Daphne cuttings

Sunny, although I lost all my daphnes, I still know how to raise them. (a monday morning quaterback!!)The reason mine died, is because I had an oak tree (water oak), that I needed to remove, in the daphne bed, about 8 Yrs. ago. As the stump, and roots rotted, that caused a fungus, that sweept through the bed, drying up all the daphnes.I am so sorry I don't have a pic of the "daphne hill', they were so beautiful, and the fragrance had been picked up by the neighbors over 100 Yds. away, in fact they bought 2 plants, and insisted on planting them where they wouldn't grow, and they didn't. Because of our hot humid weather, daphnes need morning sun until 10:30-11:00, and the heat of the day they need to be in the shade.I don't recall watering my daphnes, except during long dry spells, and sparingly.Daphnes need good drainage, so a hill, with morning sun,after noon shade, would be ideal, in my neighbors case, they wanted them by the back door, flat, and open to full sun. They think they want grow "in their soil", These people also ask me why my dog would walk with me to the mail box, and sit and wait, then return with me, and theirs had absolutely NO disipline, although " We have beat him, even with a 2"x4", and he want mind", and my reply:you have to have more since than the dog.( nothing to do w/ daphnes, but thats their attitude). Good growing,Sunny. Mike

This message was edited Jan 24, 2007 10:11 AM

Thanks Sunny, I'll keep looking. :-)

This weekend I acquired a large daphne cutting with several branches, and two edgeworthia cuttings, about 6-9" long, with no leaves at all. They are in water now. Besides using a rooting hormone, is there one packaged soil that is better than others for successful rooting? I really would like to be successful with these plants.

Sunny, are they still at that Pikes or are they gone?

Susan

Susan, the Daphne's are still at the Towne Lake Pike's (unless someone bought umpteen of them last night after 4 p.m.) - so they would probably have them in Marietta too. The wholesale place sale ended yesterday for the Tea Olives, although they had about 5 more when I left around 12. I think the wholesale operation is moving behind the store in Marietta, so maybe they'll bring the Tea Olives with them!

I'd give your local Pike's a call before taking a ride. Rob @ the Towne Lake store is awesome!

~Sunny

Thanks! Two springs ago, I found tea Olives in 1 gallon at Wal-mart super cheap and I just about cleared them out. Wished I had.. I still could use more evergreens for the back.. I love those things.

Thanks Sunny.. It's funny how an addict like me thinks about new plants while letting the ones overwintering in the garage suffer from lack of water......

Susan

"It's funny how an addict like me thinks about new plants while letting the ones overwintering in the garage suffer from lack of water......"
rotflmao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We ALL do that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sterling

Pins, I don't know what soil is better, but please let me know how the cuttings do? I'm going to beg an Edgeworthia cutting off of Sterling since he got his SO CHEAP!! :D

How fast do Daphne's grow? Mine is going to live in a container, so I know I need to pot up, but just not totally sure what size to move up to...any suggestions?

Ahem, I'll have you know that none of my garage babies are suffering from lack of water. I've been a good girl, snagging rainwater and keeping them all watered. Now the morning glory seeds up on the top of the fridge keep sucking up the water I give them, but it's not because I don't water them, they just hog it all. And my Peace Lily in the bedroom has to nearly fall over before I remember to water it, mainly cuz it's dark when I go in there and dark when I get up....LOL! I've finally make notes in my work planner to remind me to WATER the indoor plants - hahaha.

~Sunny

Hineni - just wanted to say Sterling (me) is not a man! Here's my pix (with Susan - souldgardenlove) - I am on the left and she is on the right!
http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=2254545

I've not done any cuttings on the edgeworthia but if I do, I'll save you one.

The Daphne (related to the edgeworthia) needs really excellent drainage. Cannot have damp feet, so mound up a tad. I would not put it in an oversize pot.

Whhhoooops, sorry Sterling (blushing furiously). My uncle is named Sterling, and you're the only other person I've ever met (albeit virtually) who had that name. Please, please forgive me!!

I had heard that the death of Daphne can be related to overwatering. So I am guessing that I wouldn't want to use a soil mix with vermiculite or perlite to 'hold' water for it. I'll have to research some more, and thank you for the advice on the mound and pot size.

Again, I'm really sorry that I mistook you for a man.....

~Sunny

That's OK - most people make the same mistake. It is a family name. I used to get mail from the Marines saying 'we're looking for a few good men" and I'd write back saying "me too!"

Good luck with the daphnes - I have 6 cuttings rooting under lights in my laundry room now. They are very small plants and darn if they didn't start blooming - yes, the little cuttings were blooming - at the same time the ones outside started blooming. Go figure that! I did - reluctantly - cut the blooms off as they need to keep their strength for growing. These blooms were pure white so I am excited. I got a branch that was left over from a flower show, cut it into pieces and now they are six plants and making tiny leaves. Someone told me it was a 'special' daphne when I pulled the branch out of the trash. Someone had entered it as a 'specimen example'. I've not see a white one before. Also they have a white edge on the leaves.

I potted them up in Miracle Gro potting mix. Works fine.

Plants are such fun!

Sounds lovely Sterling - they had a white flowered verigated Daphne at the Pike's where I was, but I was a sucker for the pink. You must have the ultimate green thumb woman! I tried cuttings for the first time this past fall, of abutilon being trimmed at a neighbor's house. I did six, and I have one tiny one left, still struggling. I can't imagine getting all six to live! I'll be watching you my friend, to see what I can absorb from ya!

::giggle:: I liked that about the Marines :) Thanks for your forgiving attitude. I get it occasionally as people think anyone named Sunny must be Sonny and hence, a guy. That's one easy way to spot a phone solicitor, when they call me MR King. :)

Have a great day!

~Sunny

For anyones information: Daphnes CAN NOT live in a pot!!!

I've messed up genders on Daves before too.

thats good info.. Did anyone notice how I turned so you couldn't see the full size of my hips in that picture?? I did!!

:)

Susan

Mike, if they can't live in a pot, how do they live at the garden centers? I'll do some more research, but I really wasn't planning on planting it in the ground here. Thanks for the heads up.

~Sunny

Susan...what hips? :D

I guess I should have said "want live long, in a pot",I can grow one to a good planting size, from a cutting, but when it is in its perminent location,the pot will water log it,and blight takes over. Mike


My DW just read this thread, and informed me that I'm not being clear, so let me get clear. First of all let me appoligise, for being short, it is not my cheerful self, but I broke 2 bones in my foot this past Sat., and I am meserable.

My mother loved the daphnes and my brother-in-law, and myself bought as nice of heavy pot as you could buy, for my mothers grave, whitch is in a nice place for daphnes, morning sun, etc,or so we thaught.Her daphne lived only 3 Yrs. 9 Mos., and looked rotten.The roots were mushy, and had a strange smell.My brother-in-law looked into the problem (I don't live there anymore), and found that the pot held too much water, or it got root bound,along with the drainage problem, and found that daphnes need open space, with drainage.

This message was edited Jan 24, 2007 7:06 PM

Hi all, I have split, rooted and grown from seeds things that i collected from my own plants..but my daphne has always intimidated me into not cutting it. I am going to my first round up and would like to bring some. I have read almost this whole forum and I must be slow, sorry because i still dont have enough info to go out with the cutters. Exactly where would I cut the plant? How big of a piece? and can I do it now, it is in bloom? Are the cuttings going in just water or dipped in rootone and put into soil. I think i have heard both..maybe doesnt matter. Sorry if these are repeats for you guys, but I just dont get it.
Chris

No problem Mike, I'm sorry to hear about your foot :( May you have a speedy recovery. Since I don't know if we're staying here in this location, I want to pot my daphne up so it can go with me if we move :) I think the key may be fast draining soil, once a month watering and keeping a close eye on it. Heck, if I got three years out of it I'd be thrilled, because think of how many cuttings I could take during that time :D However, I can understand your experience, where you wanted it to be for always, and it didn't work out in the pot.

Chris, I'm hoping for a good answer to your questions too, since eventually I want to try doing both daphne and tea olive cuttings.

~Sunny

I usually cut pieces about 3" long from the tip end of a branch, strip off the lower leaves and put them in pots of Miracle-Gro potting soil, water and put them under my HD shop lights in the laundry room. I have six in there now. I have a heat vent at the bottom of the shelves and my cuttings are in a long black tray so the heat does not blow on them but does keep them warm. I run the lights about 14 hours a day. Sometimes it takes a while before you see new growth and sometimes they'll just take off.

I took these cuttings off a single branch I dug out of the trash at the Yellow Daisy Flower Show, about September 12th. I cut it into about 8 sections and 6 made it fine, 2 did not. I have had more success with fresh cuttings. Still they are growing and putting out new leaves. Use root-tone if you have it.

Never be afraid to try - life longs for itself! You should see my Justica cuttings... They are little shrubs now - shrubettes? I have a lovely corkscrew willow I rooted out of a special florist bouquet.

I'd say go ahead and cut some now and try it. I've taken cuttings in all seasons. Spring is always best (my opinion) but anytime can work.

Thanks sterhill for the info...

Chris, I have never tried any thing that is in bloom.They might work, but at least remove the bloom, while rooting. Mike

OK - I am going back downstairs, take some pix of my setup - mess and all and throw up a quick web page!

I bought the wire shelves set from Home Depot I think - it was not too much. I think Wal-Mart has them too. And I bought some of the cheap shop lights at Home Depot and just regular florescent tubes - nothing expensive. I keep hearing about foot candles and cool vs warm lights and how you have to have this and that - but hey! this works for me every year. I raise cuttings and seeds - yummy tomatoes - and I have no trouble with my cheap set up. There is a heat vent at the bottom of the shelves so everything stays pretty warm - well. at least as warm as I do considering the price of gas! I do have the heat mats ($22) I will use when I start my peppers and tomatoes next month. They do like more heat.

You don't need those fancy pulley systems either - take a look at how easy the chains work. I guess you'd want a really nice, pretty setup if you had a nice, pretty sun-room for it... but this works for my laundry room.

http://home.comcast.net/~sterhill/lights/lights.html

Amen, Sterhill on DIY light set up. I don't buy the expensive lights or shelves and have a lot of success (luck) with getting houseplants through the winter. I have 15 shelving units and around 70 shop lights. I'd hate to think how much this would cost if I bought the readymade, smaller units.

Check out some of the info on the propagation forum.


http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/683246/


Here is my big utility room with the bulk of the shelves. I have 3 other rooms plus the garage.

This message was edited Jan 25, 2007 7:13 AM

Yea!! Sterhill, thats just what I am looking for. You are so nice for taking those pics for me, I am sure other newbies will get much use from them also. Your plants and seedling look wonderful. Couple more detail questions if you dont mind. Are those lights 1 or 2 bulbs, what wattage and are they regular bulbs or do they sell a grow bulb for those fixtures? where can I buy the heat pads. Last one, when you referred to leaf cutting, did you really mean 1 leaf on a stem or was it a bigger cutting. ( sorry, pretty new at this so I still take things real litural) I never did cuttings of a geranium. Ok, I lied...1 more... the toad lillies you mentioned potting up. How do you take those seedlings out to do that..Do you just cut it out like lasagna and have more than 1 in a pot..I like the tray idea.
thanks so much,
Chris

Great info, thanks hcmcdole

Sterhill and hcmdcole - thanks for showing us those! I was recently looking at light set ups and thought...I'll never be able to afford to do that (not sure if I could even justify it myself). But I rigged something much smaller that I am trying for the first time with some tomato seedlings. Granted, I don't have the numbers of things ya'll do, but it's my first try :) I have a swing arm shop light that DH retrieved from a defunct office for me. I'm just going to put my seedlings on top of upturned rubbermaid containers and adjust the height as they grow and see how that does. I have two more rows of regular shop lights to work with if I'm successful with this small batch. I'm also going to take the plunge and try wintersowing a few tomatoes outside, as everyone says the plants are very strong and healthy when done like that.

Both set ups look great! Thank you both for taking the time to encourage those of us venturing into this for the first time.

~Sunny

hcmcdole - whoa - your setup makes me drool! That is wonderful!! I don't have anyplace I could set up that big. What a treasure!

Chris -
My lights have two bulbs and I just buy the regular cheap florescent tubes, nothing special. Long debates rage over the "proper" lighting but this works for me. I think the 4 bulb fixtures would be nice but probably too wide for my shelves.

The heat mat is called "seedling heat mat" and I bought mine off the net but do a good search in google to find the best price - prices range from $22 to $45 for the same 10 x 20 mat. Some of your local places might have them.

A stem cutting - the justicas were basically a stem with two small leaves taken off the end of a branch. Sometimes if a cutting has big leaves (more than 2", like hydrangea) I will cut the leaves in half. The new tiny roots cannot support those big leaves but leaves collect the light and are needed to feed the new roots so it is a balance.

A leaf cutting - some things, like pinapple lilly, will root from a piece of the leaf stuck into a pot. Experiment.

I tend to use these two terms interchangeably but that's wrong...

You can dip your stems or leaves into a rooting hormone like Root-Tone to help start them if you want.

The toad seedlings - I have gotten frustrated in using little peat pots, putting in 3 or 4 seeds each so I just spread them out on a bed of seed starter mix. Then whatever germinates I pot up. You get a bunch of tiny pots - I buy the plastic 1" pots for a dime each - fill them with Miracle Gro and water well. Then I "pick out" the seedlings. This is done with a pencil or some thin object. You just put the pencil in the base of a seedling and push up. It will come up with a very tiny root and some dirt. Push a small, shallow hole in the dirt in your new pot with another pencil and plunk down the seedling. Dribble a bit of water from a sports bottle on it as it will settle in. Maybe not all will make it but most will.

You might want to check out the propagation forum here on dave's. Some good ideas over there.

I reproduce a number of plants in the spring and summer by trimming back - like mums - and stripping the lower leaves off the trimming and then just sticking it in the ground. My Granddad used to say "you only need one plant.

WOW!!,you girls have just sent me to school, and I'm an oldbe, but have never won out w/DW to "junkup" the house, and to think, when building the house, it was ME who said( out of fear of junk)"I don't see ever needing a basement", if I wasn't so crippled up, I'd give myself a BIG kick!!Sterling, and hcmcdole, I have learned a lot from you, and plan to work in that direction.You go girls. Mike


BTW, you don't need "grow lights" the cool white floresent will do it too. M

This message was edited Jan 25, 2007 2:11 PM

Well, I'm sad to say I can't find them locally in my area, and I'm not going to be able to make the swap due to it being in May. I've got a graduation and wedding the same week-end ... one niece and one nephew ... so I've gotta be there! LOL I'd be perfectly willing to pay the $10, though if someone has a daphne they'd be willing to put my name on. Maybe that would enable someone to go that might not otherwise could?
Thanks ... Elaine

Sterhill,

You are a bad influence! I saw an edgeworthia this weekend and bought one ($35) plus two daphne ($16 a piece - thought I'd try them once more). Now my garage is perfumed like a French you know what and that is only the edgeworthia; the daphne I left outside next to the house. I also saw Pike's had the same things for a bit cheaper ($30 for edgeworthia and I think it was $12 for daphne) but the edgeworthia I got seemed bigger than the ones at Pike's. The ladies at the nursery I bought them at suggested planting the daphne in pots for drainage.

You will love that edgeworthia - doesn't it smell wonderful!!!

Yes, it is quite fragrant! I wonder if the scent is out of my truck yet? I haven't been in it since I got these.

Sterhill, which Daphne do you have that you are growing from cuttings? I have and Odora and it is blooming now...it is only two years old but it is doing quite well....planted outside in the garden, debating taking cuttings nor or waiting till Spring....if it is in bloom now..when it the fastest growing season for this shrub? It smells so wonderful!!!! Would love to have several near my swing..

I took these current cuttings in September from a branch I pulled out of the trash at a flower show and they are taking a while! They do have new leaves so I am happy. But if you take your cuttings in the early spring - right after blooming - they grow much faster.

Thanks Sterhill, I will give it a try then in a few weeks...

Sterhill or anyone else that knows more than me, (which would be just about everyone) when you made your daphne cuttings. After you planted it in the soil mix, did the leaves that were on the cuttings turn soft looking and yellow. Mine are getting yellow by the day and I am not sure if they are dying completely or just using energy for their roots. How long before you saw new growth, mine are only a week old. How often do I water them, how wet or damp or dry in between should the soil be?
Thanks,
Chris

Mine take a long time to show new growth but you should have some green. I water mine a good bit more than I would in the ground - I also have them under shop lights with the light tubes almost touching the tops of the cuttings and my setup is in the laundry room near a heat vent so they keep warm.

ok, thanks I will wait a while then.