plant propagation, slightly off topic, though they are vegan ;-)

[Guest guest]

Hi Pandora,

 

Most plants with very fleshy stems will root in water (North facing

window best as you want minimum stress initially). Once you have a

decent number of roots it is best to pot them on in a small 2 " pot

with a moisture retentive compost. The lemon balm is certainly not

hardy so I would keep it in a pot. Plants with woody stems tend to

need help with hormone powder and a moisture retaining cover (plastic

bottles with the bottoms cot off are useful). Shade is absolutely

imperative for these otherwise temperature gets too high. Different

plants do better at different times of the year.

 

I only tend to dabble nowadays;

 

have a really healthy bed of leeks raised from seed this spring,

 

hundreds of mixed primroses sown last September and waiting to be

planted into patio pots in a few weeks time,

 

some himalayan poppies sown last autumn that are dying on me :-(

 

and lots of the ubiquitous but simple;

 

African violets - leaf cuttings,

 

Spider plants - water.

 

Carnations - from cut flowers.

 

I still collect my own busy lizzie seed and sow that the following

spring but once collected a wide range of different seeds.

 

Andrew