Plant Propagation

Seeds

The most typical method of plant propagation is gathering seeds from plants you currently have in the garden. Some plants like lettuce and celery will just sprout if exposed to sunlight; others, like phlox and allium, just if they are entirely covered.

A lot of plants will gain from being started inside 6 to eight weeks before the last frost. There are a couple of plants that either do not like being transplanted or are durable adequate to take a light frost. Those plants are much better off being planted straight outdoors. A few examples: peas, carrots, corn, beans, nasturtiums, early morning glory, cucumbers.

Most perennials will considerably take advantage of being planted directly outdoors at the end of summertime. That will provide the plants the chance to experience their natural cold cycle and make them emerge stronger and in their own time in spring.

Hard seeds like nasturtiums, morning-glory and four o'clocks will germinate simpler if soaked in warm water for 12 hours prior to planting.

When: Plant annuals in spring, perennials and biennials at the end of summer season, when the heat waned a bit.

Division

A prolific way to increase your garden stock is the department of fully grown plants Most herbaceous perennials really need dividing in order to remain healthy and blooming. Amongst those, a few examples: heuchera, daylilies, pampas lawns.

Other plants, like daisies and bee balms will rapidly spread if delegated their own accord. Dividing them is a great way to control their development and fill bare spots in your garden.

To divide the plant you can either dig it out totally and break the root ball into smaller parts or remove a part of the clump with a shovel. If you can do that, the benefit is that the remaining plant roots will stay undisturbed.

When: Divide spring flowering plants in the fall and fall flowering plants in spring.

Rhizomatous plants.

Among these: bearded irises, peonies, lily-of-the-valley, mint.

For small rhizomes, simply pull out of the dirt and replant somewhere else. For larger roots, dig the plant out at the end of summer season after it completed flowering and cut up the root in 2-4 inch sections with leaf growth at one end.

When: End of summer or fall, after they have finished their vegetative cycle.

Layering

This works great with ground covers, strawberries, raspberries, and spider plant. Take a runner and connect it down to the ground with a pin. After the plant establishes roots you can cut it loose from the mother plant and move it someplace else.

When: whenever they decide to grow runners.

Cuttings

The majority of woody plants can be propagated like that, particularly roses, for whom this is the basic method of proliferation. Other plants to be propagated by cuttings: butterfly bush, weigela, pelargonium, fuchsia, delphinium, forsythia, chrysanthemums, hydrangeas, African violets.

There are four standard types of cuttings: tip cuttings (soft, green), stem cuttings (woody), leaf cuttings (leaf and petiole) and root cuttings.

For stem and pointer cuttings, a minimum 3 inch length will guarantee the practicality of the plant. Injuring the cutting (making a longitudinal cut or squashing the bottom) will promote the plant to grow new roots.

Many plants, like mint, will grow roots if put in water. Other plants, like African violets and hydrangeas, will enjoy to root if you stick a leaf with a long petiole in the dirt. For plants with big leaves, like hydrangea, it helps to cut up about half of the leaf to lessen the stress on the establishing root system to feed it.

If you have rooting hormone, I highly suggest it.

When: For fall flowering perennials and annuals, start cuttings when the threat of frost has passed in spring. For spring blooming perennials, start the cuttings in the fall and safeguard them under cloches (a glass jar would work just fine) over winter. It is very beneficial to the plant to go through a winter in its natural environments, it produces a much healthier root system. This is particularly real for roses.

Bulbs, corms and roots

Some bulbs, like lilies, will start spreading out in a flaky pattern. Each scale with roots can be separated and start a new plant.

Onions can be vertically sliced and divided. For hyacinths there is an approach called scooping: cut up the roots off a bulb and scoop out the central part ideal underneath them to expose the bulb layers. Place the bulb upside down half buried in a tray filled with wet sand. Place the tray in a dark warm area. In 12-14 weeks bulblets will start forming on the top of the big bulb. Plant the bulb upside down with the bulblets right below the surface. Let the plant go through its vegetative cycle. The bulbs can be lifted and separated in the fall.

When dividing tubers, ensure to have at least one feasible "eye" on each section.

When: In the fall, after the plants went dormant.

Dropping and stooling

Dropping consists of pushing down and covering the majority of the plant stems with compost or good quality dirt, and await the plant stems to develop specific roots. The plants can be separated and replanted. This works for heathers and rhododendrons.

For the stooling approach mound up dirt high around the bottom of the plant, to offer the stems an opportunity to grow roots. A few examples of plants for which this approach works: lilacs, willows and dogwoods.

When: Drop and stool in spring, divide and cut in the fall.

Please remember that some plants will successfully propagate through numerous of these approaches.

Here are some great resources for finding out more about plant propagation:

American Horticultural Society Plant Proliferation: The Totally Illustrated Plant-by-Plant Manual of Practical Techniques - Alan Toogood

Proliferation Fundamentals: Tools Techniques Timing - Steven Bradley

Learn how to plant flowers in the ground