propagation

Propagating

We have been propagating white and red mulberry, also cherry, white figs and apricot. White mulberry shouldn´t be that difficult, red is said not to root so easily, and cherrys, I have no idea! Lets say it´s a bit of an experiment.

At home I usually propagate with a smaller branches than we used here. Stella's way of doing it is to try to get as much branch as possible in the soil, since we put them in reused milk cartons we make the branches 20-30 cm, and “burry them to the neck”.

We also got the tip to scrape through the bark and the cambium layer, in order to create a bigger surface for rooting.

If you want, you can dip the branches in rooting hormone / powder, which in Spain can be bought by anyone in an ordinary hardware store. In Sweden it is forbidden, and can only be bought by professional gardeners. It is cancerous and I don't want to speculate in what damage it can do in nature. If you want to be sure to succeed with your propagating it might be worth trying though, but be careful!

You can also make your own ecological rooting hormone from willow. Willow is extremely easy rooting and got a lot of this hormone in it, especially in springtime. You can use the bark, cut it into smaller pieces and mix it with water, then dip the branches in.

Here in the canaries there is not so much willow though, it's a bit to dry for it. But Sarah will probably make some experiments with geranium, since this is also a easily rooted plant, we think it might me possible to use it for this purpose.

I think its good not to water the soil before you put in the branches, it should be moist but not dry. . Make a hole with a stick, push it as deep as you want the branch to go, then the put the propagating branch in there. Last thing is to water it, put a lot of water, so the soil goes close around, and touches the branches.

Cover with plastic to keep it moist, preferably white so it doesnt gets too hot in there. Don't let the branches dry out.

Good luck!