Re: Anyone doing cuttings now?

At 08:08 PM 8/21/99 EDT, you wrote:
>Greetings Medit folks,
>
>I just posted this on the Propagation forum, but then I thought it might be 
>appropriate to post my query here due to the *climate thing* :>)
>
>I'd like to try experimenting with taking some more cuttings at this time of 
>year.  I've had a mixed bag of success in the past, as so many plants are
not 
>in their active growth period at the moment, getting tired & heading for 
>dormancy.  Thought I'd ask the group, what have you had success propagating 
>via cuttings in the Aug-Oct time period?
>
>Being based in the inland bay area around San Francisco, CA, where the 
>summers are real hot (Zone 9), I've had good luck with a lot of plants 
>considered more *Mediterranean* in their habits such as Alyogyne, Teucrium, 
>some of the Thymus, Tagetes lemmonii, Callistemons, mints, some of the 
>Salvias, etc.
>
>Thanks for any suggestions/tips offered.   Best, C. Carter

Hi C. - 

My experience is that it is not only a climate thing, but also related to
the plant itself.  Many plants adapted to mediterranean climates are almost
completely in summer dormancy right now - NOT a good time to propagate.
Some plants adapted to other types of climates are starting to slide into
their 'lets get ready for winter' mode - NOT a good time to propagate.
Others, more oppotunistic (growing whenever conditions are good), or those
from warmer climates that tolerate our mediterranean climate, will grow
during our summer if water is provided.  These make good candidates for
propagation.  Many Salvias from sub-tropical or sumemr wet climates can be
propagated now.  Many Mediterraneans are also propagated easily and
appropriately now.  The general rule of thumb I use is if the plant is
actively growing or if it responds with active growth to pruning, it is a
good time.

Since fall is the idea planting time for our climate, I find fall
propagation to be appropriate timing.  In this way, if I get started early
enough, I can get things rooted and then into the ground to start growing
with the rains.  If the plant is marginally hardy, this might be risky, but
otherwise it usually works well for me.  Also, I don't have to try and
bring small plants through the hot summer when I'd rather go away for a
vacation or do other things besides water pots every other day!

So, if the plant in question will respond with active growth to irrigation,
then it is certainly worth trying to propagate it during this tail-end of
summer in preparation for fall planting!

Sean O.

Sean A. O'Hara                       sean.ohara@poboxes.com
h o r t u l u s   a p t u s          710 Jean Street
'a garden suited to its purpose'     Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index