Polk County Master Gardeners
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New Plants from Old - Tip Layering
I’ve always been a fan of the something-for-nothing club, and creating
new plants from your old ones is one of the surest ways to become a charter
member. There are three basic ways to create new plants: tip layering, air
layering, and rooting cuttings. We’ll take these one per week, and this week
we’ll talk about tip layering.
Tip layering is probably the easiest because the new plant is still attached
to the old one and is assured of a supply of moisture and nutrients from the old
roots. It works best with vines or plants with arching stems where you can
easily bend a part of the plant down to touch the ground.
First, find a portion of the plant where you can make the old stem touch
the ground about 8 or 10 inches from the end. Remove about a cupful of soil from
where the stem touches the ground. Bend the stem until it cracks but does not
break. Put the cracked part of the stem down into the hole you just made and
cover it well with the soil you removed.
You must anchor it firmly to the ground so it will stay put. An old coat
hanger bent into a “U” shape will work fine. Then you just need to be patient
for two or three months. By that time, the plant should be rooted firmly and you
can cut the attachment to the parent plant. Dig up your new plant and move it to
a new location where you want it in your yard or pot it. Like any young plant,
it deserves a little TLC for a while, so be sure to protect it from afternoon
sun and don’t let it get too dry.
If you have plants that don’t bend easily, stay tuned. We’ll talk about air
layering next week and rooting cuttings the week after. In the meantime you can
be planning where you’ll put all those new plants.
By Barbara M. Tobias
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