Annuals: Annual Choice Trend, 1 by Gitagal

Gitagal wrote:


I got my Cardinal from my neighbor....she is a "pot gardener". She had the cardinal flower
and simply divided the root mass and got about 5 new pots out of it. She gave me two.
I have never had this before--and am learning as i go....not too concerned--it is ONLY a plant!

birder---I know what you are saying about too much pampering. I do no such thing....
Right now my big table outside is full of trays with potted cuttings of different things...
If you have pretty Coleus--take cuttings soon--and stick them right into a pro Mix type of soil.
You can use a deep cell-pak for this.
I root all my coleus for the following year--and keep the cuttings on my light set-up for the winter.
Why not? It is not used for anything else! They LOVE it and all the cuttings root.

I DO NOT believe of rooting things first in water---water roots are not the same as soil roots.
Learned this the hard way. I even root stem cuttings of Brugs right into a pot of soil--all the way down!
They all root! Earlier I tried the water methid--and the "bubbler" method--but the water always got dirty
and then slimy and then the cuttings followed.
I do all my cuttings straight into good, soiless Mix. Why prolong the process?
Just keep them in semi shade and keep them just watered....

Right now--I have about 20 pots of Fig cuttings as my neighbor has 3 different kinds.
I mentioned it on the MAF--as we have a Swap in 2 weeks--and now everyone wants
Fig cuttings. So I am taking cuttings and sticking them in qt.-sized, deep pots.
They all pass the "tug test" in one week. That's it! I do not do anything special.

As far as separating seeds from chaff--I use metal strainers--like for tea or bigger ones.
I have a plastic one that has pretty big holes (for bigger seeds) and a finer mesh one for small seeds.
I am pretty careful not to keep a lot of chaff with my seeds as I pick them out.
Then I just dump all the picked out seeds and chaff into the strainer and gently tap it so the seeds can fall out.
Sometimes--I have to repeat the process....
If you want really clean seeds--put them in a small, deep bowl and go outside. Gently rotate the seeds
and VERY gently blow on them to send the chaff to the winds..
That's about all you can do. Some chaff is OK. No biggie!

NO! on the Echinacea--you do not pull the spikes out! Impossible!
Allow the spent bloom head to dry. Get a big paper plate ans a small, dull knife.
Holding the spiky cone tightly in hour hand--OUCH!!!--use the knife to firmly pull against the spikes. Over and over..
The seeds will just jump out! That's why you need a big plate.
IF the flower head is totally dry--you can just bang it on a plate--and get most of the seeds out that way.

Gita

1--Coleus cuttings in Dec. 2010
2-- " " "same
3--Baby Thanksgiving cactus--I keep them on my window sashes in the winter
4--Just potted cuttings under my lights (Dec. 2011)
5--Same cuttings--now--outside by my front door in bright shade. Hoping many of these will bloom.
I get the cuttings from my bigger CC's--OR------I look for broken off pieces at work--and even check
the Lowes racks sometimes. People are so rough--and the pots are so jammed up--
lots of broken off cuttings to be had. Yeah! Sometimes I feel guilty--but.....