This is a text heavy presentation with lots of info about the various methods of growing more plants. From seed starting and cuttings tips to more advanced methods such as grafting and air layering. Reference material is cited on each slide.
5. Seed Sowing Depths
Seeds should not be buried deeper than their
diameter
Some seeds need light to germinate and should not
be covered at all including:
Ageratum, Astilbe, Balloon flower, Cleome, Coleus, Coreopsis,
Dill, Impatiens, Lettuce, Mexican sunflower (aka tithonia),
Ornamental peppers, Petunias, Savory, Shasta daisy,
Snapdragon, Strawflower, Stock, Sweet alyssum, Yarrow
6. Seed Staring Equipment
Containers
Flats, Trays, Pots and Cell Packs
Milk cartons, yogurt cups, egg cartons (need holes in bottom)
Peat, Paper or Cow Pots
Soil Blockers and Blocks
Seed Starting or Potting Soil Mixes
Peat moss, compost, perlite, and/or sphagnum moss
Lights
Seeds need 14 hours of strong light a day for healthy compact growth
Heating Mats and Cables
Most seeds germinate faster in warm soil (70-75 degrees)
Capillary Mats
Wicks water up to soil and maintains even and steady soil moisture
Fertilizer
Half-strength solution of fish or seaweed fertilizer or compost tea
7. Get The Timing
Down
To calculate when to
sow your seeds, go to
our seed-starting
chart, print it out and
then fill in the
blanks. Then you will
have a planting plan
you can follow
through the season.
http://www.organicgardening.com/sites/default/files/pdf/Seedsaverchart_2.pdf
8. Seed Starting Tips
Place Sure Bets
Some plants lend themselves to home germination better than others. Surefire vegetables include basil,
broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, chives, leeks, lettuce, onions, peppers, and tomatoes.
Some reliable annual flowers are alyssum, cosmos, marigolds, and zinnias. Perennials include Shasta
daisies, columbines, and hollyhocks.
Gather containers
Reuse last year's nursery flats if you have some around. Otherwise, any container 2 or 3 inches deep will
do. Punch holes for drainage into the bottom of containers and set them into trays. Protect against plant
disease by thoroughly cleaning all used containers: Wash them in hot, soapy water, and rinse with a dilute
solution of household bleach or distilled white vinegar.
Pick the right growing medium
You can buy bags of seed-starter mix or you can make your own seed-starting mix by blending equal parts of perlite,
vermiculite, and peat. Add 1/4 teaspoon of lime to each gallon of mix to neutralize the acidity of the peat. You'll
eventually want to repot most of your seedlings into larger containers before setting them into the garden. But
lettuce, melons, and cucumbers are finicky about being transplanted and should go directly from the original
containers into the garden. When starting these fussier plants, always add two parts well-aged, screened compost to
your mix to give them a healthy beginning.
Sow carefully
Moisten your medium in the containers before sowing the seeds. Next, drop seeds onto the surface of the
mix, spacing them as evenly as possible. Cover the seeds to a depth about three times the thickness of the
seeds. Some seeds, such as ageratum, alyssum, impatiens, petunias, and snapdragons, should not be
covered at all because they need light in order to germinate.
Cool down
Seedlings don't have to stay as warm as germinating seeds. Move them away from radiators and air vents,
or off the heating mat, as soon they have germinated.
http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/14-tips-starting-your-own-seeds
9. Seed Starting Tips
Top it off
Lightly sprinkle milled sphagnum moss, a natural fungicide, over everything to protect against
damping-off, a fungal disease that rots seeds and seedlings. In the case of seeds that need light to
germinate, sprinkle the moss first and then drop the seeds onto the moss.
Keep seeds cozy
Cover the flats with plastic wrap or glass to keep the environment humid and place them near a
heat vent or on a heat mat made especially for seed starting. Most seeds germinate well at about 70
degrees F.
Keep them damp
Mist with a spray bottle or set the trays into water to wick up the moisture from below.
Lighten up
At the first signs of sprouting, uncover and move the containers to a bright spot—a sunny window,
a greenhouse, or beneath a couple of ordinary fluorescent shop lights (4-footers with two 40-watt
bulbs). The lights are worthwhile, especially if you live in the North. They provide a steady source
of high-intensity light. Short days restrict window light, and your seedlings need 12 to 16 hours of
light a day. Suspend the lights just 2 inches above the plants and gradually raise them as the
seedlings mature. If plants have to stretch or lean toward the light, they can become weak and
spindly. To turn the lights on and off at the same time each day, hook them up to an electric timer.
http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/14-tips-starting-your-own-seeds
10. Seed Starting Tips
Feed them
If you are using a soilless mix without compost, begin to fertilize your seedlings as soon as they get
their first true leaves. Water with a half-strength solution of liquid fish/seaweed fertilizer every
week or two.
Give them room
If the seedlings outgrow their containers or crowd one another, repot them into larger containers
filled with a mix that includes compost. Extract the seedlings with a narrow fork or flat stick, and
handle by their leaves and roots to avoid damaging the fragile stems.
Pet them
Lightly ruffling seedlings once or twice a day with your hand or a piece of cardboard helps them to
grow stocky and strong. Or, set up a small fan to gently, continuously blow on your seedlings.
Toughen them up
AKA Hardening Off. About 1 week before the plants are to go outside, start acclimating them to
living outside. On a warm spring day move the containers to a shaded, protected place, such as a
porch, for a few hours. Each day—unless the weather is horrible—gradually increase the plants
exposure to sun and breeze. At the end of the week leave them out overnight; then transplant them
into the garden.
http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/14-tips-starting-your-own-seeds
12. Propagation by Division
When to Divide?
Reduced plant size or reduced flowering
Dead areas or sparse bottom foliage
Depends on the species
Divide Spring blooming plants in the fall.
Divide Fall blooming plants in the spring.
Preparation Before Dividing
Water plants thoroughly
Prune stems and foliage
Lifting
Use sharp shovel or spading fork
Cut in on all sides of plant 4-6 inches from crown
Pry under plant
Separation
Remove loose soil
Remove dead leaves and stems
Note root system of plant: Spreading, Clumping, Rhizome, Tuber
http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/bryan/anr/documents/AsexualPropagation_000.pdf
13. Dividing Spreading
and Clumping Plants
Spreading Plants
Clumping Plants
Many slender roots
Many fleshy roots from
from center of plant
Plants can be invasive
Cut with shears or pull
apart by hand
Asters, bee balm,
lamb’s ear, purple
coneflower, and many
common perennials
crown of plant
Can crowd own centers
Keep one bud/eye with
each division
Astilbes, hostas,
daylilies, ornamental
grasses
http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/bryan/anr/documents/AsexualPropagation_000.pdf
14. Dividing Rhizome
and Tuber Plants
Rhizome Plants
Tuber Plants
‘Horizontal stems’,
Enlarged roots for
primarily bearded Iris
Divide after flowering
through fall
Inspect for disease and
insect damage
Cut back leaves to ‘fans’
Replant with top of
rhizome above soil
storage
Divide with sharp knife
Each root must contain
stem tissue and bud
Can be replanted or
stored
Dahlias
http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/bryan/anr/documents/AsexualPropagation_000.pdf
15. Propagation by Cutting
Types of Cuttings
Hardwood, Semi-hardwood, Softwood, Herbaceous
Types of herbaceous cuttings
Leaf, Leaf-bud, Cane, Stem, Root
The goal is to reduce transpiration while maintaining
photosynthesis
This is often done with mist systems or humidity
tents
http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/bryan/anr/documents/AsexualPropagation_000.pdf
16. Herbaceous Cuttings
Can make numerous cuttings from parent plant
Cuttings 2-6 inches long
Remove bottom leaves, leaving 2-4 leaves at the top
Roots will grow from the node where leaves were
removed
Benefits from high humidity
Bottom heat helps speed rooting
Place cutting in growing medium in a flat
Water
Cover with glass or plastic
When new shoots sprout, move plants to nursery row
http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/bryan/anr/documents/AsexualPropagation_000.pdf
17. Rooting Hormones
Not required but can speed the process
Discovered in the 1930s by Dutch scientists
The chemical is called indole-3-butyric acid, or I3B
Willow Trees
Soak yellow tipped shoots in warm water for a few hours
Make a tea with the bark
Salicylic Acid
Found in the bark of willow trees
Originally used to make aspirin – crush 1 aspirin in 1 gallon of water
Honey
Soak cutting in diluted honey for 2-3 hours
Soak in water for 15 minutes
Plant into soil
18. Propagation by Layering
Layering is the process of forming roots on a
daughter plant while it is still attached to the parent
More complicated than cutting but useful when for
propagating large pieces or for plants that form roots
slowly.
Types of Layering
Ground Layering
Air Layering
http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/bryan/anr/documents/AsexualPropagation_000.pdf
19. Ground Layering
Procedure
Maintenance
Bend the tip to the
Wait a few months for
ground
Wound branch at
rooting spot
Use rooting hormone
Stake in place
Cover with 4 inches of
soil
roots to form
Check for roots
Cut branch below new
roots
Pot the new plant
Keep in moist soil and in
shade until root system
has fully develops
http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/bryan/anr/documents/AsexualPropagation_000.pdf
20. Air Layering
Procedure
Maintenance
Choose a branch
Wait a few months for
Cut and strip bark
Apply rooting hormone
Prepare and apply
moss or coconut husk
Cover with plastic
Wrap with aluminum
foil
roots to form
Check for roots
Cut branch below new
roots
Pot the new plant
Keep in moist soil and in
shade until root system
has fully develops
http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/bryan/anr/documents/AsexualPropagation_000.pdf
21. Propagation by Grafting
A horticultural technique whereby tissues from
one plant are inserted into those of another so that the
two sets of vascular tissues may join together.
Rootstock is a plant selected for its roots.
A scion is a plant is selected for its stem, leaves, flower,
or fruits
Advantages of grafting
Precocity, Dwarfing, Ease of propagation, Hybrid breeding,
Hardiness, Sturdiness, Pollen source, Repair, Changing cultivars,
Maintain consistency, Curiosities
Types of grafting
Approach, Budding, Cleft, Whip, Stub, Four flap (or banana), Awl,
Veneer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafting
22. Bud Grafting
Grafting with a single eye or bud is most commonly
used for citrus trees, deciduous fruit and shade trees
are well suited to budding.
Normally performed at the height of the growing
season by inserting a dormant bud into a shallow
slice under the rind of the tree.
The bud is sealed from drying and bound in place.
There are many styles of budding, shield budding is
most common but also included inverted T, patch
budding, double shield, flute budding and chip
budding.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafting
23. Removing Buds
from the
Budstick
The bud to be inserted is
often just a shield of bark
with a bud attached or a
very thin layer of wood
with both the bark shield
and bud attached.
Begin the first scion cut
about 1/2 inch below the
bud and draw the knife
upward just under the bark
to a point at least 1/4 inch
above the bud. Grasp the
petiole from the detached
leaf between the thumb
and forefinger of the free
hand. Make the second cut
by rotating the knife blade
straight across the
horizontal axis of the
budstick and about 1/4
inch above the desired bud.
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/budding.html
24. Inserting the
Bud
Insert the bud shield
into the T flaps of the
stock and slide it down
to ensure that it makes
intimate contact with
the rootstock.
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/budding.html
25. Securing the
Bud
Pull the cuttogether by
winding a 4- or 5inchlong budding
rubber around the stem
to hold the flaps tightly
over the bud shield and
prevent drying.
Secure the budding
rubber by overlapping
all windings and
tucking the end under
the last turn.
Do Not cover the bud.
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/budding.html
26. Thank You!
Be sure to leave your name and email address on the
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compost collection reminders, green film series
updates and more workshops like this one.
Signing up for the newsletter will also enter you into
the drawing as we give away some of the plants we
have propagated today!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafting