Propagation: seeds and cuttings
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One of the easiest ways to get popular and it seems their plants from cuttings.
The concept is to take a sprig from a plant "donor" or "mother" and make the environment favorable for this development and its roots give rise to a new plant.
This technique allows to obtain plants with the same genetic characteristics of the mother and thus operate power leaving a choice as to quality, size, cost and type of plant that we're going to grow.
Also the use of cuttings from plants growing Advanced allows to shorten the time and get faster harvest.
The type of cuttings can vary from plant to plant (depending on the kind we're going to take hardwood cuttings, semi-woody, herbaceous, leaf, root or succulent) but generally it is an apical branch with leaves, stem and at least one node.
Let's see how: you will need to sterilize the material.
After that, soak the substrate (eg rockwool cubes or peat tablets) with water pH and EC calibrated and squeeze gently.
The temperature is kept constant at around 20-25 degrees and humidity will have a stable value around 80%. To achieve this ideal propagation environment we can help with a heating pad and a plastic Serretta .
The cuttings should be from plants in good health and already grown, but are not the flowering stage.
The stem should be able to support the leaves without bending.
The cuttings, cut with a very sharp knife (a scalpel or razor blade) should be chosen toward the top and have a few leaves (at least three pairs, usually). Freshly collected should be immediately cut off the part immersed in warm water.
Now we are going to remove the blade with the closest pair of leaves (or two pairs, if the substrate is deep enough) at the base and cut them just below the stem with an incision at 45 degrees. If the remaining leaves should be too big and heavy to cut it in half.
Now the cutting is ready to be housed in the substrate, where we drilled a small hole in the most appropriate measure to accommodate the stem.
Our clones will be sprayed with water, being careful not to overdo it. It 'important to remove dead leaves or other material that would be an ideal breeding ground for fungi and bacteria.
If they sprout buds, will be eliminated.
In 7 to 10 days, the seedlings should be able to withstand the first exposure to their culture environment permanently, provided that there are no excessive climatic changes.
You can begin removing the cover from a Serretta half hour a day, and give specific fertilizer.
Of course you can also get the plants from seed.
Let's see how.
Meanwhile, it is crucial the choice of seeds, which will be collected from healthy plants will be mature.
The seeds kept evil die: to keep them dormant without germinate or die must be kept in the dark in a cold (2-8 degrees), dry and with little oxygen (eg a can).
The culture environment must be sterile or nearly so, the medium well aerated and draining.
Also here we use the Serretta and the heating pad and prepare the soil first wetting with water at controlled pH and after leaving school.
Some prefer to germinate the seeds before planting them a few days of keeping a layer of wet tissue in a plate upside down.
However, this measure is not necessary and you can place the seeds in shallow holes in the substrate. The seeds should stay in the dark.
Without this there will be a light watering that will be repeated about every 2-3 days.
The ideal temperature is 20-25 degrees and the humidity about 80%. When the first true leaves will tick you can remove the lid and place the seedlings in the greenhouse under a neon light to keep about ten centimeters.
Gradually increase the light and you can begin to administer fertilizers.
And 'key at this stage some patience to allow the plants to adapt to the environment as a shock could be fatal.
The development will proceed quickly from now on and will take several decanted into containers gradually larger.
The plants will be moved by very careful not to twist or damage the roots, for which purpose it is good to choose a medium already prepared to allow easy transfer "block", such as cubes of rockwool or perlite or baskets of tablets peat, which allow the roots do not touch at all.
The use of ice cubes for germination is also advisable for the importance of the substrate plays in the delicate phase of rooting: material designed specifically will avoid common mistakes when using a simple mold.
The area around the roots will have to be aerated, wet or never completely dry, light and drainage. The risk we run is that of lack of oxygen, the attack of fungi and mold, rot.
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Tags: cultivation , germination , gardening , indoor gardening , production , cuttings
