Propagating cuttings using Forsythe Pots ~

[unicorn2564]

too funny ZUZU. At least you know that if you needed to dig it up it would be just fine...lol

I'd sure give it a try.
I think that semi-hardwood cuttings would be my choice.

I also know that Forsythia roots pretty well if you scrape the bottom side of a stem gently
(without cutting it from the mother plant) and pin it to the ground with something like a rock or a brick.
I've done that with several types of shrubs that grow long flexible stems,
and had pretty good luck.

I usually leave the stem pinned like that for a few months before cutting it free.
They tend to grow enough good roots that you actually have to dig them up,
and you have a really sturdy, good-sized plant all ready to replant.

I once forgot that I had done this with an Azalea,
and left it that way from one spring all the way 'til the next ...
by the time I dug it up, it was almost as big as the parent plant.

[unicorn2564]

What is a tippy pot??? Yes I am a greenie!!!I dont know much!!

Another project for my list. LOL Boy, is that list getting long...... I did make tippy pots today, got that off my list.
Deb

[GARDEN GUY]

That will also work with Rhodo's and Azaleas.

[jdkline]

Take a piece of rebar and drive it into the ground with a hammer. Take the clay pots with holes in the bottom of them. Slide one on the bar, fill with dirt slide the next one on at an angle , fill with dirt, and so on until you fill the whole bar with pots. Put plants in the pots. Someone on here has a pic of one. Let me see if I can find it.

[jdkline]

Theres a pic of some in pushinupdaisies album

[unicorn2564]

I just saw your reply..I will go look..Thank you very much!!!

[bali]

Then the sole purpose of the pot in the center, is for watering?

[zuzu's petals]

Then the sole purpose of the pot in the center, is for watering?

If you are asking about the Forsythe pot,
then yes, that's right, you just keep the little pot in the center filled with water ...
(this is why the little one must be terracotta and it must have the bottom drainhole sealed off).
The water (from inside the center pot) wil seep very slowly
right through the walls of the terracotta pot, keeping the vermiculite evenly moist at all times ...
this is also the reason why the size of the two pots, relative to each other, is crucial, for this to work properly.

I also check to be sure that there is always some water down in the saucer.

The benefit for the cuttings is that they are constantly kept at a very even level of moisture.
I'm certain that some of my cutting propagations used to fail because
my watering schedule created difficulty for tiny and tender developing root fibers.
Back then, my pots of medium would become just a little too dry before I watered,
and then, perhaps, just a bit too wet immediately after I watered them.

The Forsythe system provides a stable moisture environment.

Keeping the pot in a location where you can control the stability of other factors
(such as temperature and light levels) is also going to help with success.

[missg]

I'd sure give it a try.
I think that semi-hardwood cuttings would be my choice.

I also know that Forsythia roots pretty well if you scrape the bottom side of a stem gently
(without cutting it from the mother plant) and pin it to the ground with something like a rock or a brick.
I've done that with several types of shrubs that grow long flexible stems,
and had pretty good luck.

I usually leave the stem pinned like that for a few months before cutting it free.
They tend to grow enough good roots that you actually have to dig them up,
and you have a really sturdy, good-sized plant all ready to replant.

I once forgot that I had done this with an Azalea,
and left it that way from one spring all the way 'til the next ...
by the time I dug it up, it was almost as big as the parent plant.

When would be the best time of the year to try this method with Azalea?

[zuzu's petals]

When would be the best time of the year to try this method with Azalea?

As far as I know, Ground Layering like this can be done at any time of the year, Gale.

If I were to do this in the fall in an area that gets colder winter weather than I do down here in zone 8,
I think that I'd actually dig a little trench, maybe a couple of inches deep,
and lay the branch that I was trying to root down in the trench,
then cover it back up with soil, just to give it a bit more protection.