PLANT GROWTH 101 - BLOG, TIPS & TRICKS

The Right Layer

When a plant is difficult to root from a cutting because it is very woody or has a fleshy cane, try layering. By rooting your clone while it is still attached to its mother plant, you can take advantage of mama’s vascular system. The flow of water and nutrients will only be slightly impeded by [...] The post The Right Layer appeared first on Hormex for Plants.

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The Right Layer

When a plant is difficult to root from a cutting because it is very woody or has a fleshy cane, try...

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Layer and Let It Be

Summer is for layering, a form of propagation that relies heavily on time and technique to be successful. When it comes to layering, there is no substitute for practice and many plants are at just the right growth stage for it now. I’m layering figs, both edible and ornamental, but they are just examples of [...] The post Layer and Let It Be appeared first on Hormex for Plants.

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Layer and Let It Be

Summer is for layering, a form of propagation that relies heavily on time and technique to be successful. When it comes...

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The Roots of Propagation

I’m preparing to do an updated version of my popular program about plant propagation and thinking long and hard about the subject. It seems to me that every time we slip a cutting into a glass of water or a pot of soil, it seems to me that we are continuing the chain of civilization. [...] The post The Roots of Propagation appeared first on Hormex for Plants.

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The Roots of Propagation

I’m preparing to do an updated version of my popular program about plant propagation and thinking long and hard about the...

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Low Tech and Lovely

An unusual intersection of issues came to me last week and their answers led me to this blog. A neighbor got new carpet that’s a priority over the big clay pots that used to go inside each winter. A reader asked if it is possible to make a rooting chamber without a mist system. The [...] The post Low Tech and Lovely appeared first on Hormex for Plants.

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Low Tech and Lovely

An unusual intersection of issues came to me last week and their answers led me to this blog. A neighbor got...

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Hush Your Mouth

Or more properly, cover it and your nose, too, when working with dry materials like peat and perlite. These two make a fine rooting mix in a 1:1 ratio, and bagged mixes are available as ‘soil-less potting mix’ like the Metro Mix products. Their packages seem to weigh nothing because they are bagged very dry [...] The post Hush Your Mouth appeared first on Hormex for Plants.

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Hush Your Mouth

Or more properly, cover it and your nose, too, when working with dry materials like peat and perlite. These two make...

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Summer Watering

Be conscious of summer temperature when watering cuttings set to root. All plants can be vulnerable to that first blast of hot water from a hose or watering can, but new cuttings are especially at risk. They exist in porous rooting media, usually in small spaces with few or no roots. The hot water sitting [...] The post Summer Watering appeared first on Hormex for Plants.

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Summer Watering

Be conscious of summer temperature when watering cuttings set to root. All plants can be vulnerable to that first blast of...

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Cloning Tomatoes

Even those who live where gardening is a twelve month activity sometimes have trouble finding just the plant they want when they want it. If we can find one we like, we clone it to keep it. At other times unfortunate things happen and our desire is to salvage the situation drives us to propagate. [...] The post Cloning Tomatoes appeared first on Hormex for Plants.

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Cloning Tomatoes

Even those who live where gardening is a twelve month activity sometimes have trouble finding just the plant they want when...

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Use The Right Thing

Strength matters, whether it is the alcohol content of your favorite brewski or the rooting hormone you choose for a particular plant. While it may be considered more efficient to down the more potent beer, using a stronger rooting hormone than a plant requires will not be rewarded with greater result. A plant that can [...] The post Use The Right Thing appeared first on Hormex for Plants.

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Use The Right Thing

Strength matters, whether it is the alcohol content of your favorite brewski or the rooting hormone you choose for a particular...

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Hormex and Cloning Power

The caller sounded puzzled. He’s been rooting cuttings for years, heard me talk about Hormex on the radio, and visited the website. In all those years, he said he’d never seen more than a couple of different strength rooting hormone products. Does it really make a difference which strength you use? Why not just get [...] The post Hormex and Cloning Power appeared first on Hormex for Plants.

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Hormex and Cloning Power

The caller sounded puzzled. He’s been rooting cuttings for years, heard me talk about Hormex on the radio, and visited the...

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Avoid Overwatering

For more success in propagating flats of coleus, shrub cuttings, and anything else you are rooting outdoors in the shade, monitor rainfall and irrigation closely. Just as overwatering kills more container plants than any pest, saturated soil can spell doom for vulnerable cuttings. Roots and root hairs can be easily overwhelmed when too much water [...] The post Avoid Overwatering appeared first on Hormex for Plants.

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Avoid Overwatering

For more success in propagating flats of coleus, shrub cuttings, and anything else you are rooting outdoors in the shade, monitor...

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Blueberry Wisdom

If you have a wonderful old blueberry bush and want more of its superb fruit, why not propagate it? As long as it has no patent to protect it from your efforts, go ahead now and check the wood. New growth is soft, later it is called semi-hard, but the wood you want is between [...] The post Blueberry Wisdom appeared first on Hormex for Plants.

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Blueberry Wisdom

If you have a wonderful old blueberry bush and want more of its superb fruit, why not propagate it? As long...

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Semi-hard Timing

The neighbors probably think I’m dotty, and it’s not the first time. A recent surge in temperatures has quickly hardened the tender green shoots of several shrubs I want to root this year. So for several days I’ve been making a regular tour of the front garden, bending stems to see what’s ready to root [...] The post Semi-hard Timing appeared first on Hormex for Plants.

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Semi-hard Timing

The neighbors probably think I’m dotty, and it’s not the first time. A recent surge in temperatures has quickly hardened the...

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