Friday the 13th! Dun, dun, dun, dun.
Superstitions aside, looks like the 10 shoots of lantana I'm trying to root from cuttings are doing fine.
Hard to validate for sure but beyond the water droplets are 5 lantana cuttings which are doing great.
Contrary to my long-held belief that I'm a brown (possible black?) thumb who can't grow anything without roots, these cuttings are giving me hope that I've finally grown my green thumb. (Oh, please God, puhlease.)
How did I do it?
As usual, I fired up Google's engine for the step-by-step.
Turns out the best way to root lantana from a cutting is to cut a young green tender branch two nodes from the tip. As soon as you do, place the branches in water if there's a time lag between the time you took them from the mother plant to the time you stick them into a pot.
I did just that, then filled two black growing pots with potting soil. I removed the lower leaves on the branches, saving the top two ones at the tip, then stuck the cuttings into the soil.
Of course, I added my special juice as insurance for a quicker rooting.
No, I didn't use a rooting hormone--no time to go get it from Lowe's or Home Depot. What I did was dissolve 1/3 teaspoon of a biological solution that has mycorrhizal fungi in water. These happy microscopic bugs are known to help the growing and rooting process along. A beat or so later (possibly 5 minutes), I watered the pot gently with regular water.
To create a hospitable growing environment, I encased the pot in a 1-gallon Ziploc and tied a string round the midsection of the container. The tiny greenhouse appears to be doing its job of supporting growth.
When the lantana are ready, I plan to transfer them to a barren island in our front yard. That totally brown thing is the first thing I see when I look out my bedroom window and it's such a sorry sight. I'm hoping the flowers will provide a cheery backdrop when I take a break from writing copy.
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i'm hoping my lantana cuttings will turn out
as beautiful as their parents |
