I have been getting into propagation lately. I wrote recently about how to propagate Ajuga. Today I organized what I call my “propagation station,” and perhaps you need one too!
Something I had to learn the hard way was how important it is to label and separate varieties of plants. When I first started propagating, I clipped from both our Ozark and Honeoye strawberries. I mixed them up, and when I wanted to give some starts to someone else, I couldn’t tell which variety I was giving them. So now I clip only from one variety of strawberry at a time and put the clippings in their own tray and label the tray.
As I have mentioned before, I use seedling trays for this when I’m not using them for seedlings. Seedling trays have many uses.
If you don’t want to use seedling trays, find a shallow container. The bigger the better, and don’t use metal (it gets too hot in the sun and can burn your starts). Something sturdier than a seedling tray with great dimensions is a kitty litter tray (that is clean, because cat feces is not good for plants).
The signs that I paint are made of scrap wood from some wood projects. I use Apple Barrel paint to paint them and then I use a Flymax white paint marker on top after they have dried.
Another lesson I learned is not to keep your propagation station in a sunny area. Shade is best. I moved my trays to the shadiest part of my property. With no root system (yet), the leaves don’t survive the heat well on their own.
Remember to keep the correct part of the cuttings submerged. Each day you will need to check the water level.
Savillum 