Thursday, August 26, 2010

The Dirt: plant propagation science experiment

I’ve been a little discouraged by the cost of plants at the local nursery so I’ve decided to do a little science experiment. Plant propagation or hydroponics is supposedly an easy way to multiply your plants.


In my scientific research (hah – quick google search) I found that woody bushes are the easiest plants to propagate. All you do is cut stems from the bush, strip away the bottom leaves and put them in water. Success rate is not always 100% so it’s suggested you do several of one type of plant.


I starting with 3 each of 4 types of plants; boxwood, ficus, lavender and a mystery plant that I love but I just can’t remember the name of it. I placed the cuttings in a spice jar set that was stored away and collecting dust.

Now I sit back and wait. Maybe I should I be playing them music or talking to them. Singing to them would be definitely not be beneficial.

5 comments :

  1. oh wow, did it work? That would be really neat to try!

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  2. Would love to know how you went with the propogation....

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  3. Just wanted to provide an update on this experiment. The cuttings started to sprout little roots but then nothing. I'm going to try this again with a larger jar so that the water will stay cleaner.

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  4. Beautiful pictures! I love that you have them in spice jars. I realize it's been a while since you posted this but have you tried your hand at it again? You may have better luck planting the cuttings in a propagation-specific soil mix. More tips here: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-8702.html Good luck!

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  5. Beautiful pictures! I love that you have them in spice jars. I realize it's been a while since you posted this but have you tried your hand at it again? You may have better luck planting the cuttings in a propagation-specific soil mix. More tips here: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-8702.html Good luck!

    ReplyDelete

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