cuttings for overwintering

[oldmoleskins]

hi Dutchy - the double good news is your passion flower should overwinter ok and are "easy" to propagate - quick to root from cuttings though you're maybe getting towards the late end for that, or from seed you've collected.
Try the usual "cuttings/rooting compound/gritty compost/polybag over the pot/on the kitchen windowsill" approach - and if there are any seeds, soak in water for a couple of weeks to ferment, mash to seperate from the pulp, soak in really hot water to soften for an hour or so, and sow - should appear in a month, maybe less, but you will need to keep them warm at this time of year.

Hope that gives you something to be going on with.

OM.

[andy]

Blimey it worked !!!!!!!!

Here's another method of taking passionflower cuttings. Only one node is used here. The cutting is about 3" long in total and the cutting is pushed right into the compost up the the node.


With all the cuttings, it would be benificial if the cuttings were placed into a mini propagator or sealed in a plastic bag to retain humidity.

A lot of climbers can be taken like shown above. Clematis, honeysuckle and even camellia can be grown as above

[sweetleaf]

Hey Andy great diagram, how did you get it into the message?... hopefully its something simple like cut and paste?
Im rubbish at this sort of thing but can just about manage that, heres hoping...

[andy]

I just put it on photo bucket and then copied and pasted the URL into here.....i think !!!!!

[Jonah]

This is a very informative thread. Great to have your knowledge on here andy, I have never had much success with cuttings in the past.
I took some clematis cuttings approx 6-8 wks ago. I admit I pulled them out of the pot a week or two ago but there was no sign of roots. They are still green, so presume there is life in them, but can you give me an indication as to how long it would be before they root. They are in a south facing conservatory in pots.
Cheers.

[andy]

Oooooek.....you should certainly see signs of them rooting by now. Usually, the bottom of the cutting produces a callust and kind of "scabs over". This is the cambium layer in the plant stem producing root forming cells.

But, if the plants are still green and there's no sign of any decay or rotting, leave them be for as long as they take.

I've rooted most climbers in a week or two.....but that was in a propagation greenhouse with undersoil heating and glass frames that can be opened or closed to allow humidity or more air flow.

Keep with them and hopefully you will have a better story to tell soon.

[Deleted]

Sorry to muscle in on your thread, CPB ... just hoping for some cutting advice from Andy: I've brought three baby rooted cuttings inside - penstemon, verbena bonariensis and fuchsia Thalia. How do I treat them over winter in terms of watering, feeding etc? ... cheers ...

[andy]

I'd try to keep them cool....around 10 C. Keep them well lit but on the dry side. In otherwords just ticking over....not growing, not dormant. Don't feed until they start growing in spring.

You might have to watch out for bugs....especially aphid.

You could of course, plant verbena and penstemon outside in a border but you do run the risk of losing them if the winter's too hard.
Fuchsia 'thalia' is the dark leaved, long flowered fuchsia and is not hardy.

Hope this of some help

Andy

[Deleted]

Thanks, Andy - I already have a fuchsia thalia in the garden and it's so gorgeous I had to make more! ... cheers ...

[Jonah]

Cheers Andy
I may have guessed at how long it has been, but it is certainly more than a couple of weeks. They are still very green, so I shall leave them alone and will not be tempted to pull them out again!
I tried some old fashioned rose cuttings at the same time, but they soon died off. I seem to be a bit luckier with softer cuttings.

[Dutchy]

Andy, Wow great drawings nice and clear. Since the weather is still very warm here I think I might succeed. I am off now secateurs in hand.
Thank you.
Dutchy

[Cheerypeabrain]

Can I just say thanks Andy for all the advice. I'm nipping out now to take a couple of passiflora cuttings.......
CPBx

[andy]

Hey...you're more than welcome. If you have any more questions, i'll do my best to answer them.

Good luck with the cuttings....oh, and try a few of each type to see which are best.

Andy

[Dutchy]

They are done and in pots on the windowsill with a plastic bag covering them. I simply blew it up and put a rubber band around to keep my moist breath in. I did give them a minute bit of water before. So here is the question. Do I have to water them at some time?
I can put them in a saucer and ad some water. I thought cuttings should not be too wet.
What is the best way to go about it then?
Dutchy

[andy]

What i do dutchy is to take the cuttings and then water them well and allow to drain for 5 minutes. I then put the pot of cuttings into a large sealable freezer bag.

I add a bit of water at the bottom of the bag....this will provide the humidity when it evaporates but it will reform as water when it condenses on the side of the bag.

I add some small canes to the pot.....just to stop the freezer bag from folding over onto the cuttings and then i just seal the bag.

Your method of blowing the bag up sounds fine too.....you really won't need to water them very often.....once a month or so ! but play it by ear and water them when they need it. I usually always water my plants from below...ie in the saucer although with my "mini-greenhouse" method above, this wont be possible as the whole pot is sealed within the bag.

Hope this is of some use

Andy

[oldmoleskins]

You're on the right track Dutchy - and andy's right too - 'bottom watering' (sounds inconvenient) in this case is the only way to go after the initial moistening of the compost. You don't want water sitting around the stems - which is, of course, why the cutting compost has extra grit - for free drainage. Enough moisture will rise up from your saucer.

The jury's still out on the question of whether to support the polythene with sticks (or maybe hoops from bendy wire, like coathanger wire) or let it rest over the tips of the cuttings. I've tried both (Geoff Hamilton was the "let it touch" man) and while finding no difference in strike rate, prefer to keep it clear of the tips...

Dependent on where you're keeping these, be aware (though at this time of year it's not quite so critical) that shading the pot from very bright sunshine is desirable... you want to give enough light to 'work' the plant without stressing it.

OM.

[Dutchy]

Seems like I got it all well on its way. I blew up the plastic bags and they stay upright of their own accord ( I did put a rubber band around the pot so the bag won't droop.
I will go for the bottom watering if only because that seems to be the easiest way..
Fingers crossed.
Dutchy

[Juliet]

andy said:

Always remove dead or dying leaves and cuttings that have died off as these are perfect breeding grounds for fungal diseases.

Don't forget that even with temperatures over 10 c, some deciduous shrubs might still lose their leaves so don't think the cutting is dead.

Um, this may be a stupid question, but how do I know when a cutting's dead & when it's just lost its leaves?

[andy]

The stem will usually rot and go mouldy. There is a good chance that if the stem is still healthy and the leaves have all fallen off that the cutting might still root.

[Deleted]

Hi Dutchy ... re. the plastic-bag-touching-the-cuttings issue, a friend of mine gave me a good tip: cut the top off a clear plastic bottle, and stick the remainder over the cutting - it works (well, so far at least). Also, if you have a lot of cuttings, I found capillary matting useful for bottom watering - my local garden shop sells rolls of the stuff. Andy, your drawings are great - I'll definitely be referring to them for next year's round of cuttings ... cheers ...

[Juliet]

Ah, thanks Andy - I have lots of dry sticks which lost their leaves ages ago & I was going to bin them, but maybe I'll leave them until Spring & see what happens! I don't seem to have anything mouldy <phew smiley>.

[Dutchy]

Ta Canarycreeper. We hardly drink anything from pep bottles but I'll go and pester the neighbours.
Before I go into capillary matting I have to get a long sort of saucer to fit the window sill so I can get all the cuttings in one tray. Somehow the idea got me that that will make cleaning easier ;D
Dutchy

[Deleted]

Hi Dutchy ... re. long saucer to fit window sill, those long polystyrene tray things that some sausages are sold in do the trick beautifully; I find that three of them = one window sill ... cheers ...

[Dutchy]

Which goes to show that the things sold in the UK? are not always on sale elsewhere. You did set me thinking though and I will have a look in the supermarket for food on suitable trays.
I just hope it will be something delicious ;D
Dutchy

[obelixx]

HI Dutchy - my local Colruyt sells off white plastic trays from its butchers counters. I find them perfect for holding a seed tray whether on a window sill or in a coldframe.

[Dutchy]

Hi Obelixx,
Our butcher has these foam? trays but the largest one is 20 cm by 15 cm and not much help for the pots I have my cuttings in.
I am looking for something with a width of 20 cm and a length of one meter. I know our garden center does a seed tray of that size but apart from it being expensive it is also made of plastic that snaps when you merely look at it.
So the search continues.
Dutchy

[obelixx]

Not foam Dutchy. Proper plastic they use for displaying meat - holds water and doesn't break so excellent for seed trays or just holding new plants till they get planted out.

[Dutchy]

I went and had a look. My butcher uses aluminum ones and does not want to part with them.
I found an old seed tray that does the trick but I will need more come next April.
Dutchy

[sweetleaf]

Hi Duchy I have in the past used those polysyrene troughs that you wet ready pasted wallpaper in, It hides the whole pot, and being white, looks quite neat.

[Chuckles]

This is a brilliant thread, some really fab tips.

Here's a few of mine.

Polystyrene sheets on the staging in the GH and part way up around the sides. You can throw fleece/bubble film over the top if frost forecast. This can be bought from builders merchants, they use it for insulation not sure how expensive it is though but it's so much easier than bubble film and can be stored away easily. It reflects light too as it's white

Use old or buy cheap plastic lap trays to sit pots on in GH.

If you put cuttings in a bag use the ones with handles which tie up they can be hung up then. At one end of the GH I put in two of those plastic hooks that you use to secure bubble film and wire a sturdy Cane or similar to them and tie the bags to that, you can then untie for watering.

Hope that all makes sense.