Subject: Re: Cuttings, how to make (was how to make cuttings of impatiens)

From: [email-masked] (Joann M. Hnat)
Date: 2 Apr 1995 17:34:20 -0400

[email-masked] wrote:

< entire posting about how to propagate impatiens omitted >

Kay, I've been reading this newsgroup for a couple of months, and I've 
enjoyed and learned a lot from your posts, but this one was especially 
good, so I just wanted to thank you!

  .. Joann

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From: [email-masked]
Date: 2 Apr 95 11:23:13 -0500

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (paul chaston) writes:
> In <[email-masked]> wrote "If you want impatiens 
> for next year take cuttings before the first frost" 
> 
> I have only just started taking this Newsgroup, mainly becouse my Mother-In-Law,
> who is a keen gardener is recovering from a major cancer operation and I thought
> that many of the posts to this Newsgroup would give her some interesting reading
> 
> And I was right, she has asked me to try and find out how to take cuttings from
> impatiens cos she spends a fortune every year buying new plants and as an Old 
> Age Pensioner (Senior Citizen) its difficult for her to find the cash.

Easy.  Though I prefer to do it in a slightly different way
than your friend appears to.

When I grew mixed impatiens from seeds, I waited until they were all
nicely blooming in the summer, and then chose my favorite individuals
among them for propagation.

At that time, I cut a few side shoots of each impatiens I wished to
propagate, removed the terminal and flower buds (just nip off the top
half inch or so), and stripped the leaves from the bottom of the
cuttings.  The cuttings at this point should be about 4" long, with
perhaps 2" of leafy stem and 2" of "naked" stem.  

At this point, you have several choices.  If you want "sure fire" cuttings,
you need a pot or tray of perlite or vermiculite or a mixture of coarsely
chopped long strand sphagnum moss and perlite or vermiculite.  If you're
willing to tolerate a certain amount of failure, you need a pot or tray
of clean sand (freshwater sand like that for making concrete, not ocean
sand.  I think this is "sharp sand" in British Hortspeak.)  If you are
willing to tolerate a lot of failed cuttings, ordinary garden soil will
also do.

My personal choice is usually perlite or sharp sand, without rooting
hormone, and I get about 80% "take".

You may also choose to use a rooting hormone for cuttings: you'll need
the mildest strength available.  Look for one with IAA (indole acetic
acid), IBA (indolebutyric acid) or NAA (naphthyleneacetic acid).  If
the hormone comes as a powder, dip the "naked portion" of the cutting
in the powder, give it a "pop" on the side of the container to dislodge
excess powder (which will actually inhibit rooting!), and put the cutting
into the chosen rooting medium, until the leaves are just above the 
rooting medium.  You can crowd the cuttings into the medium.  I usually
maintain about 1/4" to 1/2" between stems.

Water the medium well.  Continue to water and to mist until the cuttings
"take", removing any that wither and die.  Also remove any flower buds
that form on the cuttings: these are too energy-draining for a cutting
at this stage.  When a cutting is ready to pot up, a tug on the leafy
portion of the stem will be met with resistance: if the cutting lifts out
easily, it hasn't enough roots yet, and you just pop it back in the rooting
tray.

    Alternatively:  Place the pot or tray in a big polythene bag,
    blow up the bag, and tie it so it remains inflated.  Instant
    greenhouse, no misting required.  Do not set plants in sealed
    bags in any position where they can possibly receive direct sun.
    They'll cook.   Another choice:  Make a couple of hoops of 
    wire, (I usually mangle a couple of clothes hangers for this).
    Drape clear plastic sheeting over the hoops, to keep the plastic
    from touching the cuttings.  You'll need to monitor the moisture
    more carefully with this than with the sealed bag, but it takes
    less work than tray in the open, which must be misted often.

Pot up the cuttings in something like a 2.5" or 3" pot, and sink the pot
in a corner of the garden someplace.  In about two to 4 weeks, shift 
the cuttings into about a 5-6" pot, and sink it again till frost.

The night before frost is expected, lift those pots, bring them indoors,
wash off the soil clinging to the outside of the pot, inspect the plants,
give them a good stiff spray with plain water, and another with soapy
water (a tsp. of dishwashing liquid in a couple of quarts of water).
Wait for an hour or two, then rinse the soap off the plants.  

If you wish, you can repot these once more in clean pots and soil, or
you can maintain these plants over the winter as they are.  Give them
bright light in a cool room, but don't encourage them to bloom.
These will be your "mother plants" for the spring.

About 6 weeks before your expected planting date, make cuttings again,
as you did in the garden.  A nicely grown plant in a 6" pot will yield
perhaps 50-100 cuttings (they don't all have to have leaves, and they
can look remarkably scruffy: go ahead and reduce your parent plants to
1/4" high stubs).

The reason I prefer to make summer cuttings from chosen plants is that
I can be sure that the cuttings will take.  I've been "skunked" a 
couple of times when I've taken cuttings at the last minute, and 
watched them wither away...

Still another choice is to purchase a couple of well grown plants 
in the spring, just as soon as they become available in the garden shops,
florists, or stores.  Propagate those by cuttings.

Almost all of the commonly grown "bedding annuals" can be propagated
in the manner outlined above:  coleus, snapdragon, perlargoniums 
(=geraniums), many herbs, etc., etc.  
This method also works for most commonly grown herbaceous "houseplants".

It should probably be noted that it is illegal to propagate any
cultivar that is "patented" or is noted as being registered under
the plant variety protection act.

Kay "cheapskate" Klier  [email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (paul chaston)
Date: Sat, 1 Apr 1995 20:13:07 +0000

So if any of you in the Newsgroup can help I will be very gratefull.

Many Thanks
-- 
paul chaston

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From: J. A. Stiller <[email-masked]>
Date: 2 Apr 1995 15:52:43 GMT

In article <[email-masked]> paul chaston,
[email-masked] writes:
>, she has asked me to try and find out how to take cuttings from
>impatiens cos she spends a fortune every year buying new plants 

There's no special trick to taking cuttings from impatiens as they root
very easily in water.  The stems have thicker spots (that I'm sure have
some special name I don't know), and the roots come out there, but you
don't need to be particularly careful -- just cut off a piece of plant,
plop it in water (we've always used non-clear glass containers on a
windowsill), and pot them up when the roots develop.

My mother kept impatiens going for years by taking cuttings every fall
and putting the new plants out in the spring.

Jenny in Haverford, PA

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From: [email-masked] (Christine Owens)
Date: 4 Apr 1995 03:19:05 GMT

>So if any of you in the Newsgroup can help I will be very gratefull.

Use a very sharp knife, and cut as low down on the stem as possible.  Root in
water, then plant in pots.  Or, if she plans on having impatiens in the same
place each year, she can just stop dead-heading about a month before the
hard frost, and she will have a wonderful bed of self-seeded plants.

Chris Owens

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From: [email-masked] (Joann M. Hnat)
Date: 2 Apr 1995 17:34:20 -0400

.. Joann

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From: [email-masked]
Date: 2 Apr 95 11:23:13 -0500

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From: J. A. Stiller <[email-masked]>
Date: 2 Apr 1995 15:52:43 GMT

Jenny in Haverford, PA

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From: [email-masked] (Christine Owens)
Date: 4 Apr 1995 03:19:05 GMT

Chris Owens

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From: [email-masked] (Christine Owens)
Date: 4 Apr 1995 03:19:05 GMT

Chris Owens

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From: [email-masked] (paul chaston)
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 21:32:19 +0000

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked]  writes:

> Xref: news.demon.co.uk rec.gardens:36011
> Path: chaston.demon.co.uk!news.demon.co.uk!peernews.demon.co.uk!
> doc.news.pipex.net!pipex!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!
> news.ksu.ksu.edu!hobbes.physics.uiowa.edu!cobra.uni.edu!klier
> From: [email-masked]
> Newsgroups: rec.gardens
> Subject: Cuttings, how to make (was how to make cuttings of impatiens)
> Message-ID: <[email-masked]>
> Date: 2 Apr 95 11:23:13 -0500
> References: <[email-masked]>
> Organization: University of Northern Iowa
> Lines: 111
> 
Just wanted to say thanks to all who responded to my request for information
Both I and Rita (My Mother-in-law) found all the posts on the subject most
interesting and useful> 

regards
-- 
paul chaston

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From: [email-masked] (Laurel Parnell)
Date: Sat, 08 Apr 1995 11:04:49 GMT

ummm, well, I cut off an end, remove bottom leaves, put it in water, 
after roots grow, I stick it in a pot. 
   Hasn't failed yet.