Cuttings and transplanting

Many people will tell you that the key to propagating your own plants is sanitation.  This starts with the place where you keep your plants as well as the plants themselves.  If you have plants that are diseased, bug-infested, or in generally bad condition, these are not the plants you want to propagate.  I would rather go without than deal with nursing along a lost cause.  A 10% bleach solution is good for your plant tables, pots and trays.  With my plant table right next to my laundry tubs, I have a large basin to soak the pots for 10 minutes before rinsing and drying.

 I choose to purchase a premixed, sterilized potting mix.  If you have ever put soil into the oven to sterilize it, you know that it better be warm and breezy so the windows can be wide open.  There is a lot of organic matter in garden soil that you are cooking to sterilize.  It also tend to be a bit heavy.  A lighter medium is desired during winter months so you do not have waterlogged plants.  This can lead to rot and low viability.

If you have made and rooted you cuttings the next is transplanting.  Choose the best of you cutting for the best stock plants.  The cutting on the right may live, but do you really want to put soil, time, and effort into something barely making it now?  The compost pile is the best place for these.

Choose the right size container.  It is always best to start small and work you way up.  Plants develop a stronger root system much faster when they are in a container that allows for some root expansion, but not too much.  Transplanting up into larger pots later is a better route.  This will also help you cull out the less desirable cuttings as you go along so your stock is the best that it possibly can be.

Two methods to root cuttings that I have used this fall are pots with half soiless mix topped with the other half as sand and the old water in a jar.  You can also go directly into flats with mix only, but then be prepared to water more frequently as it will dry out faster.  You can use rooting hormone to speed the process up.  This is available in most garden supply centers, usually as a powder which you dip the plant stems in before placing in your pots.  A liquid which would be mixed with water and used to water the cuttings also works.  I use the hormone on my tougher cuttings, but use nothing on the tender stemmed plants.  Once your cuttings have formed roots like the prior photo they are ready for transplant.
Stay tuned for a future posting on saving your seed from plants for next year's crop.