Re: Maximize cuttings
- To: I*@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
- Subject: Re: [IGSROBIN] Maximize cuttings
- From: R* K*
- Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1999 15:43:13 -0400
- References: <02b413359180399CPIMSSMTPI01@email.msn..com>
Ron-Here is my take on your questions:
Re maximizing shoots, you should prune any mother plant shoots back at the
tip when they are at least four leaf nodes long. Fertilize with a high
nitrogen fertilizer to encourage vegetative growth, say 20-5-5. Then prune
the new shoots when they are four nodes long. That should give you plenty
of tip cuttings for new stock.
Take cuttings with at least four nodes, and bury at least two nodes in the
rooting medium. Opinions vary, but I use rooting hormone. It may not
increase take, but I think it creates more roots for faster potting out. It
is not necessary to fertilize cuttings while rooting them.
After potting the rooted cuttings out, fertilize with a balanced fertilizer
mix--I use 14-14-14 with added magnesium sulphate at the rate of 1
tsp/gallon. When you are ready to encourage blooms, switch to something
like 10-40-10 for fertilizer. I have found that for all fertilizers,
frequent dilute feedings are better than infrequent full strength feedings.
Every now and again flush the pot with plain water to get rid of accumulated
salts.
Good luck.
