Home-made plants
When a plant produces seeds, gardeners celebrate the soon-to-be future plants. Seeds are a result of plant sexual reproduction. Plants can also reproduce by non-sexually “cloning” themselves.
For example, some plants make a mass or crown of shoots from their roots or stems. This allows the plant to reproduce in a larger area in less time than seed production takes. Plants such as hydrangea and African violet can start copies of themselves from sections of leaves. Other plants, such as those in the salvia family, have a natural tendency to develop roots off their stems when the stems come in extended contact with soil and moisture.
Humans have been observant students of nature for millennia. Over time we have helped grasses evolve into heavyheaded grains and turned tiny bright flowers into large garden show-offs.
The development of seeds by hybridization can be done by anyone willing to move pollen from plant to plant within a plant family. Learning how a plant grows, when it reproduces and if it is an annual or perennial will aid anyone who wants to experiment with propagating seeds to make new plants.
Plants that form a mass (such as day lilies) can be divided, usually in the early spring, by using a sharp shovel to dig into the mass and separate it into parts to form new plants.
Plants that can be propagated via leaf cuttings (like African violets) can be started at any time by taking a leaf, setting it into soilless plant medium (such as perlite) and keeping it moist, but not wet.
Hydrangeas can be propagated in the spring by pruning off nonflowering shoots that have two to three leaves. Remove the leaves directly above a node (a leaf-growing bump on the stem). To use a stem, clip the center leaves and the leaf tips of the two remaining leaves. Fill five-inch pots with rooting medium; and press the cuttings into the medium, keeping the leaves above the soil surface.
Water and place under plastic or glass to make a humid environment. Old cracked aquariums can serve as “greenhouses” for cuttings. Place the Hydrangea cuttings in bright filtered light. Once roots develop, a new hydrangea is ready.
To propagate salvia from basal (bottom) stem cuttings, clip in early- to mid-spring. Strip leaves from stems and snip the center leaves from the top. Make sure you have a node near the bottom of the stem. Place the stem into a small pot filled with a 50/50 measure of sand and perlite, keep it warm and moist. The resulting plant will bloom that summer. Keep in mind that warmth from an electric seed pad will help cuttings grow readily. To make a soft stem tip cutting from salvia, make the cutting in early autumn following the procedure described above. Autumn cuttings need to be wintered over in a warm environment then plant in the spring.
If you want more plants but do not want to purchase them, make your own!
The UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension system, serving our community in a variety of ways, including 4-H, farm advisers, and nutrition and physical activity programs. To learn more about UCCE Butte County Master Gardeners, and for help with gardening in our area, visit https://ucanr. edu/sites/bcmg/. If you have a gardening question or problem, call the hotline at 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.