Increasing Your Stock with Cuttings
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Materials Needed:
Introduction to Cloning
Taking a cutting is a great way to increase your plant stock. When you take a cutting you are "cloning" the mother plant creating an identical specimen, the downside is, if the plant has a disease or any negative traits they are passed as well, so only choose your best stock for cloning.
I have anywhere between 15-20 mother geraniums that i use for my spring cuttings. As I create more batches of clones I transplant them into the flower beds outside and at the end of the season i choose the best stock to winter over.
With the advent of fogponics, what took 3-4 weeks can be accomplished in just 1 week. Mist cloning is such an efficient method of propagation, i have yet to find a plant that wouldn't take root.
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The mother I am using for this tutorial is a clone from my grand-fathers stock. This plant is identical to its mother which was cloned in 1968. As you can see 40 years of cloning doesnt change any characteristics of the plant.
Step 1: Choosing the Stem Site
Take a look at your plants, find one that nice and juicey and chop it in half :alein (10):
Step 2: Take a close look at the leaf nodes
This is where youll make your cut
Step 3: Make the cut
With your sterilized knife make a clean cut below the node
Step 4: Cut off any blossoms
Those beauties require far to much energy and all your plants resources will be directed to blooming rather than rooting
Step 5: Prepare your cutting
Take a look at it, will the leaves let it fit in the collar??
Step 6: Chop some of the excess leaves off
These die anyways so chop those suckers down
Step 7: Clean the woody off the node
This speciman has some semi-hardwood so we just score it or trim it off
Step 8: The Stem is Prepped
It looks fresh and ready to root
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( You can use either Clone Gel or Powder powder at this point)
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Step 9: Dip in some water
For this stem we are using powder so we need to moisten
Step 10: Nice and Damp
One good drop of water should do it
Step 11: Time for Indole-3-butyric acid
Sometimes i sprinkle this on my breakfast and grow a third leg
Step 12: Make sure its a liberal
You have to be liberal...
If you decided to use gel....
Step 13:Slide her into the collar
Leave a little gap for root growth on the stem
Step 14: Placing it Deep
Make sure you have it sunk far so you expose the bulk of the stem to the fog.
Step 15: Drop her in the Tank
Check daily but in a weeks time she will be ready for transplant
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Conclusion
As I stated in step 6, the lower large leaves always die
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Drum Roll Please: Root Growth
Not bad huh!!! The stem cracked and roots will start dropping a few more hours. The plant was cut and cloned on Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 4:24 PM and that picture was taken at Tuesday, May 27, 2008, 6:30 PM
So in 5 days the stem cracked and root hairs are dropping on a difficult geranium strain to clone!!!
Mist is the way to go, propagation has never been so easy!!!
_________________________________________________
Materials Needed:
- Razor of Very Sharp Knife
- Rubbing Alcohol
- Rooting Gel or Powder
- Stock Plant -- Any Softwood should suffice
- Dominaero Propagation System
Introduction to Cloning
Taking a cutting is a great way to increase your plant stock. When you take a cutting you are "cloning" the mother plant creating an identical specimen, the downside is, if the plant has a disease or any negative traits they are passed as well, so only choose your best stock for cloning.
I have anywhere between 15-20 mother geraniums that i use for my spring cuttings. As I create more batches of clones I transplant them into the flower beds outside and at the end of the season i choose the best stock to winter over.
With the advent of fogponics, what took 3-4 weeks can be accomplished in just 1 week. Mist cloning is such an efficient method of propagation, i have yet to find a plant that wouldn't take root.
_________________________________________________
The mother I am using for this tutorial is a clone from my grand-fathers stock. This plant is identical to its mother which was cloned in 1968. As you can see 40 years of cloning doesnt change any characteristics of the plant.
Step 1: Choosing the Stem Site
Take a look at your plants, find one that nice and juicey and chop it in half :alein (10):
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi110.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn86%2Fnelstaresthero%2FDSCF1374.jpg&hash=d877661588db75d64524d85956cda4bb)
Step 2: Take a close look at the leaf nodes
This is where youll make your cut
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi110.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn86%2Fnelstaresthero%2FDSCF1377.jpg&hash=86369357d0825c8a7f2d4b314d70397f)
Step 3: Make the cut
With your sterilized knife make a clean cut below the node
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi110.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn86%2Fnelstaresthero%2FDSCF1378.jpg&hash=392d030acddb304b33af5a1552f14347)
Step 4: Cut off any blossoms
Those beauties require far to much energy and all your plants resources will be directed to blooming rather than rooting
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi110.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn86%2Fnelstaresthero%2FDSCF1375.jpg&hash=24351bd29577590a8f296f51e6b4e797)
Step 5: Prepare your cutting
Take a look at it, will the leaves let it fit in the collar??
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi110.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn86%2Fnelstaresthero%2FDSCF1379.jpg&hash=89359ddb598d58674c915a4501f6a99a)
Step 6: Chop some of the excess leaves off
These die anyways so chop those suckers down
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi110.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn86%2Fnelstaresthero%2FDSCF1380.jpg&hash=12926dcdffd8b9ba26e96ddeeda2fdae)
Step 7: Clean the woody off the node
This speciman has some semi-hardwood so we just score it or trim it off
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi110.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn86%2Fnelstaresthero%2FDSCF1381.jpg&hash=eab5cc98020174daa64025ef93d71eaf)
Step 8: The Stem is Prepped
It looks fresh and ready to root
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi110.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn86%2Fnelstaresthero%2FDSCF1383.jpg&hash=b15476e2cd5bdb00c070c8a63d6f81b8)
_________________________________________________
( You can use either Clone Gel or Powder powder at this point)
_________________________________________________
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi110.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn86%2Fnelstaresthero%2FDSCF1372.jpg&hash=19fd7019ae92277334e6219f30c41453)
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi110.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn86%2Fnelstaresthero%2FDSCF1448.jpg&hash=6b584c79f3a6221af5a3338a38d85686)
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Step 9: Dip in some water
For this stem we are using powder so we need to moisten
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi110.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn86%2Fnelstaresthero%2FDSCF1386.jpg&hash=83560c9700ae6ef0efd9e37886254424)
Step 10: Nice and Damp
One good drop of water should do it
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi110.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn86%2Fnelstaresthero%2FDSCF1387.jpg&hash=d869bb241613819acef015802c08a49e)
Step 11: Time for Indole-3-butyric acid
Sometimes i sprinkle this on my breakfast and grow a third leg
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi110.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn86%2Fnelstaresthero%2FDSCF1388.jpg&hash=f4e4f2aae542d817fc4a1249cdd1de62)
Step 12: Make sure its a liberal
You have to be liberal...
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi110.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn86%2Fnelstaresthero%2FDSCF1390.jpg&hash=97cf837e49d62bfbb387443b4233f1f6)
If you decided to use gel....
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi110.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn86%2Fnelstaresthero%2FDSCF1451.jpg&hash=5f745efe338953cef205b3616042a4b8)
Step 13:Slide her into the collar
Leave a little gap for root growth on the stem
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi110.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn86%2Fnelstaresthero%2FDSCF1393.jpg&hash=41ae8abce005fdfa5a297f839ea9c2fd)
Step 14: Placing it Deep
Make sure you have it sunk far so you expose the bulk of the stem to the fog.
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi110.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn86%2Fnelstaresthero%2FDSCF1394.jpg&hash=c210f31f1f23b7e08a9551847c8cde43)
Step 15: Drop her in the Tank
Check daily but in a weeks time she will be ready for transplant
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi110.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn86%2Fnelstaresthero%2FDSCF1395.jpg&hash=bb7b69a052c9281cc3dac488047c4cf7)
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Conclusion
As I stated in step 6, the lower large leaves always die
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi110.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn86%2Fnelstaresthero%2FDSCF1453.jpg&hash=f5e1daf3b57388651f12d0f2d83b77de)
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Drum Roll Please: Root Growth
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi110.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn86%2Fnelstaresthero%2FDSCF1454.jpg&hash=e538dbfffb9e74b2dab214317ae1f82e)
Not bad huh!!! The stem cracked and roots will start dropping a few more hours. The plant was cut and cloned on Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 4:24 PM and that picture was taken at Tuesday, May 27, 2008, 6:30 PM
So in 5 days the stem cracked and root hairs are dropping on a difficult geranium strain to clone!!!
Mist is the way to go, propagation has never been so easy!!!