Vegetative reproduction
Lots of floriculture plants, even though they have the ability to produce seeds, it reproduces primarily vegetatively. This is why, that in floriculture we often deal with hybrids, which, when propagated from seeds, do not guarantee the preservation of the characteristics of the mother plants.
Vegetative reproduction can be done by parts of plants or by vegetative organs developed by mother plants. The basis of vegetative reproduction is the ability of the plant or organ part used to produce an independent organism. Commonly used methods of vegetative reproduction include reproduction by: seedlings, lay-ups, division of plants, onions, bulwocebule, tubers, rhizome, runners, budding and vaccination.
Propagation by cuttings
We distinguish shoot cuttings, leaf and root, herbaceous seedlings should be mentioned among the shoot cuttings, semi-woody and woody. Propagation by shoot cuttings is then used, when cut off pieces of shoots have the ability to quickly produce adventitious roots.
Herb seedlings are usually prepared from strongly developed young shoots, because they take root better than cuttings from older shoots. They should not be longer than 5-7 cm and must be at least 2 nodes and between nodes. The cut should be perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stem and not lower than at 2 mm under the knot. Herb seedlings can also be torn off the stem from the so-called. heel. Do not cut cuttings from shoots ending with a flower or inflorescence.
Woody cuttings should be from 12 into 25 cm. The length of the seedling depends on the length of the internodes. Each seedling should contain at least one internode and two ties. The cut in the lower part is made just below the knot, perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stem, in the upper one, above the knot, a bit slanted. Propagation by woody cuttings is used primarily in ornamental nursery.
Semi-woody cuttings are prepared from semi-woody shoots in the same way as herbaceous ones.
Some ornamental plants have the ability to regenerate a whole new organism from their leaves, so they can be propagated by leaf cuttings. For leaf cuttings, whole leaves with a petiole are used (e.g. spoils), only the leaf blade, or parts of the leaf blade, cut this way, that each of them has a branching of the nerves at the base (e.g. royal begonia). When the shape of the leaves is elongated, to prepare the cuttings, it is cut crosswise into equal pieces, 5-6 cm long, e.g. coil cuttings (sansewderii).
Ornamental plants are propagated less frequently by root cuttings, nevertheless, this method is used, for example,. in. in the production of phloxes, aralii, passion flower and some ornamental trees. In these cases, the seedling is a healthy piece, not too lignified root.
Prepared seedlings should be placed as soon as possible in a sand substrate or a mixture of sand and peat on tables in greenhouses or in inspection windows. The base layer should be 8-10 cm thick. Before planting the seedlings, the substrate should be tightly pressed and well moistened. Both sand, as well as other materials, which are used for planting, they should be steamed to destroy the spores of fungi and bacteria.
Herb seedlings are planted in rows - 5X3 or 5X4 cm spacing - depending on the size of the seedlings. They are carefully pressed into the substrate to a depth of 1-1.5 cm.
The most suitable temperature for the substrate is 18-24 °. After planting, the seedlings are watered, that the substrate particles moved during the depositing adhere to them.
Rooted cuttings are taken out of the sand and planted in small pots. Early spring and early fall are the most suitable planting times (February-March and August-September). To speed up the rooting of cuttings, more and more often as a substrate, instead of sand, a lumpy substance called perlite is used..
Growth substances are often used to obtain a stronger root system, e.g. Seradix.