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‘Tis springtime and many of us want to extend/expand our berries, ‘forest gardens’, or just have people that are interested in getting plants from us. This time of year I usually propagate a few gooseberries, goji, bush cherries, and currents for my use, for family, and for friends. A couple methods I use are cuttings and air-layering. The cuttings are the prunnings I collect and place in tall pots with only 2-3 buds showing and 7 inches or so of the stem in the pot. Keep in a semi-shady location and keep the soil damp until they root out. You can also make nicks or other wounds along the stem with a sharp knife and dip in rooting hormone to increase success rate. I tend to put 6-7 cuttings per pot, so don’t really care if half (or more) don’t make it. It only takes 1-2 per pot and I can cut out dead ones later. I also cheat and put the potted cuttings in my greenhouse under shade cloth to give them and easier start.
I also air layer like described here:
www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hor...-8701.html
plantpropagation.com/airlayering.htm
I do a modification though to make life easy for myself. I use the cardboard roll from a spent roll of toilet paper, masking tape, a couple nylon zip ties (wire ties), and a plastic bag donated generously from my supermarket each time I shop. I also use regular potting soil, but use a liquid root starter (with rooting hormone) from a local nursery, mixed according to the directions, to moisten the soil to a fairly wet stage. Decide where on the plant stem you are going to do your air layering and make a couple angled cuts (not all the way through) to wound the stem.
Take the cardboard center from a spent roll of toilet paper and put two strips of masking tape parallel to each other across one end. That will be on the bottom of the layering. Thread the stem between the two pieces of tape and up through the cardboard roll until the section of ‘wounded’ stem is in the roll and 6-8 inches of the stem protrudes above. Push the wet potting soil in to the roll around the plant stem and fill to the top. I try to get it in fairly firmly. The tape strips keeps the soil from dropping out the bottom. Wrap with the plastic sack around the roll (quite soggy by now) and secure underneath and on top with the zip ties. The sack keeps everything from drying out. If it does seem to be drying after a week or two, cut the tie on the top, add water next to the stem and re-seal. After 4-5 weeks you can generally cut the stem below the roll, remove the zip ties and sack , and plant the whole thing as is. The roots will grow right through the cardboard. If giving away to someone, you can also plant in a small pot at this time and keep it going until you can give it away. During the time the new roots are forming, the ‘cutting’ is still drawing strength from the main plant so the success rate is quite high with this method.
I also air layer like described here:
www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hor...-8701.html
plantpropagation.com/airlayering.htm
I do a modification though to make life easy for myself. I use the cardboard roll from a spent roll of toilet paper, masking tape, a couple nylon zip ties (wire ties), and a plastic bag donated generously from my supermarket each time I shop. I also use regular potting soil, but use a liquid root starter (with rooting hormone) from a local nursery, mixed according to the directions, to moisten the soil to a fairly wet stage. Decide where on the plant stem you are going to do your air layering and make a couple angled cuts (not all the way through) to wound the stem.
Take the cardboard center from a spent roll of toilet paper and put two strips of masking tape parallel to each other across one end. That will be on the bottom of the layering. Thread the stem between the two pieces of tape and up through the cardboard roll until the section of ‘wounded’ stem is in the roll and 6-8 inches of the stem protrudes above. Push the wet potting soil in to the roll around the plant stem and fill to the top. I try to get it in fairly firmly. The tape strips keeps the soil from dropping out the bottom. Wrap with the plastic sack around the roll (quite soggy by now) and secure underneath and on top with the zip ties. The sack keeps everything from drying out. If it does seem to be drying after a week or two, cut the tie on the top, add water next to the stem and re-seal. After 4-5 weeks you can generally cut the stem below the roll, remove the zip ties and sack , and plant the whole thing as is. The roots will grow right through the cardboard. If giving away to someone, you can also plant in a small pot at this time and keep it going until you can give it away. During the time the new roots are forming, the ‘cutting’ is still drawing strength from the main plant so the success rate is quite high with this method.
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