I have some salvias I would like to propagate but have yet to be successful with. These include black and blue, greggii pink, and pineapple sage. I have grown coral nymph and lady in red from seed just fine. The others either haven't bloomed or don't produce seed, so I would really like to root them. I have take tip cuttings, put them in moist vermiculite/perlite mix and put them in the shade. It is quite humid here so I thought that would be ok. But in a day or two they turn brown/black. Any helpful tips?
Kim
Propagation tips?
Take the stems about 10cm long and stick in a pot or whatever you are using, very important that you leave the leaves on the stem as they need these to help make the roots. Just cut and poke this works for me.
I too tried that Kim and mine wilted after about two days. Used rooting hormone and everything. Don't think I cut them quite that long though. Thanks for the tip Annette. Yours are so beautiful I know you know what you are doing.
Leslie
We have a lot off humidity here, the grey leaved sages take longer than the mexican sages.LOL I dont normally have time to take cuttings but sometimes a branch snaps off and I stick it in a pot, I turn around and the stick has turned into a plant in weeks, the higher the humidity the quicker they root.
A.
Well we have had quite a bit of humidity here this summer. Things should be taking off a little better but I am probably just not good at rooting things. I was brought up throwing everything in a glass of water and rooting that way. It is so much easier the other way though and quicker. I wish it would work a little better for me.
Leslie
Hmmm....thanks everyone for the advice. I also wasn't taking them so long, and was taking off leaves since they seem to brown anyway. I will try it again and see what happens.
Thanks, Kim
Two tips on taking cuttings:
Take cuttings from robustly growing stock, no matter the season. Dormant stems will just sit in a rooting medium and maybe develop callus tissue instead of roots.
The part of the stem submersed in the medium should be firm green wood. Try the "asparagus" test: flex the stem, grabbing it at the tip and just under the bark-covered area. The part which still has some flexibility but is not stiff is the part you want to cut, clean, and insert. Stiffer stem will just sit there, and super soft tip stem will likely rot. Xeric species like lemon verbena and southwestern Agastaches really need cool season growth (basal horizontal stems with wide leaves for Agastaches especially)
Be sure to include a node, since this is where side shoots will originate. They will come in handy if the leader stem breaks off. If this happens without a subterranean node, the plant is as good as dead. Then the fact that roots can develop from anywhere else on the stem is moot. If you make or acquire such a rooted plant, set it in deep enough to have the first above ground at or just below planting level.
We're in the company of quite a few very knowledgeable people here...how fortunate we are. Thank you!
Rich, good to see you posting here! I agree, Very helpful tips.
I appreciate this information, too. Makes me want to try, try again!
I really appreciate the help too! I'm really wanting to root my pinapple sage, and some other salvias and found this. I thought this article was good too...
http://www.homeandgardentv.com/hgtv/gl_plants_propagation/article/0,1785,HGTV_3611_2165586,00.html
Forget for a moment that taking cuttings is a practical and inexpensive way of making more plants.
Forget, too, that science has solved the mystery of how and why a piece of stem can form roots.
So with all practical considerations aside, think of taking cuttings as just plain fun. Science may hold the answers and explanations about why stem cells can produce roots, but it's still a remarkable process.
It's immensely satisfying, after waiting for several weeks, to tip a pot of cuttings over and find amass of white roots gingerly clinging to the side of the stem. And what could be better than to plant those rooted cuttings in the garden and watch them grow and mature, or to give some away to friends? Sharing cuttings makes the garden more personal. My pineapple sage, for example, grows in at least a dozen other gardens, and many of my scented geraniums came as cuttings from friends.
It's also a lesson in patience. You can't rush the process; you can only accept the time constraints and wait.
A cutting produces a plant genetically identical to the mother plant, so it is essentially a clone. Despite the heat, summer months are the best time to take cuttings of most perennials. Be aware that taking cuttings doesn't work for every plant. While many root readily, others need more coaxing, and some are impossible. So grab the pruning shears, the pots and the soil, and head out into the garden to see what you can cut.
The best time to take cuttings is in the morning when plants are freshest, said Bob Hamm, who coordinates several benefit plant sales in Sacramento, Calif. Hamm roots close to 20,000 cuttings a year, mostly perennials such as salvias, geraniums, asters and dianthus, as well as roses, heathers, hydrangeas and more.
Hamm recommends choosing plants that are healthy and strong, and watering them well the day before. Use a sharp knife or shears to take the cuttings. Ideally, you want a cutting 4 to 8 inches long, depending on the plant. I usually cut the branch I'm going to use for my cutting back to where it branches.
I am, in essence, doing some pruning at the same time. You can take only what you need for a cutting, but be careful not to leave any stubby ends of branches sticking out. Cut stems at an angle.
"Avoid the really soft tip growth early in the season, but also don't take the hardened woody growth," Hamm said. "The soft tips you find in spring don't have much structure and tend to collapse. They lose water and dry out. The woody stuff will still root, but it will be much slower."
Take along a bucket of water, and put the cut branches in the water to keep them fresh. If you're taking cuttings of several varieties of geranium, for example, you might want to tie each variety together and label them you can't tell the difference by looking.
You can root the cuttings in 1-gallon pots, 4-inch pots, flats, whatever you have. Hamm recommends filling flats or pots with planting medium and wetting the soil in advance. Some gardeners use straight perlite, while others mix vermiculite and peat with the perlite. Another favorite combination is sand and peat. Sterile commercial potting mixes work well, Hamm says.
Warren Roberts, superintendent of the University of California, Davis, Arboretum, says to avoid mixes that contain manure or fertilizer. "The cuttings are sensitive to the salts in manure, and they don't need to be fertilized, anyway," he says. The soil mix should have excellent drainage, yet not dry out quickly."
Take the stems you've cut and remove the top 4 to 6 inches for your cutting. Make the cut just below a node at an angle. Strip off the leaves from the lower few inches, pull off any large leaves, flowers, buds or sideshoots, and trim remaining leaves back halfway to prevent water loss and to conserve space. Some gardeners dip the cut end in rooting hormone. Hamm uses rooting hormones with hardwood cuttings, but doesn't generally use them when rooting perennials because they root easily.
Cuttings should be spaced an inch or so apart in the pots, Hamm says, though it also depends on the size of the plant and leaves. Tiny lavender cotton (Santolina) cuttings can be squeezed more closely together, while cuttings of pineapple sage (Salvia elegans) need more room.
Using your finger or a pencil, make a hole in the soil, insert the cutting and pack the soil around the cutting. Half to two thirds of the cutting should be in the ground. Water thoroughly. Some people put plastic bags over the pots to simulate a moist greenhouse environment. A greenhouse isn't necessary, Hamm says, but high humidity helps.
Now comes the tricky stage: If you don't pay attention to your cuttings every day, you'll lose them. They need to be out of the direct sun but not in deep shade.
The high shade of a well-leafed tree is good. They need to be kept moist but not soggy, and never allowed to dry out. They need to be gently misted a couple times a day when temperatures creep up into the 90s and especially when the thermometer hits 100.
Then you wait. Salvia cuttings can root in as few as three weeks. Geraniums are usually rooted and growing in six to eight weeks. As long as the stems are green and the leaves are hanging on, there's life and there's hope. Roses may take months, however, and typically drop all of their leaves before they root. Hamm puts his cuttings on an east-facing porch that gets no midday sun.
The roots that form along the stem are called adventitious roots, and they are brittle and easily broken at first.
"Handle cuttings with gentleness and patience and hope," Roberts admonishes. However, I admit to being an impatient and curious gardener and cannot resist tugging on the cuttings to see if they are rooted. If the cuttings resist, I know they are rooted. Another method is to turn the pot over and check for roots growing near the drainage holes.
Once the cuttings are rooted, pot them into bigger pots or into the garden. They will need some coddling and nurturing until they are acclimated to the outside world.
18 plants that grow easily from cuttings:
Aster
Azalea
Boxwood
Camellia
Chrysanthemum
Dianthus
Gardenia
Geraniums (Pelargoniums)
Honeysuckle
Hydrangea
Jade plant
Lavender
Penstemon
Rose
Rosemary
Salvia
Veronica
Willow
You all are great! I put this on my thread watcher so I can refer back to all the great advice...Between this and the wintersowing thread, I'm gonna have to move out of my house to make room for cuttings and seed packets:-)
Bev
Wonderful advice, thanks everyone. I shall be having a go with Salvias and Agastaches oh and penstemons and.......LOL
Bump
I think it's too warm now for me to start penstemons. I'll have to wait till next year....or I need a cooling mat ? haha...reverse problem.
There are few Penstemons that will do well in Florida. You will have to restrict yourself to those growing in the southern Plains states, and natives of the southeastern USA.
Those growing in the Rocky Mountains will just wither and die. I quickly gave up on them after a few years of growing them in raised sand beds back in the 80s on my first North Carolina residence. I saw some in their natural state in Yosemite, and there was no comparison.
The genus as a whole absolutely hates hot humid nights. Try P. smallii, which is a native of the Carolinas; if this does not work, the others will be a lost cause.
I've seen the huge flowered P. cobaea growing on fencelines next to a Farm Road located east of Brenham, Texas, so that might be worth trying. P. murrayanus is supposedly spreading east from the southern plains. There is a rare Penstemon from the mountains of Georgia that did well for me. I can't find the name right now.
Some others: P. laevigatus. P. digitalis, P. australis
Thanks! I've had good results with P. digitalis. Have not tried the others, something to look forward to. I've been seeding penstemons with a shotgun approach, planting lots of species and seeing what hits. I never made the regional connection, that alone should improve my odds.
I'll use next winter to research their origins. If you happen to think of anymore, please let me know. I appreciate it!
Kim, sorry to turn your thread into a 'penstemon thread'. I love them so, and need to get as much info whenever I can :0)
Gerris, smallii looks nice, I'm going to try it next year.
I threw seeds left over from '07 into beds, sometime that works better then anything else.lol I took a look to see what i have sown this year. I must have been more discouraged then I thought, I only have two sown... P.campanulatus hasn't germinated, but P.heterophyllus has it's first set of true leaves. I'll plant them out once it warms a bit.
Bringing the thread back to Salvias and agastaches:
I took cuttings 4 weeks ago as recommended above the following:
Salvia greggii 'Hot Lips'
Salvia greggii 'Furman's Red' Autumn Red Sage
Agastache Golden Jubilee
Agastache (Mexican) Blue Fortune
Agastache
I used jiffy pellets (the small expandable ones) and just carefully clipped tips and made sure that a good number of leaves were on it.
I treated some with Messenger and some were not treated. They were all put in cake pans that had clear, tight covers and placed in beright light (not direct sun). I brought them inside if the weather was too cool at night (down into the low 40s) - other than that they were on my bright screened porch.
All of them rooted just fine except the 10 that I let dry out accidentally - they did not recover.
So now I am going to try another batch but this time I will use just the loose peat for some and some in coconut coir packed into regular pots and some in the jiffy expandable pellets- cheaper that way.
Just got the following 2 Salvias , so will try them
Salvia nemorosa (x sylvestris, x superba) 'Snow Hill' ('Schneehugel') (a white salvia that I got at Home Depot today)
Salvia nemorosa 'Blue Hill' (Blauhugel) Blue Hill Sage
I will also take cuttings of Black and Blue, Navajo Red, and Meadow Sage "May Night", Karwinski’s Sage (S. karwinskii), plus S. elegans Pineapple Sage
Lorie in SC