Learn Propagation with brugmansia and plants

There are several different ways to propagate plants. The most common is collecting seeds and planting them and growing a new plant. There are other ways such as rooting cuttings, grafting, layering, micropropagation and the list goes on. In this web site I will teach you proven ways to reproduce plants. I have tried all of the methods that I have mastered through trial and error until I came up with the best ways to do each one. I am a graduate of N.C. State University and I earned a degree in landscape gardening. I figured instead of selling this info I would share it with the world for free. I have put an extremely large amount of time and research, not to mention work, in my journey to come up with this valuable information to make our journey with growing plants as easy as possible. After all, gardening is supposed to be fun. If it is your career it is supposed to be profitable. Please look around and I promise you will find this web site very helpful.

Propagation by cuttings is a most effective way of propagating( making new plants). Some plants are easier than others. I have found that an easy plant to root from a cutting is the brugmansia (angel trumpet) and the tomato plant. If you are a beginner I would suggest that you try one of these first so you can get a good idea of how to do this method. There are several types of stem cuttings and they are classified as follows:

1.Deciduous hardwood cuttings
2.Narrow-leaf evergreen cuttings
3.Semihardwood cuttings
4. Softwood cuttings
5.Herbaceous cuttings.

We are going to focus on the softwood cuttings and the herbaceous cuttings because they root quicker and that is what category the brugmansia falls in. This will be the easiest for the beginner.

First you will want a sterile area and sterile tools. Wash your hands thoroughly and make sure your area is clean. Make sure that you select a plant that is desease and pest free.

These types of cuttings do best if you take a cutting from new growth. This will be close to the end and you will need to cut about six inches from the tip of the branch. You will want to remove all of the leaves except one on the end. by taking all of the leaves off the plant can concentrate on developing roots.

Take a sharp knife or scissors and trim all the leaves or flower buds off your cutting. Remember to leave a small leaf at the top. you will want to dip your cutting into root hormone and take your rooting medium and make a hole in the soil so when you insert your cutting you will not lose your hormone. I usually use a seed starter and perlite. The mixture I use is 2/3 soil and 1/3 perlite. The perlite helps the soil drain. The soil needs to be moist but it does not need to stay saturated because this will make your cutting rot. Insert your cutting about 1/3 to 1/2 the way in the soil. If your cutting is 6 inches it will need to be 2-3 inches under the soil. You can cover with a clear humidity dome or a clear piece of plastic. It also will help a lot to have a misting system to mist your cuttings on a set timer. You will need to give them a little light during the rooting process. I usually put them under a bush or tree in the shade unless they are in the greenhouse.Don't put any nutrients in the soil at this point. You can check to see if your cuttings have rooted by gently pulling up on the cutting. If you feel resistance that means you have roots. This usually takes 2 to 3 weeks. After you develop roots you can feed the plant with a water soluble fertilizer(I use Miricle Gro) mixed 1/2 strength. Feed about every 2 weeks for 1 month and then feed a full strength fertilizer mixture every 2 weeks. Brugmansia plants love fertilizer. After they root you will need to introduce them them into warmer climates gradually. After about 2 months you may plant your plant in it's chosen place. They will grow in full sun or part shade. You can also root cuttings by putting the cutting into a glass of water. Place it in the water at the same depth as you would the soil and you can put a piece of willow in the water to act as a root hormone. This reallly works. Willow has a natural rooting hormone that helps the willow tree root because it live near or in water. This is a very effective way of rooting also. The cutting in the picture was rooted in water.

The next type of propagation that I will talk about is called layering. There is 2 types of layering. There is air layering and layering by using soil.

1. Air layering:

You will need : plastic saran wrap, sphagnum moss, and string.

First you will need to take your plant that you want to propagate and find an ideal spot to do this procedure. I usually find a spot where a leaf bud is coming out of the stem . If you can't find one you can take and find a branch coming off of the stem that you want to root and cut the small branch off of the main stem that you are rooting. There will be a leaf bud there probally. Take a sterile knife and score the stem, but not to deep. You want to just break the surface. Then you will add a little root hormone. Next take your sphagnum, moss (you can get this at Lowes) and wrap it around your stem where you scored it. You might need to tie some string around it to hold it. After you get your moss on there you are going to wrap some saran wrap around it . The purpose of this is to hold the moss in place and to keep it moist. You must check avery now and then to make sure that your moss is moist. you should start to see roots in 3-5 weeks. When your roots get abundant enough, take a sharp, sterile knife and cut the branch off below the roots. There you have it. That is air layering.

You can layer with soil in a similar way but you do not use anything but soil and the plant. You can lie the plant down on the ground and cover the main stem with soil and leave the branches out and keep the soil moist and your plant will develop roots. Then you cut your plant up in as many plants as you can get and plant them separately. You can also poke a hole in a foam cup and slip it on the stem of the plant and fill it with soil and you will develop roots in the cup. You just have to make sure that you put something like a lid or plastic over the cup to keep the soil in the cup. Please go to my blog and share your info or questions. Thank you http://brugmansiatips.blogspot.com/2009/10/hello-welcome-to-my-blog-on-brugmansia.html