96 PRACTICAL PLANT PROPAGATION 



and covered with powdered charcoal. They are then placed on a 

 bench in sphagnum and sand where they can root nicely, before 

 being potted in a mixture of loam and leaf mold. This treatment 

 applies also to Gloxinias and Tuberous-rooted Begonias which, how- 

 ever, are not cut to pieces. 



OFFSETS 



Certain plants produce small plantlets, rosettes from the parent 

 plant which, if allowed to strike the soil, will root readily. These 

 are often designated as offsets. Familiar examples of offsets are 

 those found in Cotyledon (the Hen-and-Chickens), Anthericum 

 (see fig. 42), Marica, (Enothera and Boltonia. The usual method 

 of propagating these plants is to place the offsets in sand for several 

 weeks to produce a good root system before potting. 



SUCKERS 



Suckers are unexpected shoots from the base of a plant. The 

 formation is frequently encouraged by injury to the roots. Familiar 

 examples of trees which sucker are: Sassafras, Asimina, many of the 

 fruits, Ailanthus and others. When the roots are not injured there 

 is little trouble with suckers. Some propagators hold that new 

 plants grown from suckers are later inclined to sucker. 



The fruiting of the Pineapple, (Ananas) is followed by the produc- 

 tion of suckers which are removed and rooted in sand. The Banana 

 is propagated almost entirely by suckers. 



Plants which sucker are easily propagated by root cuttings. 

 (See page 83.) 



A number of conservatory plants, such as Agave, Caladium, 

 Amorphophallus, Billbergia, Tillandsia, Guzmania, Anthurium, 

 Pandanus, Vriesia and Carludovica, are readily propagated from 

 suckers broken from the plants and potted in small pots plunged 

 in a propagating case. (See page 66.) 



LAYERS 



Propagation by layers consists in rooting a portion of the plant 

 without detaching it from the parent plant. Some plants may be 

 propagated by this method when cuttings fail. Many propagate 

 themselves naturally by this method, the branches that come in 

 contact with the earth throwing out roots. Creeping Jenny, Grapes, 

 Sedums, Tomatoes, and many other plants take root at the nodes, 

 or eyes, very readily. Plants that do not layer easily are also 

 difficult to root from cuttings. 



