's

Take your sharp knife and cut off any new growth that is of a similar length to the pieces you see in the picture below, around 2 to 3 inches, don;t worry where you make the cut at the moment.

Now strip off the lower leaves and any flowers leaving just a couple of leaves as in the picture then take your sharp knife and make a clean cut just below a join as I am about to do below.

Thats all there is too it, put your cuttings in the container as below and fill to the top with fresh tap water and be sure to keep it topped up with water until you see the roots forming on the stalks. You can keep them on a warm window sill but be sure to shade from any direct sun light. I always find the kitchen is a good place as its usually warm in there and also its handy for the tap to keep the water level topped up.

Then when you see little roots, if you look closely at the picture you will see what I mean. This is the time to take your cuttings and pot them up in to a general purpose potting compost. Handle the cuttings by their leaves though as the roots are very delicate at this stage.
In about three weeks you will have lots of lovely new plants like the ones I have below, I think I have 40 babies so far from the two plants which I'm really pleased about, especially as they're almost for free and from two plants that nearly got thrown away.
There are quite a few plants that you can root this way, I usually root Impatiens this way and I also find that Fuchsia's root easily in water. Anyway I hope that is of help to someone and if you need to know more just ask - okay.