Top 10 Tips for Propagation

1. Sanitize!

Always wear clean clothes and proper PPE (personal protective equipment) when taking cuttings.  Sanitize your tools, working area and wear gloves.  Re-sanitize tools and gloves between individual plants.

1. Keep humidity & temperature consistent.  

Though greenhouses are a great place for propagation, the humidity usually rises and falls between misting events.  Implementing foggers which keep humidity more consistent is a great alternative or addition to misting.  Keep temperature consistent between 72-80 F.

1. Avoid excess wet-feet.

High humidity does not equate to water logged rooting media.  Humidity can be kept high without the need to soak propagation media.  For proper callus and root formation and for the avoidance of root rot/damping off, allow the media to dry between 

1. Know your light levels!

Though the mother stock may be receiving high light levels, the cuttings can be damaged by high levels.  Light levels should be kept at 100-150 μmol m-2 s-1 until moved from the propagation environment.

1. Use a rooting hormone. 

A rooting hormone will help speed up and cause more consistent rooting.

1. Don’t forget we still need to keep these plants vegetative.

Keep plants under long days- 18+ hours of light/day.

1. Place cuttings directly into a cup of water after cutting.

After each cutting is taken and during the wait until stuck into propagation media, place cuttings into a cup of water.  This avoids stress caused due to wilting.  

1. Young plants need food too!

Use a media with starter charge or begin feeding a low nitrogen concentration ( ~50 ppm N) around day 5 after stick.

1. Mind how far down you stick.

Most propagation media has a perched water table that remains ¼ to ½ of the depth of the cell, thus, the base of a cutting is ideally stuck just above the water level.  Also, don’t stick down too far- this will cause the cutting to potentially go past the rooting media causing uneven rooting.

1.  Start clean & stay clean!

The health of the mother plant will carry over to the following generations.  Only takecuttings from mother stock which are clean (pest/disease free) and nutritionally healthy.  The health of the mother plant will carry over to the following generations.  Another great way to start clean is to always dip your cuttings in organic pesticides prior to sticking.