Re: rooting/rooted cuttings
barbara sargent wrote:
>
> I've rooted some small cuttings of penstemon and planted them in several
> spots. Also am trying to root cuttings of cistus.
>
> My questions: should I have waited to plant the penstemon? I.e. I could
> have put them in larger pots, perhaps indoors, and waited until spring when
> they'd be bigger.
>
> Should I keep the cistus cuttings indoors? Right now the pot is outside in
> a spot that gets direct afternoon sun. For the first week it was in shade.
> I don't know if roots are forming yet. The cuttings have gotten a bit limp
> but look like they might be putting out some leaf growth.
>
Barbara
You really want to avoid your cuttings wilting if at all possible as
they simply wont grow if the tissues lack water and a stem base is
nowhere near as good at taking up moisture as a good set of roots. Even
though cuttings do nee light to grow, you should certainly never expose
unrooted cuttings to full sun, and even in light shade they may profit
from some help to keep turgid. The easy way to do this is to put a set
of sticks round the pot and enclose it and the cuttings in a plastic
bag. The sticks will prevent the bag sticking on to the cuttings. It is
a good idea incidently to put several cuttings in each pot. Apparently
they stimulate one another to root. Once they are rooted each can be
tranferred to an individual pot to grow on.
As to the penstemon cuttings you have already plnted out, how well they
will survive depends largely on how good a root system they had formed
before you transferred them. I am presuming you have a really mild
winter, or otherwise very frail little plants might have a battle with
the weather as well as an insufficient root system.
I usually like to keep my cuttings in pots, (repotting if necessary)
until I am sure they have a really sturdy set of roots, so I guess if
yours survive you must have got it right. If they don't I suggest you
try in future keeping them in pots a while longer. You should always
turn them out of the pot first and have a look before deciding to
transplant. To give you an idea, my transplants are usually in a pot
about 3-4" across and the same deep. When I turn them out the roots
should have pretty well filled this and be showing through the root
ball, but not coming out far enough to coil round at the bottom.
It is a good adage that a plant is only as good as its root system. Or
maybe "take care of the roots and the shoots will take care of
themselves"
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata (near Wellington, capital city of New Zealand)
