Propagating Plants at Home— By James T. Scott 



New 

 York 



HOW THE AMATEUR WITHOUT A GREENHOUSE MAY SAVE HIS SUMMER FLOWERING AND DECORATIVE PLANTS 

 INSTEAD OF LETTING THE FROST KILL THEM— MULTIPLYING GERANIUMS, BEGONIAS, COLEUS AND FLOWERING MAPLES 



Photographs by Luke J. Doogue 



A X 7TTH the approach of cold weather the 

 * * amateur is puzzled as to how the 

 tender plants outdoors can be cared for 

 during the winter. Some of the plants that 

 have been flowering outdoors all summer 

 can be taken up bodily and removed indoors, 

 but this cannot be done in all cases. Propa- 

 gation therefore becomes a necessity, though 

 the fall of the year is perhaps not the very best 

 time to increase the supply of house plants. 



220. One of the wonders of plant life — you can 

 propagate a Rex begonia by leaf cuttings. First, slit 

 (he leaf like this 



The professional gardener, with plenty of 

 greenhouses, does not find these things 

 particularly bothersome, but even the amateur 

 without these aids need not despair; he can 

 attain a fair measure of success in an ordinary 

 living room if it is warm, airy and not 

 dried out by overheating. Certain plants, 

 such as tender roses, carnations, crotons, are 

 difficult to grow elsewhere than in a green- 

 house, as they are continually attacked by 

 aphis and red spider. 



THE EVER-POPULAR GERANIUM 



Geraniums are perhaps the best known, 

 and on the whole the most useful, of all house 

 and bedding plants, and it is easy to keep 

 a supply of your favorite variety for next 

 year. It does not really pay to lift the old 

 plants from the open border, although they 

 may be taken up and hung up in the cellar, 

 out of frost, to start up again next spring. 

 A much better way is to select the well- 

 ripened tips of the shoots now and make 

 cuttings. 



There are various ways of treating the 

 cuttings, each grower having his own particu- 

 lar method, and it is usually a delicate matter 

 to tell anyone that he is wrong. Sometimes 

 cuttings are put into the earth or sand, with 

 every leaf cut off except the few small ones 

 on the growing tip, and the cuttings are packed 

 in "as thick as hair on a dog's back." I 

 think this is a disadvantage for the cuttings, 

 and they are sure to become weakened. 

 They present a wretched appearance for 

 months, and it is questionable if the plants 

 ever get over this preliminary crowding. 



The ideal cutting should be about three 

 inches long, short jointed and firm. Two 

 or three fully developed leaves should be 

 left. The others — and also the bracts and 

 flower buds — should be broken off close to 

 the stem. When carelessly cut off the 

 portion of the leaf stalk left behind usually 

 decays, and many of the failures and much 

 of the "damping off" can be traced to this. 

 "Damping off" is a rot that kills the young 

 plants before they are properly rooted. 

 Have your knife sharp and do not squeeze it 

 through, nor yet make a long, diagonal cut, 

 as if whittling a stick. Hold the portion that 

 is to be a cutting with the thumb and fore- 

 finger of the left hand, place against it the 

 thumb of the right hand (which holds the 

 knife) and then draw the blade through the 

 stem. Commence with the base of the 



221. Then you lay the leaf down in a box of 

 sand. (It is best to baKe the sand to Kill the " damping 

 off" fungus) 



blade and draw toward the point. Do not 

 let the edge of the blade strike the middle of 

 your thumb. This disfigures your thumb 

 and bruises the cutting, as it is squeezed 

 between the blade and the thumb. When 

 the thumb is merely used to steady the 

 cutting and the blade drawn through, so 

 as to come out at the side of the thumb, the 

 disfiguring and bruising are avoided. Geran- 

 iums may root readily with less care, but 

 the principle of making a cutting holds good 

 in other things, and the geranium is a good 

 steady plant for the amateur to begin on 

 as practice. 



If it is desired to have a large quantity of 

 geraniums the cuttings must be put into 

 boxes or flats, which should be two and one- 

 half or three inches deep, and any length and 

 width that may be desired so long as they 

 can be conveniently handled. They must 

 have holes in the bottom for drainage, just 

 as is done for window boxes. Cover the 

 164 



bottom with a thin layer of leaf soil or light 

 turf, and on top of this about two inches of 

 clean sand. 



STRIKING THE CUTTINGS 



Sand is the best medium for use in propa- 

 gating — the cleaner the better. A cutting, 

 having no roots, if placed in material con- 

 taining decaying organic matter is liable to 

 be attacked by disease. 



Place the cuttings in the sand about one 

 and one-half inches deep and two inches 

 apart each way, and make the sand quite 

 firm around each one. After the box is 

 full soak thoroughly with water, and place in 

 the sash bed or window. 



Shade with a newspaper for a day or two, 

 and in from three weeks to a month your 

 cuttings will have roots and require stronger 

 nourishment. One good soaking is usually 

 sufficient watering until the roots appear. 

 But give a light spraying on bright days to 

 prevent undue evaporation. This keeps 

 the leaves fresh. 



As soon as well rooted the cuttings should 

 be potted up in small pots or boxed over 

 again in fairly fertile but light soil. Water 

 carefully until well established, and never 

 allow the young plant to flower until it has 

 an abundance of roots. 



Other plants which can be treated in the 

 same way are: Heliotrope, ageratum, bego- 

 nia, alyssum, cuphea, fuchsia, alternan- 

 theria, salvia, abutilon, hibiscus. 



The coleus wants a closer, more humid. 



r 



222. 



The leaves throw out roots at the places where 

 they come in contact with the wet sand 



223. 



In a few weeks you get new plants springing 

 from the old leaves. A joy to children 



