Plant Propagation Day. Lilacs, Nandina, Plums, Quince, Forsythia. 1.11.14

Lilac Sucker

Shovel Placement for Lilac Sucker

 More plant propagation.  I found suckers on 2 more lilac bushes.  So I removed those for propagation.

The method with the shovel, is to stand it vertically close to the parent shrub, between the parent and the sucker.  Make a rapid, firm slice into the soil.  Sometimes it takes more than one try.  That severs the connection, but leaves most of the sucker's roots intact.

I make the same type of slices around the sucker / baby bush, then slice under it.

Much of the root mass is probably from the old bush, and not connected to the baby bush.  That root matrix hold the soil together.  Removing it could damage the roots of the new bush, so I left the soil / root matrix in place.  It would be nice to see how many roots the baby bush has, but not required.  I'm sure there are some.

I also took prunings from Hollywood Plum, Shiro Plum, Pussy Willow - un known variety, Flowering Quince.  After removing side branches, I have a bundle of each to experiment with as hardwood cuttings.

Hardwood Cuttings and Lilac Starts

 It's a cloudy drizzly rainy day, so not much risk of drying out.

Then I wandered around the yard, looking for other starts.  I found two Nandina suckers - Heavenly Bamboo.  Pretty bush, bright red berries.  So I removed those.  Same method as lilac.  The suckers did not have much by way of roots, so I pruned the tops to avoid dehydrating the plants until the roots take.  Haven't done this with Nandina before.

Then planted the sucker / baby shrubs in vegetable raised bed.  They will have a few months to grow more roots, before top grown begins.

I treated the hardwood cuttings in a similar manner to the fig cutting prep - make an incision in the lower end, to expose cambium.  Dip in Dip-and-grow 1:5 dilution for 10 seconds.  Then used trowel to make slice into soil.

Lilac Starts and Nandina Starts

Quince Starts

Inserted the cuttings, firmed soil into place.

I don't know if there is even a remote chance for those plums and the quince to take root.  Nothing lost if they don't.

I also took a few forsythia prunings.  Those were inserted in soil without wounding or dip-and-grow.  Mainly because I didn't have any dip-and-grow remaining.  Should be OK.  Forsythia grows easily.

The pussy willows can just be stuck into the grown about 1 foot deep.  Ning did that last year when I was sick, and about 90% took root and grew.  Deer then ate some.  Others should take off and grow this year.  We'll have a hedge of pussy willow.

Carini Fig Cuttings. 1.11.14

Carini Fig Start

Carini Fig Cuttings, showing supplies

 The top photo is the start I removed from the Carini fig tree after the big freeze.  This was a small underground branch.  I haven't decided if it will grow or not.  Worth trying.  So far it has made no increase in size, appearing to be in suspended inanimation.

I think fresh cuttings are much more likely to succeed.  This time I won't make the same mistake twice.  One will go into garage for the winter.

Method-

1.  Wash the cuttings.
2.  Make incision about 2 cm long, shallow, with sharp knife, near base of cutting.  The incision exposes cambium, which is the "stem cell" layer that callouses and forms baby roots.  Not required, but looking at the effectiveness of root growth at incision, it helps a lot.
3.  Dip in Dip-and-grow at 1:5 dilution for 5 seconds.
4.  Wrap in paper towel, moistened with house-plant-food at 7 drops per gallon - the directions for house plants state 7 drops per quart.  That is for growing plants in soil.  I want just a trace.
5.  Place in plastic bag.  I like to blow in a little air.  Twist and clip.
6.  Now it goes onto seed starting mat, with a plastic container between the cutting bag and the mat.
7. Every 2 or 3 days, I open the bags, inspect, rinse the cuttings in plain water..  If there is a start of mold or mildew, I send the paper towel to compost and replace with a new moist paper towel.

Carini Fig Cuttings, ready to incubate.

8  When roots are about 1/2 to 1 inch long, I pot them up in seed starting medium.

Figs can be grown form cuttings stuck into the garden soil and ignored for a year.  This method gets me results much faster.  I can see the baby roots form, very rewarding.  I can trouble shoot problems, like mold.  There are no insects or gnats.  The head start gives me a year or more of growth, ahead of starting in the garden.

I really like this Carini.  If the outside tree is freeze-killed, one of these will replace it.  If not, one goes into container, and the others to give to people who would  like a really nice  fig start.

Dominick Fig Cuttings. 1.11.14

Opening the Package - Will there be roots?

It's fun starting fig cuttings this time of year.   These are "Dominick's Fig", an Italian family - heritage fig via a generous member of the fig forum.

I could see there were leaves.  It's more important to grow roots at this stage.  If there are leaves and no roots, it's more challenging to keep them alive while awaiting roots.

Dominic Fig Cuttings

Dominick's Roots

Awesome!  Two have lots of roots.  The other two are a little further behind but still looking good.

I cleaned up some of last year's plant-starter juice cans.  Nice size, plant slides out easily for replanting, and theyn are free - recycled - reused.  The height / volume are good for transitioning fig cuttings from the paper towel to seed starting medium.

Gently remove paper towel.  If roots are stuck to paper towel, I just cut the paper towel and leave it on the root to disintegrate in the growth medium.  Doesn't hurt anything.

Then watered in, and return to the plant starting set-up among seedling and other fig cuttings in bags.

Today I also started Carini fig cuttings from another generous fig forum member, and Sicilian White, from another generous fig forum member.

Plant Nursery.

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Ning's Chickens. 1.7.14

Taking a start from a Lilac bush. Propagating a lilac bush by removing a sucker. 1.7.14

 This sprout was about one foot away from a purple flowered lilac bush.  It was an offshoot from that bush.  I sliced through the main stem with the shovel.  Then I dug it out.

Doesn't look too promising but I've seen less promising plants grow.  So maybe.

I pruned the cut, to make it smooth instead of ragged.  Pruned the top back a little.  It is dormant, so there are no leaves to transpire and wilt.  It will make new leaves at a size it can support with the roots.

Maybe the roots will extend a  little during the winter, using reserve stored carbohydrates from the stem.  That's why I didn't prune it back more.

I am determined not to add odds and ends into the vegetable bed.  So now I've planted the lilac start in the vegetable bed.  It is not in the way.  The vegetables get TLC, so the lilac will also get some TLC for the next year.

If it survives and grows, I can move it to a permanent location next year.

This is the general concept.  Traditional and super simple.

Find lilac bush with suckers.

Clear away weeds or stems that might be in the way.

Use shovel to slice through underground stem connecting sucker to parent bush.  I try to do this close to the parent bush.  That way I get more roots on the sucker.

Lilac Bush with suckers

Newly planted lilac suckers

 Dig around sucker and carefully dig it up.  It may not have a lot of roots.

Re-plant the sucker - now a new start of the lilac bush - in a sheltered location so it doesn't dry out this year.

This will work for other bushes that develop suckers - figs, forsythia, quince, etc.

I think the main thing is there are already a few roots.  A hardwood cutting would be almost the same but without roots.  It's more difficult to get roots growing from the stem, than to promote increase of root growth that has already begun.

The drawings are mine.  I am not an artist.

Midwinter Gardening. Moving a Plum Tree. 1.7.14

Methley  Plum.  Digging it up.

 This is a 4 year old Methley plum.  I bought it bare root via Raintree Nursery approx Feb 2010.   I think.  I pruned it short, anticipating Backyard Orchard Culture method with low branching, bush-like.  Last year I moved it to a different location in the yard.  I pruned back  little to encourage more low bushiness.  I had it next to Shiro plum and near Hollywood plum, to pollinate those.  They bore fine last year even though Methley did not bloom.  There is not much room in this location.  So I moved it to the Battleground home orchard, where there is more room and where, possibly, it will pollenize a mature unknown Japanese plum, Toka and Satsuma.  And vice versa.

I thought it would be difficult to dig.  It was easy.  The move last year resulted in compact root system, not wide ranging.  There was almost no root damage.  The roots were about one shovel blade deep.

This was my usual method.  Slice vertically in circle around tree.  Scoop out a moat around tree, digging outside that sliced circle.  Then slice under tree with shovel.  No prying until I've fully sliced under the tree.  It's easy this way, and not traumatic to the tree.

Transferred to a tarp.

As much as possible I handle via the root ball, not the trunk.  It helps to have a tarp to slide the root ball onto.  In this case, the tarp is a big dog food bag made from woven plastic.  Slick, durable, easy to use.   Perfect size for this project.

Those dog food bags have many uses in the garden.  I never throw them away.

Then pick up using the tarp, not pulling on the trunk.  Use wheelbarrow to move it to the truck.  Then transfer into truck bed.

It's an overcast, wet day.  Ground was soft.  Not raining hard.  Perfect for moving a tree.

Drove it to Battleground.  On left is Helleborus.

Now it's in the truck at Battleground.  I also dug up a Hellebore that was in a hidden location, and moved it to Battleground.  I didn't plant it.  Too tired after planting the tree.















Almost in place.  Hole is dug.  I had a small jujube tree in this location.  It's now moved to the bee garden near the other jujube.  Those have been disappointing so far.  Not much growth, still tiny.  This is a good spot, close to the other plum trees.  Before planting, I mixed a cup of lime with the back fill soil.  I also added mycorrhizal inoculant.  I don't think I will buy more of that.  Probably not needed.  But I have some left over so might as well use it.

Covered with bird netting to deter deer.

Planted.  Watered in with 2 buckets of water, to settle the soil.   May not be needed.  Started to rain.

I don't have fencing to protect from deer, so I covered with bird netting.  I sunk the posts into place a few weeks ago, anticipating this move.

Forgot to wrap the trunk to protect from chewing rodents.  Other plum tree is not chewed, so it should be OK for the next day.  I hope.

Winter Images. 1.5.14

Beehive and Bird Feeders

Fig Trees Frosty Morning

All of the raised beds are built, filled, amended, weeded, and have a layer of compost.

Charlie needs the warm blanket, because arthritis.  Homework for me.  Baigou likes the fire.

Shrub Order. Trial for Bee Forage and Deer Resistance. 1.2.14

I placed an order from forestfarms.com.  I want to try some additional shrubs for bee forage and deer resistance.

The sterile Buddleias grew very nicely last year.  By far the fastest growing shrubs in the yard, bloomed later into the summer and fall, and deer didn't touch them.  We want to fill in between them, for a hedge.  I want multicolored flowers.  Currently, the hedge consists of Buddleia X Flutterby Peach Cobbler (3) and Blueberry Cobbler (1); Miss Ruby (1) and a yellow unknown I suspect is Buddleia globosa.

Image Source: wikipedia Buddleia "Honeycomb"

 To fill in the Buddleia hedge, I ordered one sleeve of Flutterby Vanilla (off white), two sleeves of Honeycomb (yellow), and one sleeve of Asian Moon (purple).  Combined with the current varieties, that will make a good color mix.  They grow so fast, the sleeves - small starts - should fill in fine and bloom this year, and next year catch up with the older shrubs.

The down side for the sterile Buddleias, so far, is they can look weedy, and the early flowers on the long flower clusters dry up and turn brown, before the last flowers open.  Which can look shabby, unless they are deadheaded despite the unopened end flowers.

Image source:  Wikipedia Philadelphusn

I also ordered 2 sleeves of Philadelphus lewisii - Mock orange.  Mock oranges are considered excellent bee attractants.  The single-flowered ones are considered more bee friendly than modern double ones.  They are native.  They are reported as variably deer resistant.

And 2 Hebe hybrids.  No photo - not available in public domain.  Hebes are also thought to be good bee forage and deer resistant.  They will go into the bee garden.

Okra Seedlings and Fig Cuttings. Progress Report. 12.31.13

Carini Fig Cutting 12/31/13

 I was concerned about the Carini Fig tree after freezing to 8F a few weeks ago.  Today the tree looks like there might be some frost damage, but not dead.  Frost damage is visible on several fig trees as withered, blackened stems.  The main stems are OK, including the Carini fig.

I noted a branch which I had pruned off earlier, but did not save the cutting properly and it dehydrated in the fridge.  Today I cut it back closer to the trunk.  There are roots, and a small green bud.

Carini Fig Cutting 12/31/13

Dominick Fig Cuttings 12/31/13

 I cleaned the cutting, rinsed, pruned a bit, and potted in seed starter medium.  This is how I handled a start from Sal's Fig last year and it grew nicely.

This looks OK.  That looks alive bodes well for the main tree as well.

Okra Seedlings and Fig Cuttings 12/31/13

I would be disappointed to lose this tree.  It has a great story, grows nicely, and developed delicious figs the first year of growth.  It did so well, I gave away 3 starts.  I regretted not saving one for myself as a backup.  This cutting is now the backup.  I hope it grows.  It looks like it might.

The Dominick fig cuttings have nice root initials along the stems.  They look like they are ready for a great start.  It's only 2 weeks after starting them.

I rinse the cuttings every other day in plain water.  When the paper towel starts looking stained or mildewed, I discard it to compost and replace with another water soaked, not quite dripping wet paper towel.  This time I used a diluted houseplant food, designed to use as a weak solution.

All cuttings, and the seedlings, are on the heating mat under a one-bulb fluorescent light.  I need to get a timer for the 2-bulb system.  Someone who I won't name liberated the previous timer, leaving me with this one.

The Baby Bubba Okra seedlings are not as lanky as the Dwarf Green.  They probably don't have enough light.  The light is on 12 hours, off 12 hours.

Late December Gardening. Seedlings, Kitchen Garden Prep, Raised Beds, Lime. 12.28.13

Okra Seedlings

Seed and Cutting Setup

Today didn't do much.  In winter garden work can be when I feel like it.

Noted the okra seedlings have germinated.  That's 4 days.  See warming mat makes a big difference.  I had soaked them 1/2 day before planting.  That probably also helped.

I don't know how they will do inside.  That's why it's an experiment.

Chili pepper seeds have not germinated yet.

Opened fig cutting bags 2 days ago, and rinsed them.  Anticipate doing the same tomorrow.

Today -

1.  Spread lime in raised beds and around trees and shrubs.  I calculated the amount as 1 pound per 4 X 8 raised bed.  I estimated the area around the trees and shrubs, and orchard trees, and applied similar amount.  Two 25 pound bags.  Will need another later.

2.  There were some garlic plants and perennial onion volunteers that I pulled out a week or two ago when I cleaned up that raised bed.  I had set them aside.  Today I separated them into individual plants, and planted them.  They did not look the worse for wear despite sitting outside a week or 2.

3.  Spread blood meal around onion starts.  Something has been eating them.  Maybe the blood meal will be a deterrent.  The amount is the recommendation of nitrogen supplement.

4.  Cleaned up the strawberry raised bed.  Removed the fencing.  Raked out the deteriorating straw.  Pulled the few weeds.  Did not cut off dead leaves.  That can be later.  Plan:  Mulch this winter with compost.  Later this winter build a better fencing system, maybe a hinged box with chicken wire sides.  Wait until growth starts, to add straw again.

That's about it.  Sounds like a lot, but non of it was difficult and none took very much time.