Propagation, plant related

[ButterflyLady29]

Is there a category for plant propagation? If so I missed it.

I have been taking cuttings and trying to start them with varying degrees of success. Most mints, no problem. Sedum, usually works unless the squirrels dig them up. Roses have done great until the squirrels dig those out. I even split and successfully propagated a huge May Night Salvia. And I have a whole pot of rooted butterfly bush cuttings that need to be planted in the ground.

My current problem is the monarda. I took a bunch of cuttings and they looked so pretty and healthy for over a month. Even looked great in the high temps we had the past couple weeks. Then yesterday I noticed several looked wilted. A couple were definitely goners. So today I pulled the dead ones. They came out of the soil easily. Then I pulled the wilted looking ones. Not a start of a root to be seen on any of them. Out of almost a dozen there were only 2 that looked like they are still hanging in there. Hopefully they make it.

I still have to get cuttings from the pineapple sage and honeydew melon sage. Although I don't know why I bother. They bloom too late for the hummingbirds to feed on them and I never use them for tea. And despite being hard to find, nobody buys them from Mom's shop.

[rainbowgardener]

Some plants just root from cuttings easier than others. Both iris and prickly pear pads I have literally just thrown on the ground and had them root. Other things are much fussier.

How do you do your cuttings? What has worked best for me is to dip them in rooting powder, plant in damp potting soil, and put a humidity dome over them (a 2 liter soda bottle with the bottom cut off). The humidity dome helps keep them from losing water through the leaves while they don't have roots to replace the water. Also helps keep the soil damp, so you don't have to monitor so carefully.

[ButterflyLady29]

Since they are mints I just cut and potted. No rooting hormone, no humidity dome. Might have been that I let them get too dry. Things got hectic and the weather got hot and dry for this time of year. Now it looks like there are 2 cuttings still hanging on. If the parent plant survives the winter I'll try more in spring.

[imafan26]

Yeah sounds like they got to dry. With mint the fleshy roots sometimes work better than the woodier cuttings. I try to keep mine in pots since they are so invasive so I just get a knife and section them off to replant or throw away.

[ButterflyLady29]

It was a new plant and a branch was broken. I figured it was worth a try. It was a mature branch. Hopefully I can get more cuttings in the spring.