Chapter 7 - Seeds And Seedlings, Slips And Cuttings

One of the real joys of working with house plants comes when you decide to try your hand at creating plants yourself. The indoor garden that is made up completely of plants bought from a florist or nursery can be wonderfully satisfying, but at the same time it leaves you in the position of simply acting as the caretaker of a garden originally started and brought to maturity by professional gardeners. When you start new plants from seeds or cuttings you are really starting at the beginning, and the success or failure of the result is up to you and you alone. There are two basic methods most often used by the home gardener to increase his stock: seeds and cuttings. In the sections that follow we will discuss both these methods of plant propagation in some detail. Here are the ways you can really get the most out of your hobby in satisfaction and in beautiful plants.

Starting Plants from Seed

Growing plants from seed obviously takes more time and more effort than buying mature plants from the nursery, but it is infinitely more rewarding and a great deal cheaper. Especially with flowering plants which tend to be more expensive than foliage plants the difference is astonishing. It is not unusual for a package of seeds of a particular plant to sell for a tenth or a twentieth of the cost of a single mature plant and the seeds will yield many plants and not just one. Of course the time involved is a factor. Plants vary in the speed with which they grow and if you are going to start plants from seed you must plan ahead so that you will have the blooms or the showy leaves in full flower at the time you want them.

Starting your own plants from seeds is not a difficult process; you can lay out a good sized home garden in a single afternoon's work; but it is one that requires a certain amount of care and planning. Although virtually all plants in a natural state propagate by seed germination, there are many which refuse to respond in a home garden and are propagated by cuttings, which we will discuss later. In the plant listing at the back of the book we have indicated the best method for propagation. You can consult this list before making plans. Here then are a few pointers on seed propagation.

Equipment. Here again no professional equipment other than pots is necessary although a dibble and a tamper are helpful.

Soil. Seeds are never sown in the usual potting soil used for full grown plants it is too rich in nutrients and would "burn out" any seeds sown in it. Until fairly recently home gardeners used a sand soil and peat moss mixture in which to start their seeds. This was, and of course still is, fairly successful, but it has a number of drawbacks. The main trouble is that because it is difficult to serilize, it often contains any of a number of fungi which cause damp-ing-off, a killing disease. In recent years a substance called vermiculite has been packaged in combination with sterilized soil for use as a medium for seed starting. Vermiculite is a sterile, weed-free mica-like mineral which takes the place of sand. Seeds will germinate in this mixture without the problems of disease that are present in the use of the homemade starting soil. Also on the market is a complete starting mixture known as Vermiculoam. Vermiculoam is a combination of vermiculite, sterilized peat, and hormones. It actually carries the plant longer than vermiculite, and will give you a larger plant before you have to transplant.

Timing. In general, the best time to start sowing seed for plants which will reach maturity in the late fall or winter is in the early spring months of March and April. Seeds sown during these months should produce plants that are hardy enough to be set out in the garden (or in window boxes or on the porch) by the time summer comes. They will get the benefit this way of the summer outdoors before their first season in the house.

Procedure. Set out your pots on a table, providing one pot for each kind of plant you plan to work with and fill them loosely with the vermiculite mixture you have chosen. Although not essential, it is a good idea to insert at the bottom of each pot a layer of drainage material such as pieces of broken pot, etc., to insure proper drainage. The mixture should be damp, though not soaking wet. With a tamper, which can be anything from a wooden mallet to a flat-bottomed ashtray or drinking glass, press the surface of the mixture gently until it is smooth and the top is roughly a quarter to half an inch below the edge of the pot. Then place the seeds not closer than a quarter of an inch apart. Some plants, such as Begonia, Petunias and Gloxinia, have tiny, almost powder-like seeds. These can be left uncovered on the top of the soil. Bigger seeds, however, should be covered by sprinkling a layer of starting mixture to a depth roughly corresponding to the diameter of the seed sown. Use the tamper again to press the surface lightly, thereby assuring a good contact between the seeds and the soil. Make sure that the tamper you are using is completely dry, especially with the tiny seeds, or else it will pick them up, thereby spoiling the job you have set. out to do. Always use a new pot for each variety of plant you are going to grow, as the germination time for various plants differs considerably.

When all your seeds are in, give the pots a good soaking from the bottom, leaving them standing in water until the surface of the soil appears damp. Here again, always use water at room temperature. Water that is too cold may slow the germination process. The pots should then be covered with panes of glass, or, failing that, coverings of newspaper, wax-paper or what have you, and placed in a dark closet or cabinet to begin the germination process. The reason for covering the pots is that it helps to preserve the moisture in the soil and increases the humidity of the surface air.

As we said before, seeds require varying lengths of time for germination, from a few days to several weeks. Most house plants, however, are in the first category, and you will begin to see specks of green quite soon. During the germinating period check the pots every day to make sure that they have not dried out. The soil mixture should be kept damp at all times. The best temperature for most plants during this stage is between 60 and 70 degrees, or normal room temperature. When a pot begins to show green, remove the cover and move it to a location which has light but not direct sun. After a couple of days, put the pot in a spot which gets the sun during the day. Since vermiculite is a sterile medium and contains no plant food, the germinated seeds can't be kept too long in this environment. As soon as the second set of leaves forms, then, it's time to transplant them into a soil from which they can draw some nutriment. If you are growing a large number of plants you will probably want to move them first into trays and then later into individual pots as they begin to Crowd the trays. The use of plant trays (usually wooden boxes roughly 12" x 24" x 3") saves space and handling. With fewer plants of course it is just as easy to transplant directly into the pots in which you intend to grow them.

In replanting seedlings (pricking off is the gardening term) you must be extremely careful not to damage the roots of the new plant. A good way of assuring yourself that the plants go undamaged is to use a notched planting stick to prick them off. The soil in the pot should be dampened to receive the new plant and should, again, be tamped down. The pot should be provided with good drainage material at the bottom, and filled with your regular potting soil. With a dibble, or a sharp pencil, make a shallow hole in the soil, and set the plant in it, pressing the earth back around the stem with your fingers. It should then be thoroughly watered, preferably from the bottom, and kept for a day or so in a shady corner.

Starting New Plants from Cuttings

Professional gardeners use many methods of cuttings to propagate new plants. We will talk about the two most frequently used methods here stem cutting and leaf cutting. Increasing your stock by cutting often can serve two purposes. Beside the obvious one of giving you more plants, stem cuttings can often be helpful in trimming back an overgrown plant and bringing it back into line.

Equipment. Here again, the equipment you need can almost always be found around the house. Pots of several sizes are a necessity as is a sharp penknife or razor blade. A tamper and a dibble are helpful but not essential.

Soil. The same rules apply to setting cuttings as to starting from seed. The ideal starting mixture is vermiculite compound, or better yet a beefed-up mixture as Vermiculoam. Here again, a regular potting soil is used after the process is underway.

Timing. As with seeds, the time necessary for cuttings to develop new roots varies both with the type of plant and the type of cutting. The minimum time for rooting you should expect, however, even with fast rooting plants such as Coleus, is about three weeks. Other plants may take a considerably longer time.

Procedure. A stem cutting is made by slicing off a section of stem, roughly four to five inches long, with a diagonal cut made just below a leaf node. If the plant from which you are making the cuttings is overgrown you of course can make a number of cuttings from it. The slips, as the cuttings are called, should always be made with a sharp knife or razor blade and never with a scissors, as a scissor will crush the stem and the bruised fibers will tend to rot. The cut is always made diagonally to expose as much rooting surface as possible. If there are any buds or a great many leaves on a slip, they should be cut off as they will retard the rooting process.

Fill however many pots you need with the starting mixture and with a dibble or pencil make a hole for each slip you want to insert. Place the slips in the holes and press the soil around the stem. Slips should never be forced into the soil as this will cause them to bruise and then to rot; you should make certain, however, that the end of the slip is at the bottom of the hole and in contact with the mixture or it will not root. Once the slips are "planted" the pots should be given a complete soaking, either from above or below, and the slips should be covered with an inverted glass or mason jar, as illustrated. This procedure is necessary to contain all the moisture possible for the rooting plant. If you have a terrarium or an unused fishbowl in which you can drill holes, you can save yourself the necessity of having to handle so many separate pots. You can set out quite a few cuttings in one of these larger containers quite efficiently.

Once the slips are in place, put the containers in a shaded spot and keep the soil moist. When they have produced roots which are an inch or two long, it is time to move them to individual pots containing your standard potting soil. As indicated above, this stage should come some three to eight weeks from the time the slips are cut, depending on the plant. Patience is a virtue that pays off with cuttings don't dig them up too often to inspect the roots or you will injure them. After they have been set out for a three or four week period, hold the stem at the base of one of them between your thumb and first finger and give it a gentle tug. If it resists, then dig it out and check the roots. The roots of any group of cuttings from one plant should grow at about the same speed, so you can judge the progress of the whole group by inspecting just one plant.

Although you must make sure that your cuttings have sufficient moisture, if they are properly covered they will probably not need to be watered too often. It is a good idea to check them once or twice a week and at the same time give them a short airing. When the time comes for transplanting, remove the covers, transplant the new plants and give them another good soaking. They should then be kept in the shade for another couple of weeks before being moved into a light and sunny location.

There is no set season which is best for making cuttings any time from late February to August is all right for most plants.

Of the most popular house plants, Impatiens or Patience plant, English Ivy, Coleus, Geranium and most varieties of Philodendron lend themselves best to this method of propagation.

Leaf cuttings. Leaf cuttings, the other method of plant propagation we are going to discuss here, are made in several different ways. African Violets and Gloxinia and a number of other plants are propagated by cutting a leaf at the point it joins the stem and setting it in the starting mixture. Within a few weeks, roots will have grown at the point of the cut. It should then be transplanted into your regular potting mixture. In making leaf cuttings the slips should be treated in the same fashion as described above for stem cuttings.

Sansevieria and other plants having long pointed foliage are propagated by cutting the leaves into four-inch sections and setting them right end up in the starting mixture. Roots will form at the lower cut.

Rex Begonia is a popular house plant propagated still a different way. With this plant, use a razor to makes cuts across the heavy veins on the underside of a leaf, then place the leaf face up on the starting mixture using toothpicks or pins to assure contact with the soil. New plants will form at the cuts.

If there is one thing that gives more pleasure and satisfaction than an indoor garden, it's an indoor garden which you have grown yourself which is completely and totally yours. You can have one for the price of just a little work work that you can't help enjoy doing. The rewards are tremendous.

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