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Re: [SG] IMPATIENS

Hi Bobbi,

It's odd that I just came in from a day of potting up impatiens and found
your message. I, too, like to save plants from year to year and expand the
collection (and spend less money at the garden centers when spring arrives).

It's simple to overwinter impatiens. Although they're a perennial in their
native climate, they are treated here as an annual. But they don't have to
be.

I dig up all the plants I wish to save, trim them (about half) and place the
plant in an appropriate-sized pot containing Professional Mix potting soil
containing vermiculite and/or perlite. The cuttings from trimming the plant
can be inserted in a clear jar containing water or into vermiculite or
perlite or sand that is kept constantly moist but not sloppy wet. The
cuttings may remain exposed but I find that they will get off to a better
start if they are in a sort of greenhouse. Instead of using a few sticks and
plastic wrap, I steal large plastic food baggies from my wife's kitchen and
place them over the cuttings, pot and all.

Another way to root is to place the rooting mix inside the plastic bag.

Be sure to put the name of the plant, plus color of flower and foliage, on
the pot or plastic baggie.

Remove ALL flowers from the cuttings. Their energy is needed to produce
roots, not more blooms.

I have rooted cuttings in water, but the roots are not as strong and they'll
become intertwined with roots of other cuttings. My best success is rooting
the cuttings in a medium such as vermiculite or sand. If you prefer water,
go ahead and do it that way. Try both ways and see which you prefer. If you
decide to root by water, use a CLEAR glass container. The cuttings won't
root as well, and may rot, in colored glass.

The new plants from cuttings, and the trimmed old plants as well, are grown
under fluorescent lights in a basement plant room. I have a large light unit
which I built myself. Commercially-made stands are available, but I'd rather
spend the money on plants and seeds. Fluorescent lights are excellent; you
don't need the more expensive "grow lights." I use "shoplights" that contain
two tubes. So far I have 13 of these lights in operation.

I'm also a big fan of semperflorens, or wax, begonias and zonal geraniums; I
overwinter them the same way.

John G. Adney
Marion, Iowa
johnadney@email.msn.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Roberta Diehl <diehlr@INDIANA.EDU>
To: shadegardens@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU <shadegardens@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU>
Date: Friday, October 02, 1998 9:52 AM
Subject: [SG] IMPATIENS


>Fellow shadegardeners,
>
>Here is a banal request. How do you overwinter impatiens that you wish to
>preserve for spring?
>
>Instructions in yesterday's paper say to take cuttings, place in moistened
>vermiculite and potting soil, and build a mini-greenhouse with sticks and
>a clear plastic bag, which sounds like a lot of trouble to me.
>
>I've always rooted impatiens cuttings in water and then planted them. The
>article says this way the plant must grow two sets of roots, which puts
>more strain on it. Does this really harm the plants?
>
>If you do root in water, do you think a clear glass container is best, or
>do the roots prefer the darkness of an opaque container?
>
>I'd be interested in hearing everyone's opinions. I have some beautiful
>dark red impatiens that I don't want to lose.
>
>Bobbi Diehl
>Bloomington, IN
>zone 5/6
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