Success for the mad propagator!!!
Back at the end of May I posted about the beheading of my Aeonium. The plant had got so ridiculously tall that I decided to take a friend’s advice and chop the top off and root it in some gritty compost and I was reliably told that the remaining stem would sprout new leaves.
Being a obsessive seed sower and propagator I considered the remaining stem which in my opinion was still far too tall and decided I would have a go at taking stem cuttings from it. I had no basis of expert advice to base this idea on just a feeling that if it worked for other things why not. The top bit of the plant seemed to root quite quickly and the plant is growing well but the stem and stem cuttings have just sat there doing nothing. They got put outside in the summer, were neglected and unloved. Nothing happened, but I don’t give up easily and dutifully put them back in the greenhouse when the nights got colder.
I am happy to report that my patience has been rewarded. New shoots have appeared on the stem left attached to the roots- fab! But more excitingly two of the four stem cuttings have new shoots as well. I suspect the other two haven’t struck as I dropped the cuttings when potting up and probably put them in upside down! I really should rename this blog “the patient but clumsy gardener!”.
So from 1 Aeonium I now potentially have 4 if the cuttings get through the winter. Have very satisfying.
Yaaaaaaaay 🙂
Well done!
I have just done this too and at the time I was extremely anxious. The outcome is positive though!
Ryan
Woohoo! Congratulations. I find scraps of aeonium that I’ve left around the garden will often root wherever they land. I haven’t tried stem cuttings, though. You can never have enough of these.
That’s great!
if ever you need to find new homes for them – well, you know where I live
🙂
Well done
K
ah well done, that is a very nice sight
Yup. In a temperate climate, I leave the offcuts as mulch. And they grow. My Pelargoniums even flower, as if blissfully unaware – it is just a bit of stem. Lying on the ground.
Well how clever was that.
They can get so top heavy and risk falling over. Definitely candidates for heavy terracotta pots. It’s always satisfying to get cuttings that take.
Congratulations to the ‘patient and very impressive gardener’!
Wow, I’ve just been blogging about the woes of cleaning the greenhouse for winter and your post is a wonderful reminder of why it’s worth bothering. Your patience has definitely been rewarded!
Taking the top off a lanky aeonium is often the best way to make them form branches.
So glad you loved up to your pseudonym Patient Gardener!
Congratulations! I love the feeling of success! I am glad they have taken for you!