Blue Fescue - Red Yucca - Russian Sage Rooting

I started Blue Fescue 'Elijah Blue' from seeds a little over a week ago. They have all sprouted very well and are now around an inch tall. This is my first attempt at starting anything from seed. My question is when do they need to be transplanted? Also should I group seedlings together when they are transplanted?

I also planted some seeds from red yucca earlier this week. How long does it take for these seeds to germinate? Also do they require any type of stratification?

My last question is about rooting cuttings. I will eventually try tree, shrubs, and other plants but right now I am going to try my luck at some Russian Sage cuttings. I'm just not sure what to start them in? Should I start them in flats(if so, what count?) or should I start them in 2.5" or 4" pots? Also what is a good rooting hormone?

Sorry for asking so many questions, but i'm just anxious to get started!
THANKS!!

Do not rush into transplanting things. Let them get decent roots on them. Keep the domes on after transplanting and make sure things are damp through the process. Did you seed into filter paper or trays? If into trays, you can wait a long time before they actually have to be moved up. If on filter paper, it seems to work better if they have both a root and and leaves

Good deal. I seeded them in just a 4" pot. I haven't bought any flats for growing the seeds yet. What would be a good size flat for starting seeds?

I hate to post again so soon but i'm wanting to make an order at Charleys Greenhouse and just wasn't sure what size of flat and count I should buy? This will be for cuttings.

Thanks

This message was edited Jul 5, 2005 1:52 PM

I hate to be a pest but i'm really anxious to get started with some cuttings. I really do not know what size of trays I should get for starting them. I am planning on rotting Crape Myrtle, Nandina, Vitex, Russian Sage, and pretty much any other cutting I can find. Do i need a 38, 50, 72 size flat???

I would really appreciate any help!

Thanks much,
Jared

Just a thought but I start all my seeds in 18 flats and so I do not have to move up for some time and Charleys always seemed high priced to me so check out other options maybe. I use Mortons hortucultural alot for pots and flats. Standard 1020 flats can hold any type of sheet pots. They sell all these at Mortons too. http://mortonproducts.com/ Good luck with your seeds. If you have any luck rooting the russian sage let me know how you do it as I have had 0 success with mine. Other stuff plenty of success but the sage I don't know what I am doing wrong?

Thank you very much. I ended up buying a couple different flats from e-bay user herbs-mint-4-u. Thanks for the link, I will have to visit them and take an order with them.

My Red Yucca seeds haven't sprouted yet but it has only been 13 days so far. Hopefully they will come up soon.

I will also let you know what kind of luck I have with the Russian Sage. This will be my first attempt at rooting any type of cuttings. I have ordered 3 different types of rooting hormones and will be testing each one of them. I will be taking a lot of cuttings from the Sage, So I will let you know what kind of results I have.

Thanks Again!

Thanks for the update. I start red yuccas all the time from seed. They almost always give me 100 percent germination. Were the pods good and dry when you collected them? I have tons of yucca babies out there in the greenhouse right now. Expect a slow growth rate from them the first year. The second year they grow pretty fast. Tanarae

They were very dry when I collected them. They had to of been from last season or older because this years seed pods have not yet opened or dried out. They are still in their blooming season right now. I'm really not sure if they were good seeds although. The plant looks dead, so that may have affected the seeds. We have tons of red yuccas in town, so once they dry up, i'm going to be collecting seeds all around town, haha.

Yep, I collect seeds from all over town too. They are pretty expensive plants so it is one I am growing to sell. Here they sell for about 30 bucks when they are flowering size. Good luck. Give the seeds time. If they were hard and black they were okay. Tanarae

Wow, I'm sure you can make some pretty good profits selling them at that price. How long does it take them to reach flowering size? Here is an image of what the seeds look like.

I also just started my cuttings today. How do I know if they are rooted or not? If they don't start rooting, will they just die or what?

The picture did not come through of the seeds. The cuttings will take several weeks to root. Most take 6-8 weeks then the roots will be very small. If the cuttings get dried out and look dead then they probly are. I would wait about 2 months and remove one very gently, cause the tiny roots will be fragile and look at it then. If no signs of roots leave them in the soil longer and keep them moist. The red yuccas take 2-3 years to reach flowering size. That is one reason they are expensive to buy. Good luck and let me know how your cuttings come out! Tanarae

If the top of the little seedling continues to be alive-looking (green) and if it eventually starts to show growth, then there has been root growth. (This takes a long time, though.) If it looks dead, it's dead.

I don't like to pull out the seedling and disturb (look at) the roots because that might really hurt the plant.

I never thought about rooting cuttings of Russian sage - I think I'm going to copy that idea.

I have actually bought seed starting trays at Dollar General for $3 - also Wal-Mart for $6. Don't know if they have any left this time of year, though.

Z71JROD,

How are your Nandina cuttings coming? I am going to try and root some this week, along with Crape Myrtles, do you think a light seed starting mix is the best or sand? I have No 1 Hormex rooting powder too, what number did you use?

And how did the Russian sage cuttings turn out?

I found some seed and will start them over the winter.

I love that plant.

BTW, I've had luck rooting Russian Sage in water and read on another thread that crape myrtle roots in water, also. I'm not saying that this is the way to do it, just that it's possible in case for one reason or another the usual method fails you.
Sherry

OKay, good. Thanks!