Plant Propagation: The Basics Spring 2016

I like your answer Kitt.

Jen, I'm surprised and saddened to hear of the extent of the thievery in vacant homes around your area. That's downright depressing.

I say we all get together and Jen and Bobs , and make us a place of all the vacancy , and cover ourselves with a bio dome ,,

Biodome? So we can share our wheel abilities and downfalls all together? We would run out of space for new plants...

Will that Bio dome be water permeable?

Time for a sneak peak inside the Oxdrift greenhouse. I started up a Gardens 2016 album in my I-pad this morning with this preview of the seasons creations.
Really excited about that new orange coleus I found (campfire) and also the one in the bottom of picture #2 (flame thrower).
Robin, doesn't appear you have seen my latest update on the "oxalis" thread that I posted about a week ago after my Winnipeg trip. Haven't seen any evidence of Pistil in a fair while anywhere.
Keith

I'm here, I'm here! I worked 7of 9 days, including 3 night shifts, now gearing up for about 6 hours of computer work. Ugh. Just living vicariously through y'all. Barely watering things, so glad we got 0.9" rain yesterday, so that is done :-)
Propagating nothing, but just had good news about a Cestrum "Orange Peel' I grew from a cutting last fall. I gave it to my sister about a month ago, when it was in a 4" pot, about 5" tall single healthy stem. She planted it outside, the neighbor's dog sat on it and broke it off. I told her to just leave it be, continue to water, as my established shrub will spring up from the roots if cut down by 10 degree weather. She says it did! Note to self, possibly this could be invasive.
Here are some photos of the "siblings, which really need to be separated, one is already flowering-it's hard to capture the soft orange which is lovely. Currently my "greenhouse" consists of the dining room table. Also some Dragon Fruit I grew from seeds from a fruit I got at the grocery store-don't know what I will do with them, they grow in the sun outside in FL, and can get like 30 feet tall. Fun to do though, I swear every seed sprouted in 3 days.

Robin We could make the dome so it creates it's own or filters outside water sources

Kitt ,, yes ,, we probably would .. Sleeping on tree beds , hmmm ?

Oxdrift and Pistil Nice propagation or growing of plants and flowers .
interesting goodies ..

Very nice Cestrum and the Dragon Fruit look interesting, I'd love to be able to grow it and have the zone it grows in.

Your propagation efforts Oxdrift look professional. Good on you! I can see why you'd be excited about new Coleus finds, 'Campfire' is a new unusual color (colour if you're Canadian eh?)! I'll check out the Oxalis thread, for some reason, it didn't update for me. We're still experiencing random glitches from the site update...goodness.

Okay Ju...I'm in, I've got to go stake me a tree somewhere on Jen's property!

LOL, good luck to that Robin. OK, you new guys, Pistil and Oxdrift, a rule on this thread, you have to tell us what we are looking at. Pistil are those the plants we are looking at that you started from seed? What are they? Come on now, you have to tell us.

Robin, you must join us on the back porch. Over there you can talk about anything. Doesn't necessarily have to be plants. I was going to bring you the link and forgot it. Sorry. Will do that soon, I promise. jen

Had a lot of little White Yarrow plants , so I moved them to a tray . They came up on their own outside ,
Still at the easy stuff , Had some garden greens and green tea made from my plants last evening , not bad
any plant that require a lot of care I am not much at , but I am having fun , lol

Oxdrift sorry, forgot, the coleus and oxalis are really cool. I have purchased some from some of the growers back east and in the south, but they are so expensive to buy and then ship, plants. You cannot get the seed out here. And they do not send a lot of their plants like the rare ones of the coleus family when they send all the 4 inch plants(pots) at the beginning of the season. I suppose they are protecting their growers. Don't know why it would be any other way.

The common ones I can get the seed for and grow myself. but they have a lot of really neat ones that the only way you can get them is to buy the plants from them.

Oxdrift sorry, forgot, the coleus and oxalis are really cool. I have purchased some from some of the growers back east and in the south, but they are so expensive to buy and then ship, plants. You cannot get the seed out here. And they do not send a lot of their plants like the rare ones of the coleus family when they send all the 4 inch plants(pots) at the beginning of the season. I suppose they are protecting their growers. Don't know why it would be any other way.

The common ones I can get the seed for and grow myself. but they have a lot of really neat ones that the only way you can get them is to buy the plants from them.

I did not know there was an oxalis thread. Please tell me where.

Not sure Sharon, however, Oxdrift (his dg name) Keith in Canada just posted an Oxalys thread. I will find the link for you;. jen

Sharon found the thread Jen...not to worry.

Thanks Robin. Even if they used to have an individual thread (forum) for the Oxyalis they probably don't now. Used to have a lot of stuff like that. Anyway, I am glad she found it.

I am only looking in a few times a day ,
" Bloomin rainin" here
1 Looking more like a lyre leaf sage
2 tulip
3 Violet
4 Violet
5 Wild violet ,,

Oh sorry- the photos are-
#1 through #4 all are the same Cestrum 'Orange Peel'- I took cuttings last October, there are about 5 in that pot, one is blooming already. the two photos are of the bloom, trying to capture the soft orange color is hard, one is backlit, one in shady spot. Neither photo really captured the color.
#5 are Dragon Fruit (genus Hylocereus not sure species or cultivar) I grew from seed from a fruit I bought at the grocery store. Each fruit has zillions of tiny black seeds, sort of like a Kiwi. It was delicious and then fun to sprout the seeds from one chunk.

Really Pistil!! #5 looks like a cactus. What was the fruit like? I know, you said a kiwi. Isn't it amazing to grow those from tiny seeds in a fruit from the store. I know avacados, lemons, oranges, etc can be. Is that actually what the plant looks like and grows fruit? And yes, I can see by the shapes now, that the lighting is the issue. Thanks for telling us that.

JU, your flowers are so pretty. Love the colors of purple in the violets and lavender in the tulips After looking at my seeds the other day, I am thinking those might be the colors I end up with on my deck this year.

Yes Jnette, you are right, Hylocereus is in the Cactaceae family! It is a member of a group of "Forest cactus", like Christmas Cactus, and Epiphyllums. In fact one of the Hylocereus is sold as a houseplant or greenhouse plant- called Night Blooming Cereus (not sure which one that is). Most of these cacti have no spines, and grow dangling from trees in a forest in the tropics. Kiwi is not related, just has seeds like these. Here is a photo of my Dragon Fruit:

Wow Pistil. Thanks for sharing that. I would never have thought of trying to plant those seeds. Like what could I do with them here. I'm a failure with house plants. I have one Hoya that I've had for years and it thrives on abuse. I see I have abused it enough that it is going to flower again soon.
Keith

Pistil, what do you do with the Dragon fruit? Eat raw? Use in a recipe? Inquiring minds want to know! (grin). I saw a few in a large 'super' grocery store in a not-so-nearby town awhile back, and was tempted to buy one. But I had no earthly idea as to what to do with it, so at $7.00 plus apiece, they stayed right there in that store. I think, if I ever see one again, I'll be tempted to buy one just to try growing the seeds!
Vern (Rusty)

If it has a seed, or I can stick a twig in the ground, I can grow it. Houseplants? Better be silk. Dark and cold in my house- I even wander around in full polar gear. Made Denver and the fm radio is reminding folks its time to start their gardens. 42* outside, I bet the plants, er, gardeners are ready for their places in the sun and dirt. Love the pictures! Love all the goodies!

So Kitt, what is your story? Picking up a lot about travel. And Texas to Denver WOW! Are you possibly a long haul trucker? If so that must be tough on your gardening hobbies?
Just curious
Keith

Probably someone who has never grown or planted a thing in their lives. No, 42 degrees they will have to wait a few weeks or more. Peas maybe. My daughter started her peas in the house this year. Said the last 2 years they have only gotten so big and died. Hope they do better for her this year.

Well, getting late, gotta check my email one more time to see if my daughter sent anything. She hits the sack every night at 10 o'clock no matter what. Only a baseball game, or football, will keep her past. ttyl

ibarden- Strange how DG changes the order of my photos. See pic #3 above, if you click on it it will get bigger and you can see I cut up the fruit after taking off the peel (pic #4 I had just cut it in half) put it in a glass dish, then ate it. One could also just use a spoon after cutting it in half.It has a texture like a kiwi, and is very similar in how I cut it up and eat it. Not as much trouble as a mango or pineapple.

Chuckl, it is hard on my plants- since I am prone to cuttings from other places...my goosefoot ivy came from Winter Haven, Fl and has joined a rescue pothos from in house...Colorado, wb from Denver, rainy, but the plants are springing up! Last picture Utah- finally getting high enough to get a pine tree! 7800'

Kitt, were you serious about "high enough to grow a pine tree?" If so, what did you mean by that? It looked like most of it needed some soil to grow a pine tree. Beautiful, but lonely looking.

Also, I have never seen a pothos with those pointy leaves. Pretty. I really did like the pictures.

Thanks, Pistil. Yes, I could see basically that you peeled and cut it up. I was curious if it is good "as is" or if it is something that is used mainly as an ingredient in something else, or needs some sort of addition. Looks like it would really add some gorgeous color to a fruit salad, or on a "Summer Torte" that was so popular on another forum a few years ago. I wonder if it can hold up to being baked.
Vern (Rusty)

It was good "as is", and I also thought about a fruit salad. I read a little bit about them once I was sprouting the seeds. Like many fruits, some varieties are yummier than others, apparently.

Jen, answer on Fireside Chat...

Gotcha Kitt.

Rusty, those fruits don't look any more seeds than Pomegranates. I remember people eating those things. Now, I can see maybe juicing them, but I sure wouldn't deal with all those seeds.

Spring has finally arrived at Oxdrift in balmy Zone 3. Small patch of Scilla and purplish leaves are Virginia blue bells. Very dry here and no rain in 2 week forecast

I will have a lot (and tossed more) of lyreleaf sage seedlings for our plant swap in June. If I can get them potted a lot of heartleaf scullcap too. My attempts to start a Carolina Jessamine from seed from my old one failed, I spent $24.99 and bought myself one yesterday. Don't know if anyone has ever succeeded with those seeds. And my moonflower (Ipomoea Alba) are up and going. The easiest way to start those seeds is in hot wet dirt, in the sun, no pre-soak or anything. Going to transplant a few more this morning, their scent is heavenly. got 50 cent apiece leggy verbena at Ace Hardware last night, something to keep the bees going, I have managed to propagate a couple of these in really wet dirt on the aquaponic tray in the greenhouse, maybe now that the greenhouse is fixed I can move some ajuga off the tray and out of the way, and do a few more, but keeping up is hard.

I am excited to report that my cuttings of hardwood from my Madame Galen Trumpet vine have taken off. All my glorys are up, and I have been digging seedlings of sweet autumn clematis out of the yard. One day off last weekend and it was too cold to play outside. I have peas, green beans, lettuce, tomatoes and peppers going great guns. the transplanted rooted tomatoes from inside are doing well, from one plant I made four. my bluebells are done and going to seed, the mock orange is now in full bloom.
Excited to see my milkweeds are coming back.

Gosh, you guys have been busy. I am still planting seeds inside. Really disappointed tho, a lot of my seeds it appears are not going to germinate. I just hate that when I spend so much for the darned things and then they don't grow. And the price of them has gone so high. Don't know when they will stop. Guess when fools like me quit buying them. Going out to a growers tomorrow and try to get some good begonias. I think they are no more expensive buying from them than if I bought a smaller tuber.
Well guys, about time to hit the sack. have a good evening and see you in the morning. jen

Yes, you guys have been very busy.

I'm glad you've got some signs of spring in the northern Oxdrift shangri-la. When can you plant out your Coleus?

Carolina Jessamine sounds/looks divine, I had to look that one up. I would have taken a shot at germinating those seeds for you Gypsi. Can you grow Robinia pseudoacacia (Black Locust) Tree in TX? Bees love it and heard it makes great honey.

I've only seen (in real life) Trumpet Creepers that look like 'Madame Galen' Is that a variety that's common or reliable in the north? Debra, no kidding, you did well? Haha, I'd never expect you to fail at propagating...ever.

I'm sorry to hear your seed germination efforts are challenging for you Jen, do you suppose the seed is old? I've had a couple of tree seeds I've been trying to germinate with zero success to date. They're really tough nuts to crack. One is a Styrax obassia (Snowbell) and the other is Davidia involucrata (Dove tree). Argh I say.

Mipii: unless this is an exceptional year have over a month before I can put coleus in the ground. I usually put some in pots earlier that I can cover. I have several totes of blankets in the barn specifically for that purpose. I spend a lot of time on the weather network as the time approaches.

Black locust is invasive her, pretty tree wish it wasn't. The Jessamine I bought has a LOT of seeds on it already so I will get to try with fresh seed later on. Sleep is calling, will check in later