“FREE Plants? Yes Please! Propagation Tips Every Gardener Should Know”

Gardener Coo here with Nacho, Do you want some free plants? Do you want a lot of free plants?! Well this is the video for you!  The end of spring is my favorite time to take cuttings because the plants are pushing sugars up from their roots into the stems and this just makes everything want to take. Taking a cutting in fall is a very different experience. First off let's start with the biggest bit of BS out there, Rooting Hormone. Now they claim that the hormones help the cuttings push out roots and take quicker. Lies, utter lies. They have maybe 8 hormones in there but each species of plant is different. Do you know how many hormones that is? Sheer stupidity. But does rooting hormone work, YES, want to know why? They put a fungicide in it. That’s the only reason it works, full stop. Save money and get a more versatile product and just buy atomized sulfur.  Okay rant over, we’ll get back to how to use the sulfur later in the video.

–To make a cutting you want to find a branch with at least 4 nodes with rigid stems. If it bends it is not going to make good cutting material. Strip the leaves and any branches off the stems from the bottom three nodes. Then for the top node, strip down to two or three leaves and then cut those leaves down by 75%. The reason you’re getting rid of all these leaves is to cut down on transpiration. Cuttings don’t have any roots so all the water they're going to have for a while is what they have right now. For some plants with succulent stems that aren’t desert succulents like impatiens or begonias, I find its best to leave the cuttings out for twenty or so minutes before proceeding. If you’re doing desert succulents or cacti you should let them dry out for four or five days in a dry place or take a flame to the tip. For desert succulent and cacti, you’re now done. You can plant this where you want and 99% of the time it will take! If you're taking cuttings from shrubs or trees, it's a little different. You want to get cuttings from semisoft wood which basically means last year's new growth. Not two years ago, not this year's, last years. Annoying right? Going back to our other cuttings it’s time to deploy the sulfur.

–I pour out some of the sulfur into a tupperware and then dip my cuttings in it. This will protect them from those nasty fungi and usually take care of any lurking aphids. You may want to wear a mask when doing this because the sulfur is very fine and gets into the air. Store this tupperware in a dark space, sunlight deactivates it. Now if you’re wondering what else to do with your sulfur I like to sprinkle it on squash and cucumber plants, really anything that gets downy or powdery mildew.I use it on my ornamental bugle weed twice a year to keep it in top shape. It’ll protect the plants from infection if done regularly and used as a treatment if they already have it. I’m usually treating instead of protecting, c'est la vie.

–After dunking your cuttings you want to put them into pre moistened potting soil. Make sure you get all three nodes into the soil, those will be the point new roots form.  Then firm the soil around them and into the house, under a tree, or into your garden igloo  (point at link)! 

–So put your freshly made cuttings in a part shade location under a tree or large bush. This gives the humidity they need as well as not drying them out. Honestly I haven't had much luck with this approach but my girl Coruja in Atlanta says it works well. I'm guessing it's because she actually has heat. But your secret weapons when making cuttings are the same as when starting seeds, the Dome of Humidity, LED lights, and Heating mats. These three things will make your success rate much higher.  Just put the probe in, set the temp to 75, set the lights to 14 hours a day, and cover with the humidity dome.  And you’re done! Just check on the cuttings over the next few weeks, add water as needed. You want the soil to be moist, not wet. And as with seeds, always water from below. In a couple weeks when they start growing new leaves you can take the Dome of Humidity off and grow them to whatever size you want before going into the garden. Don’t forget the fan as with seed starting to help prepare them for the real world.

–Finally, as with seeds, you have to harden them before taking them outside. You do this by bringing the plants outside to a sheltered spot for one hour on day one, two hours on day two, and so forth until day seven. You can speed it up a few days if you’re having mild weather or live in a mild climate like me.

–And that’s it! A great way to make as many of your favorite plants as you like! Free is good! If you thought this was helpful, like and subscribe, I’m Gardener Coo here with Sharknado, I mean Nacho, go make some plants!!!!