starting plants from cuttings

[mella l]

Lavandula, comes from the Latin word for "to wash". It is in the same family as mints. Notice its square stem just like members of the mint family. Varieties named after countries, especially English and French, are ambiguous. Knowing the Latin name is the only way to be 100% sure you have the correct variety.

Entire businesses have been built around this one herb. It would be hard to list all the uses of the herb. The leaves, stems, buds, and flowers all contain essential oils. It is one of the only essential oils that is mild enough to apply directly to the skin without first diluting it in a carrier oil.


The varieties of lavender grown in France for essential oil production are very fragrant. Those varieties are a cross between two different lavenders, Lavandula angustifolia and Lavandula latifolia.


mella l

"New York London Paris Hilo"

[Devany]

Asly, it is my guess that drying here would best be done in large dehydrators with the stems laid flat.

quote:

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Originally posted by asly

Yes! they should do ok in pots, but BIG pots as they like lots of room. I'm curious about drying lavender there, it takes about 3 weeks to dry bundles of lavender on our farm in WA, and only about 3 days here in MT. I wonder if bundles ever dry in the Puna area...

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Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany

www.myhawaiianhome.blogspot.com
www.eastbaypotters.blogspot.com

[Carey]

Today I handed off 3 rose plants to my neighbor that I started from cuttings from a long stemmed larger pink variety. These were not grafted onto a root stock, but have grown quite nicely. They were started from rose plant trimmings dunked in Rootone & started in moist cinder soil in September.

[asly]

Yay Carey! I love to hear about starts and sharing of plants. So, roses must do ok in East Hawaii? Or is the humidity and rain a challenge? Black spot and powdery mildew a problem?

[Carey]

First - Confession: I do not particularly like roses, or any other plant that has thorns that are gunning for me. I didn't plant the roses in our yard and the only care they get is massive trimmings when I am geared up to foil their merciless thorns.

Second: I will not kill a plant outright, esp. one that has pretty flowers.

With the battle lines drawn we have quite a few roses on our little property, mostly red in the tea rose size, but also some smaller pinks & a couple that are larger flowers with longer, less thorny stems in red & pink. They do have a bug that seem to really like munching their leaves into lacy outlines, but they also seem to sense my lack of sympathy & still grow just fine.

Most of my neighbors seem to think that having roses is not easy & always look at me as if I have a screw loose for admitting I would rather not have them. (one of these is the neighbors that asked for the cuttings)

[missydog1]

I loved my roses in California. Here it is a struggle because it's so hard to weed them and not get shredded. The main enemy seems to be the leaf munchers, not the fungus. I think they might be rose beetles that feed at night, but am not 100%. The miniature roses do better here than the more eloquent ones.

With roses you want to have the right temperature to go with the type of rose. If it's hot you want a rose that opens slowly, or the whole thing will be open and blown in a day. In cool wet climates, the slow openers will turn to rot before they emerge. Different roses open at different speeds. The minis are really prolific and have flowers that last about a day, but they make so many it's not like having a big beautiful tea rose be there and gone before you can enjoy it.

What Carey said about plumeria is good. You need to let the sap drain out of them, just on the ground or propped upwards is good. Don't put them in the ground until at least a week. I have left them for months and seen them start blooming on the ground. They grow slowly, very slowly, so it's really better to get a nice big limb that it the size of a small shrub. Unlike a lot of plants, plumeria have no problem rooting from large cuttings. Ti is the same; you can root a big one. And actually you can stick ti straight in the ground. You can also lay it on the ground and leave it in water. A local guy told me that with ti, to get it going, strip all the leaves but a few at the crown, to get it going strong.

[asly]

Thanks for the info Kathy! When we are ready, I'll certainly be looking for cuttings of Ti and Plumeria.

Enjoy the day! Ann

Back to blogging at
http://crazypineappledream.blogspot.com

[Sean]

Hi All,

Getting back to the part about folks taking away cuttings. If anyone has some Ti that they would like thinned, I'd be happy to help

Chees,

Sean

[Carey]

Ann & Sean, we almost always have green & red ti that needs trimming.... & Ann, we have some friends in Hilo that have an older collection (over 10 different types) of plumerias, (most of them are deciduous) that we may be able check out for trimming, if you want... I may also have a couple smaller starts still when you get here.

[asly]

Awesome Carey, will add it to the "must do" list. Thank you!

Enjoy the day! Ann

Back to blogging at
http://crazypineappledream.blogspot.com