A Gardener’s Diary
I’d be interested to know whether most of us propagate plants just to save money, and this becomes very satisfying when we realise just how easy it is, and how inexpensive it is. I’ve been dealing for the past few weeks with sexual propagation. That is the production of plants from seed which can give you far more plants than you will ever need for your garden. This means that you have to economise when you are sowing seed, or find ways to dispose of any surplus you have. Sometimes seed is ruinously expensive when you buy it. But not if you collect it from your garden, and store them in a cool dry place until you are ready to sow them. In the UK seed companies are bound by law to state what the germination rate of their seeds is likely to be. Provided it is stored carefully seed collected by you is likely to have a good rate of germination.
There are many kinds of ways to increase your plants and these fall under the general headings of asexual or vegetative propagation. Vegetative propagation results in the increase of plants which are in every respect exactly like their parents, warts and all, and this is where the tremendous skill of the propagator comes into play. The propagators job is to select material from only the healthiest plants. From the healthiest side of the plant which is not normally growing in the shade and which is vigorous, and showing no signs of pests or disease, and producing the kind of flower or fruit that you want. This demands selection of the highest order. Probably the simplest type of vegetative propagation is by division of the root system.
This is used to increase the number of herbaceous plants you have such as Asters (Michaelmas Daisies), and clumps of Iris. Now it is a fact that if you allow a clump of a plant like an Aster the clump will get larger and larger and eventually begin to die out in the centre. The way to divide them is to dig up a large clump and take only the young pieces from the outside. These will establish quickly. Discard the older pieces that are left. The selection of the youngest pieces from the outside of the clump is a golden rule. You should never forget it.
There are three types of cuttings used by gardeners throughout the world. They are softwood, semi hardwood, and hardwood. Besides stem cuttings of varying hardness there are leaf and root cuttings. In the temperate zones of the world, in the winter, hardwood cuttings are made from dormant wood. In the sub-tropics and tropics hardwood cuttings are taken from mature wood on trees and shrubs. In Guyana we seem to be blessed in as much as the propagators have a fairly easy time of it, providing that they always bear in mind that the young plants must never be allowed to dry out completely, and that they are rooted in a light well-drained medium. Something with a high sand content or in pure sand which is not as impossible as it sounds always remembering that once roots are being formed drying out will spell disaster for them. Keep them shaded as much as possible, and never forget that the production of new leaves on a cutting does not mean they are forming roots. Not yet. Put a few extra cuttings in so that you can afford to lift the odd one to see if they are producing roots. When you are inserting cuttings make sure they are inserted to at least half their length, and don’t be in any great hurry, and may you God go with you.