How to Pot Cuttings
Stem cuttings are sometimes rooted and grown on in the same soil medium, but more often they are rooted first in flats
of sand or sphagnum and then moved into pots of soil. Cuttings are taken either just below a node or between two nodes (those little swellings on the stems) depending on the type of plant.
The length of the cutting, too, is variable.
In most cases, you can hasten root growth by treating the base of the cutting with a hormone, Hormodin or Rootone. Insert the cutting about 1 inch into sand, vermiculite, or peatmoss. Firm the rooting medium around the cutting and water it. Speed root formation by applying gentle bottom heat about 70 to 72 degrees. When good root growth has formed (in 4 to 6 weeks, depending on type of plant), transplant the cuttings into 2- or 3-inch pots or plant bands or to larger flats, spacing the plants about 2 inches apart.
Use pots or bands large enough to accommodate roots without having them touch the sides. Transplant to larger pots as plants grow. With rooted cuttings of plants like coleus and geranium fill the pots or bands % full of soil. Place the rooted cutting on the soil bed and fill in to bring the soil level to within % inch of the pot rim (for watering space).
Firm the soil, but do not pack it so hard you exclude air from roots. After planting, give the cuttings a misting or sprinkling to settle the soil. Harden them in a cool part of the greenhouse for a few days. Growth will be speeded if you place a sheet of transparent plastic over the new plantings. If there is too much moisture, droplets will cling to the inside of the plastic cover; lift it for an hour or two to admit air and help prevent mildew.
Potting Up Seedlings
The first seedling leaves (cotyledons) pushing above the sand or soil are not the true leaves, which generally will be of rougher texture. When seedlings have 2 or 4 good leaves, it is time to transplant to larger flats, or to "individualize" by planning singly in plant bands, 1-inch clay pots, or prepared containers, Ferto-Pots, Jiffy Pots, or Peat-Pots.
Make this first shift into soil screened through ¼-inch wire mesh. If you are using plant bands, place the bands in a flat. Fill with the screened soil and, with a pointed stick (or dibble) make planting holes. Commercial growers press a board with dibbles spaced on it into the soil to make several planting holes at once.
Insert the rooted seedlings into the planting holes and firm the soil with thumb or dibble. Water the seedlings and place them in a shaded place for a day or two to help them recover from the shock of transplanting.
Potting Plantlets
Plantlets which form on leaf cuttings of African violets and similar plants have stronger root systems than seedlings and are easier to handle. This applies also to plants formed on the split veins or wedges of rex begonia or gloxinia leaves.
When the plantlets show four or more leaves, lift the original leaf cutting from the soil and carefully cut off the tiny plants. Set them in individual "thumb" (1¼-inch) or 2-inch pots of the recommended growing soil and firm it around them. Moisten with a fine spray and set the plants out of bright light for a couple of days to help them become established. Speaking of thumb pots, use them with care. They dry out very quickly and are easily tipped over if not massed together.
Plantlets forming on the split veins of gloxinia leaves form tiny tubers. Separate plantlets and tubers from the leaf and pot them the same as other small plants.
Many profit-making plants will be rapid growers requiring shifts to larger pots. Shift to pots but one size larger. You save no time by placing plants in pots too large for their root balls.
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