Softwood Cuttings
Softwood cuttings are one of the easiest types of plants to propagate. Plants such as Barberries and Burning Bushes are easy to propagate softwoods. The new growth in the spring is soft and pliable with shoots afew inches long. In Pa. we usually do alot of cuttings from the new growth in June. We do this at this time because our spring season is over and the nursery is not as busy. You can start in late May if you want. As the summer progresses the stems become more brittle. We do our hardwood cutting later. We have had little success with cuttings done from older growth. Always try to use the current growing seasons growth. Do not cut down large branches and them make hundreds of cuttings from the whole branch as you will be using many cuttings of older growth. You will wonder why you had limited success. If your cuttings wilt as you make them the wood is to soft. Wait afew days and try again. Controlling the conditions of the cuttings is the next important factor in rooting out. Cuttings can dehydrate quickly. We like to keep them misted with our Rube Goldgberg Misting System. We always use shade cloth over the plants to cut down on damaging winds and scalding sunlight. The shade cloth also helps prevent dehydration. Most softwoods will root out quickly.
If your cuttings look bad, they probably are bad. We like to root the plants in course sand and have the mister wet them every few minutes. To prepare the cutting take a 3-4" cutting from the target plant. Usually 1 cutting from each branch. We like to obtain some cuttings while we are pruning our nursery stock.
We strip off the cutting so that we have app. a 2" stem and an inch or two of leaves. Some plants we wound which promotes new growth about 3/4" up from the bottom of the stem. The stems are then dipped into a hormone dip prior to sticking. Most rooting suppliers have suggested strenghts of rooting solutions and powders. Liquid is the easiest to use. We like to propagate in trays. Trays allows you to sell them in bulk if you like and move them if they need more light, or take them to an area to repot when they are ready for transplanting. Make sure you have good drainage. This keeps the roots from rotting. Make sure the cuttings stand upright and have no air pockets. After sticking drench the buggers. This will help set them and get rid of air pockets. The cuttings should never become dry. Cutting do need some sunlight but start with less and over a period of time they can stand more light. The amount of time it takes for the plant to root out is usually proportion to how hard the wood is.
PRICES OF SOME SELECTED SEEDLINGS AND LINERS:
All PRICES ARE PER PLANT
The EZ way to start growing plants cheaqply is from started liners and heavy transplants. We supply many varieties. Below is just a sampling of our availabilities.
As you can see we have a wide selection of plants that we can supply for your needs. We do not have the office staff to keep a running inventory. So we don't even try. Please call us at 215 651 8329 for a quote or E-Mail Us for your needs.
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