Notes from the propagation bench
Propagation is the quiet craft behind every nursery: turning one plant into many by cuttings, layering, or division. This blog is a running set of notes from the bench — what rooted, what rotted, and the small variables that decided the difference.
Most ornamentals in the trade are grown vegetatively so the variety stays true. The notes here focus on the practical end: humidity, media, timing, and the honest failure rate nobody prints on the seed packet.
Articles
- Rooting Hormone vs. Powder: The Strike-Rate Data by Wood TypeA side-by-side look at why liquid IBA dips beat powders on softwood cuttings while talc-based powders take over once the stem turns woody.
- Water Propagation Without Rot: Oxygen Levels and Container DesignA bottle-cap-and-stone rig fixes the oxygen problem that turns hopeful cuttings into slimy stems.
- Leaf Propagation Success Rates: Whole Leaf vs. Petiole vs. Leaf Tip CuttingsAfrican violets root from the petiole, echeveria from the leaf's heel, and Streptocarpus from strips cut across the vein—three genera, three
- Bottom Heat Temperature Sweet Spots: Exact Degrees Before Rooting StallsThe precise root-zone temperatures five popular propagation subjects need, and what happens the moment you drop below them.
- Air Layering Woody Plants: Wrapping Materials and Moisture Retention TimingBark girdling depth, the real difference between sphagnum, green moss and coir wraps, and a month-by-month calendar for air layering dormant
- Fungal and Bacterial Rots in Propagation: Field ID and Chemical vs. Cultural FixesA field guide to telling rots apart fast, and knowing when a fungicide helps and when the tray just needs to go.
- Hardening Off Rooted Cuttings: The Three-Week Humidity Taper ScheduleA day-by-day humidity taper that takes rooted cuttings from a 95% dome to open air without losing a single leaf.
- Sprouting Avocado, Mango, and Citrus Seeds Indoors Without a Heat MatSkip the heat mat: viability tests, husk tricks, and the cold-stratification myth for sprouting avocado, mango, and citrus pits on a windows
- Why Cuttings Wilt Even When the Medium Looks WetA focused guide to wet media does not guarantee that a rootless stem can replace the water leaving its leaves: what to check first, what to
- Choosing a Small Container for Rooting: Depth, Drainage and StabilityA focused guide to the best rooting pot holds the stem steady while letting air stay near the wound: what to check first, what to avoid and
- When to Remove the Humidity Cover From Rooted CuttingsA focused guide to the cover should come off as a transition, not as a single shock: what to check first, what to avoid and how to read the
- A Simple Propagation Notebook That Actually Helps Next SeasonA focused guide to notes become useful when they connect material, method and outcome: what to check first, what to avoid and how to read th
- Hardening Rooted Cuttings Indoors Before They Move OutsideA focused guide to young roots need a gradual change in light, air movement and watering rhythm: what to check first, what to avoid and how
- Cutting Collection Timing: Sap Flow Stages and Rooting Success Rates Across SeasonsMost rooting failures start before the cutting ever touches the rooting medium — they start with when it was collected.
- How to Pre-Soak Stem Cuttings in Hydrogen Peroxide: Timing, Concentration, and Rooting OutcomesA short, measured hydrogen peroxide dip can improve rooting success without hormone products, but concentration and timing must match cuttin