On 16/11/07 08:29, in article ,
"Stuart Noble" wrote:

Sacha wrote:
On 15/11/07 19:36, in article , "Anne
Jackson" wrote:

The message from Sacha contains these
words:

On 15/11/07 15:02, in article ,
"Stuart Noble" wrote:
Is it possible to take cuttings from cut flowers? There are so many nice
varieties in the florists, and it seems a shame to bin them. I know
they're easy to propagate, but how would you go about it at this time of
year? I have a small plastic type greenhouse outside and the odd window
sill inside, but basically not a lot of room.
Also, I can't say I'm keen on the big showy types. Are there some old
fashioned single flower varieties that I could look out for next year? I
particularly like the brick red ones I remember as a kid, and any late
flowering types would be of interest.
Can't get over how crazy these plants are producing all this colour in
mid November!
You can sometimes get slips or non-flowering shoots on some cut flowers,
including carnations and pinks, so it's always worth a try. I don't know
about chrysanths - never tried. The nearest you're likely to get to the
old-fashioned ones in a florists would, I think, be the ones the florists
call ayr chrysanths or spray chrysanths. ayr means all year round.
I have rooted side shoots from chrysanths many times, Sacha.

I'm sure it must work. They're just not flowers I buy very often.

They seem to have gone out of fashion in recent years, but I can't
imagine why.

I'll go
looking for some tomorrow and see what I can filch from their stems!

So you'd pull off a side shoot with a heel? Then what? Will they need
heat to root? Sorry, I'm not too experienced with cuttings.

When it comes to thinks like carnations and pinks etc., I just used to tear
off the little shoots, dip them in hormone rooting powder and put them into
cutting compost. I didn't worry about a 'heel'. Ray prefers the hormone
rooting liquid - I don't think he's ever done a scientific trial but he
seems to feel he gets a better result with it.


--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'