Planting Tips

Chapter 25 How to Propagate Flowers by Cuttings
(1) Leaf cuttings All flowers that can produce adventitious buds and adventitious roots from leaves can be propagated by leaf cuttings.Such as toad leaf begonia, ground root, stone lotus, sansevieria, gloxinia, millennium orchid, pepper grass (watercress green), endive moss, etc. can be propagated by this method.Leaf cuttings must be selected with well-developed leaves and carried out in a well-equipped breeding bed to maintain suitable temperature and humidity in order to obtain good results.

When cutting the leaves, if there is a petiole, keep the petiole 3 cm, and insert the petiole into the substrate; if there is no petiole, you can cut it with a knife at the intersection of the veins, and spread the leaves on the substrate so that it is in close contact with the substrate, or use a Bamboo skewers hold the veins in the substrate.Spray frequently to keep it moist, and after a period of time, it can take root and germinate at the base of the petiole or the veins, and grow into a new plant.Sansevieria has fleshy sword-shaped leaves, which can be cut horizontally into leaf segments of about 5 cm as cuttings, and inserted straight into the sand. Be careful not to turn upside down when inserting, as new roots will appear at the base and young plants will grow.

(2) When the leaf buds of rubber tree, hydrangea, chrysanthemum, jasmine, camellia, hibiscus, geranium, etc. are inserted in the leaf, although the petiole can take root, it cannot germinate, so it cannot grow into a new plant.Therefore, it is necessary to use leaves with an axillary bud at the base as cuttings to develop into new plants.

(3) Stem cuttings are also called branch cuttings.Including hard branch cuttings, soft branch cuttings and semi-soft branch cuttings.Hardwood cuttings: mostly used for deciduous flowers and trees, such as pomegranate, hibiscus, hibiscus, crape myrtle, poinsettia, winter jasmine, grapes, etc.Select 1-2 years old strong and substantial branches as cuttings, hide them in the cellar before winter, and cut them in spring, or cut them in advance in the greenhouse.For cuttings, select the middle part of the branch, where the buds are full, 10-15 cm long, cut the upper end into a flat mouth at 0.5-1 cm above the bud, and cut the lower end into an oblique opening at 0.5-1 cm below the bud, and the bud is on the tip side of the oblique opening. Insert into the cutting matrix, the depth is 1/3~1/2 of the cuttings.Soft branch cuttings: greenhouse flowers such as geraniums, begonias, fuchsias, coleus, etc.; open field flowers such as a bunch of reds, dahlias, periwinkle, cherry blossoms, etc.; evergreen broad-leaved flowers and trees such as jasmine, rhododendron, michelia, camellia, Oleander, sweet-scented osmanthus, etc. use this method more.Usually carried out from May to September.

Select the semi-lignified branches with leaves of the current year as cuttings. The branches that are too soft are easy to rot, and the branches that are too old will take root slowly.The cuttings are about 6-10 cm long, with 2-3 buds, and the cutting method is the same as hard branch cutting, the difference is that the lower leaves should be cut off, and the upper leaves should be kept or part of them should be cut off as appropriate to reduce evaporation.The survival rate is the highest when cutting and inserting.When cutting cuttings such as poinsettia, geranium, oleander, etc., the incision often flows out a lot of juice, and it can be placed in the shade for 1 to 2 days before inserting, otherwise the incision is easy to rot after inserting, and the survival rate will be reduced.

(4) Root cuttings Adventitious buds can grow from the roots of some flowers, which can be propagated by root cuttings.Such as peony, purse peony, Dutch chrysanthemum, perennial phlox, soapwort, Lingxiao, Hypericum, wintersweet, etc., you can cut off 5-10 cm root segments when branching or changing pots, and insert them directly Or insert it obliquely into the soil, not upside down, and the upper end is flush with the soil surface. After new shoots grow, the soil should be properly cultivated.

No matter which cutting method is used, it must be watered enough after cutting, it is best to spray water, and then cover the cutting pot (bed) with a plastic film to maintain a certain temperature and high air humidity, and place it in a semi- In the shade, strengthen management, and then transplant and cultivate after rooting.If the survival rate of cutting propagation is high, in addition to selecting good cuttings, the substrate is very important. It is required that the substrate should not only have good drainage, but also have a certain water retention capacity.Vermiculite, perlite, slag, and river sand are commonly used cutting substrates.The substrate should be maintained at a temperature above 20°C to make the cuttings easy to heal and take root.

(End of this chapter)