Cuttings from last autumn

[Phaedra]

Autumn might not be the good season for propagating cuttings, however, there are still some that are successfully rooted during the winter (in the greenhouse, low light). I checked all of them today and only kept these rooted ones. As they should have gone to the compost pile, any new plant is pure gain.

Five major plants: willow, sage, honeysuckle, berry (not sure which one yet), and rose. They are now re-potted and will enjoy the coming spring.

Among them, one has a more tricky condition. Do you think it will survive? It has a lot of roots, but I am concerned about the blackened part. Thanks in advance!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Among them, one has a more tricky condition. Do you think it will survive? It has a lot of roots, but I am concerned about the blackened part.

I'm not sure of the exact method you used to root those, standing in water, wet sand or medium, or something else. My main concern is where was that blackened section relative to the wet, looks like it was right above, probably not in the water or medium. Which of those cuttings is it? Some I recognize, some not, and I hate to guess.

My first impulse is to give life a chance, whether propogating plants or hatching chicken eggs. Life can be tenacious. I'd be very reluctant to toss that, especially after you got this far.

That sort of reminds me of a problem I sometimes have with beans down here in a wet climate. It's similar to damping off, caused by a mold or fungus where the plant stem emerges from the ground. I usually think of damping off as a problem starting seeds indoors, real soon after they emerge. This is different in that the beans are often already flowering when it hits. The stem right at the soil line turns dark and becomes brittle. The plant dies, it just wilts down. I'll include a photo.

I no longer mulch around the plants and try to keep it as open and ventilated as I can. I pretreated the soil with a fungicide a couple of times when I sow the seeds, not sure how much that actually helped. Some years this happens, some years it doesn't even without pretreatment.

I don't know if this has anything to do with that one cutting. It's the only one showing this, were the others in with it where it could or should have spread if it is a mold or fungus? It may be species specific or caused by something else entirely. Hopefully someone else has some ideas.

I'd probably give that cutting a chance, just keep the soil surface dry as much as I could. Maybe water from underneath instead of from the top. If it is a mold inside the stem it is probably too late to cure it. If it is on the surface or staining from something else it may not matter. Is there some slight discoloration up at the top? That might blow my theory out of the water.

 

[flowerbug]

...
Among them, one has a more tricky condition. Do you think it will survive? It has a lot of roots, but I am concerned about the blackened part. Thanks in advance!
View attachment 47646

hmm, if there is still green growing from it i'd just plant it and see what happens. perhaps the discoloration is a change from stem to root type that the plant would normally do? i'm always willing to learn from trying. that was how as a kid i learned so much about plants and how amazing they could be.

 

[flowerbug]

I'm not sure of the exact method you used to root those, standing in water, wet sand or medium, or something else. My main concern is where was that blackened section relative to the wet, looks like it was right above, probably not in the water or medium. Which of those cuttings is it? Some I recognize, some not, and I hate to guess.

My first impulse is to give life a chance, whether propogating plants or hatching chicken eggs. Life can be tenacious. I'd be very reluctant to toss that, especially after you got this far.

That sort of reminds me of a problem I sometimes have with beans down here in a wet climate. It's similar to damping off, caused by a mold or fungus where the plant stem emerges from the ground. I usually think of damping off as a problem starting seeds indoors, real soon after they emerge. This is different in that the beans are often already flowering when it hits. The stem right at the soil line turns dark and becomes brittle. The plant dies, it just wilts down. I'll include a photo.

View attachment 47647

I no longer mulch around the plants and try to keep it as open and ventilated as I can. I pretreated the soil with a fungicide a couple of times when I sow the seeds, not sure how much that actually helped. Some years this happens, some years it doesn't even without pretreatment.

I don't know if this has anything to do with that one cutting. It's the only one showing this, were the others in with it where it could or should have spread if it is a mold or fungus? It may be species specific or caused by something else entirely. Hopefully someone else has some ideas.

sometimes the weather and conditions just do not cooperate. i had a fair amount of that problem last year when we had hot and wet conditions for much of the early spring.

things to try: more space between plants and perching the gardens higher to give better drainage, cutting back on organic matter in the soil. sometimes too much is too much.

also try testing two things in about 2x2ft areas. one would be worm castings and the other would be to get 1/2-1cu.ft of forest woodland detritus/soil and put that on the surface and mix it in a little and then lightly mulch (to protect it from the sun and drying out before the bacteria/fungi/soil community creatures have a chance to adapt). and see if either of those help. often the problem with fungi or bacterial issues is that there is not enough diversity in the garden soil.

if none of those make a difference then observing which beans have more tolerance and going forwards with those (shorter season varieties too). i didn't notice any of the rot troubles on Purple Dove at all and a few of my other beans came through ok too, but i still did lose plants here or there in most gardens. i don't grow pole beans much any more so i can't really suggest any varieties for those as i've had such mixed results and i don't have the fence space any more (our old fence is showing signs of being ready to fall over at any moment now so ...).

 

[Phaedra]

I'm not sure of the exact method you used to root those, standing in water, wet sand or medium, or something else. My main concern is where was that blackened section relative to the wet, looks like it was right above, probably not in the water or medium. Which of those cuttings is it? Some I recognize, some not, and I hate to guess.

I am also not sure the discolored one might be honeysuckle.

My first impulse is to give life a chance, whether propogating plants or hatching chicken eggs. Life can be tenacious. I'd be very reluctant to toss that, especially after you got this far.

Fully agree! I already re-potted it, and let's see what life will do.

That sort of reminds me of a problem I sometimes have with beans down here in a wet climate. It's similar to damping off, caused by a mold or fungus where the plant stem emerges from the ground. I usually think of damping off as a problem starting seeds indoors, real soon after they emerge. This is different in that the beans are often already flowering when it hits. The stem right at the soil line turns dark and becomes brittle. The plant dies, it just wilts down. I'll include a photo.

View attachment 47647

I no longer mulch around the plants and try to keep it as open and ventilated as I can. I pretreated the soil with a fungicide a couple of times when I sow the seeds, not sure how much that actually helped. Some years this happens, some years it doesn't even without pretreatment.

I don't know if this has anything to do with that one cutting. It's the only one showing this, were the others in with it where it could or should have spread if it is a mold or fungus? It may be species specific or caused by something else entirely. Hopefully someone else has some ideas.

I plug all the cuttings into the seeding tray, each cutting in its individual cavity. They stayed in the greenhouse during the winter. I barely gave them water (the humidity here in winter is relatively high), and the ventilation is ok. Some other cuttings also had this discoloration issue, especially roses. However, I know when it happens to rose cuttings, they have no chance and will go to the compost immediately.

I'd probably give that cutting a chance, just keep the soil surface dry as much as I could. Maybe water from underneath instead of from the top. If it is a mold inside the stem it is probably too late to cure it. If it is on the surface or staining from something else it may not matter. Is there some slight discoloration up at the top? That might blow my theory out of the water.

The discoloration only appeared on a small lower section. The top looks healthy. Maybe the cutting has some wounds there.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Phaedra]

hmm, if there is still green growing from it i'd just plant it and see what happens. perhaps the discoloration is a change from stem to root type that the plant would normally do? i'm always willing to learn from trying. that was how as a kid i learned so much about plants and how amazing they could be.

This reminds me of the potato cuttings! They become much darker and stronger after reaching the light.
I can't remember how thin and pale they once were.
Yes, and I planted it already, so curious to see what will happen.

 

[ducks4you]

Autumn might not be the good season for propagating cuttings, however, there are still some that are successfully rooted during the winter (in the greenhouse, low light). I checked all of them today and only kept these rooted ones. As they should have gone to the compost pile, any new plant is pure gain.
View attachment 47644

Five major plants: willow, sage, honeysuckle, berry (not sure which one yet), and rose. They are now re-potted and will enjoy the coming spring.
View attachment 47645

Among them, one has a more tricky condition. Do you think it will survive? It has a lot of roots, but I am concerned about the blackened part. Thanks in advance!
View attachment 47646

Maybe give the sickly plant a warm blanket and warm place to grow until the weather catches up?