Humidity | Gardeners Belfast

Propagating Houseplants by Leaf Cuttings

Posted on Mar 21, 2009 under planting a garden | No Comment

by Garfield Dogwood

As might be expected, most plants suited to this method of propagation have comparatively soft and fleshy leaves. There are two types of leaf cuttings : those that make use of leaf and stem and those requiring the leaf alone. An example of the first is the dainty African violet and of the second, the gorgeous Begonia Rex.

Merely knock the plant from its pot, tease away some of the soil from the roots and with a sharp knife cut away the new shoots together with the roots closest to them. Pot these up in fresh soil. Well grown Saint Paulias or African Violets after a time grow to a stage where they should be divided if they are to continue growing and blooming. In this case again knock the plant from its pot and gently ease away much of the soil, damaging the roots as little as possible. It will be seen that instead of a single plant there are in fact a considerable number and many of these can be gently separated from the mass and potted up individually.

A considerably more artificial derivation of the layering process is known as air layering. It is particularly useful for the following reason. Many plants such as the rubber plant gradually lose their lower leaves so we are left with a long, naked stem with a tuft of foliage at the top. This is both hideous and a demonstration of our inability to grow the plant properly. If we can take the tuft at the top and make a new plant from it, then we can begin again.

Actually it is possible merely to cut off the green and growing tuft at the top of the plant and to strike this as a cutting, but high soil temperatures and humidity are required, so we can use instead the following simpler method.

The begonia leaf can be cut into several sections and so long as each cut has been made to sever one of the prominent veins, roots will grow from this part. The spear like Sanscvieria can be cut into two inch sections. Each of the sections, from begonia or sansevieria, should be planted with the end originally nearest the stem or base into the soil.

The new plant (for that is what it is) can then be cut away from the naked stem below and potted up in the usual manner.

About the Author:

Dizygotheca Elegantissima is a truly elegant indoor gardening houseplant, slender, toothed leaves growing off the main stems.

Welcome back!

Technorati Tags: Begonia, Biology, gardening, Gardens, Houseplant, Humidity, Leaf, Plant, Saintpaulia

Some Gardening Tips for Indoor Gardeners

Posted on Mar 14, 2009 under planting a garden | No Comment

by Darius Herbert

All plants grown under conditions such as these should have their pots plunged inside a larger and waterproof pot with the space between the two packed with some moisture retentive material such as peat.

photo credit: Rachel Zack

If this material is kept constantly moist, but not soaking wet, this moisture will be absorbed by the plant pot as it is required. This moist material will also give off a surprising amount of humidity, normally wafting it upwards through the leaves of the plant above.

So in the garden room or home extension we shall be wise not to dot our plants about the place as we do in the home proper, but to group them in concentrated colonies for the good of their health.

Normally in most commercial greenhouses plants are grown on benches or shelving which is covered with a layer of shingle, sand, peat or ashes. This is kept moist and the plants benefit. It is possible to obtain simple automatic trickle irrigation equipment, similar to that used in so many commercial greenhouses, which will take care of plants in this fashion when they must be left for long periods, even the entire day.

There are many ways in which this can be achieved, depending mainly on the personal tastes of the person concerned. On the small scale it is possible to make little indoor gardens of half a dozen or so small plants all planted or plunged together in a large container such as an antique bowl or wash basin.

On the large scale it is possible to devote the major part of a single wall to a stepped display of plants. If a stepped rack is constructed it can hold whole banks of flowers and at the same time provide an excellent hiding place for the necessary bucket, watering can, fertilizer bottle or pack, even the dust-pan and brush.

About the Author:

A beautiful indoor gardening houseplant called Anthurium scherzerianum is grown mainly for the vivid and curious flowers, shield shaped, scarlet, pink or white from which arises the creamy spadix.