Plant propagation basics including seed and vegetative propagation.
Plant propagation is basically the creation or reproduction of new plants from other plants that already exist.
It is an extremely inexpensive and easy way of gaining new plants for your garden, not to mention a very rewarding and satisfying method. You can swap plants with other gardeners in your area or reproduce new plants from your own stock.
It is an extremely inexpensive and easy way of gaining new plants for your garden, not to mention a very rewarding and satisfying method. You can swap plants with other gardeners in your area or reproduce new plants from your own stock.
There are two types of plant propagation - sexual and asexual.
Sexual propagation is the creation of new plants from seed. This method differs from asexual propagation in that genetic material from two parent plants are used to create a new plant. When raising plants through seeds, the new plant will differ from the parent plants in size, colour, bloom and other characteristics, and as a gardener you won't know beforehand how the new plant will turn out or what it will look like. Sometimes, raising new plants from seed, however, is the only method through which a certain species can be produced.
A large number of vegetables such as lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli and carrots are produced through seed, as are many herbaceous perennials, annuals and biennials including begonias, marigolds, sweat peas and violas.
Seeds are relatively cheap to buy, although seeds from existing plants can be saved from one year to the next, as long as they are properly stored (see Introduction to planting seeds for details).
Plant propagation through sowing seeds requires a lot of care and attention, particularly when nurturing the seeds as they grow into seedlings and are still in the process of establishing themselves into healthy plants. However, all gardeners will agree that the effort is well worth it and great joy is felt on watching the new plants emerge as new specimens are created.
Asexual propagation, also known as vegetative propagation, is the reproduction of one existing plant through various techniques such as division, layering, cuttings and grafting. With vegetative propagation an exact copy or replica of the parent plant is produced each time and therefore the gardener knows exactly what to expect and can plan his garden layout accordingly. Whichever type of asexual propagation used, the end result is always identical in colour, shape, size of leaves, height etc to the parent plant.
With vegetative propagation, and cuttings in particular, all parts of the plant are used to produce new plants, including the roots, leaves and stem. Gardeners often raise new plants vegetatively because certain varieties cannot be raised through seed or because it is the simplest, most efficient and most straightforward method.
Division is generally described as the simplest method of asexual propagation, as this method involves digging up the established parent plant and dividing or separating it into smaller pieces by hand or with a study knife before replanting.
Not all plants, however, can be propagated in the same way and you will have to learn which plants are better suited to which type of propagation or you can experiment yourself and see which works best.
When reproducing new plants through cuttings, taking shoot cuttings is generally the most popular and easiest method. Leaf cuttings are also a good method but this technique is slightly more tricky than shoot cuttings and not all species of plant take well to this method.
Helpwithgardening.co.uk's section on propagation offers plenty of articles on this topic and describes the various propagation methods, both sexual and asexual, in great detail, giving step-by-step instructions on how methods such as planting seeds indoors and outdoors, layering, division, grafting and propagation through cuttings are carried out.
Sexual propagation is the creation of new plants from seed. This method differs from asexual propagation in that genetic material from two parent plants are used to create a new plant. When raising plants through seeds, the new plant will differ from the parent plants in size, colour, bloom and other characteristics, and as a gardener you won't know beforehand how the new plant will turn out or what it will look like. Sometimes, raising new plants from seed, however, is the only method through which a certain species can be produced.
A large number of vegetables such as lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli and carrots are produced through seed, as are many herbaceous perennials, annuals and biennials including begonias, marigolds, sweat peas and violas.
Seeds are relatively cheap to buy, although seeds from existing plants can be saved from one year to the next, as long as they are properly stored (see Introduction to planting seeds for details).
Plant propagation through sowing seeds requires a lot of care and attention, particularly when nurturing the seeds as they grow into seedlings and are still in the process of establishing themselves into healthy plants. However, all gardeners will agree that the effort is well worth it and great joy is felt on watching the new plants emerge as new specimens are created.
Asexual propagation, also known as vegetative propagation, is the reproduction of one existing plant through various techniques such as division, layering, cuttings and grafting. With vegetative propagation an exact copy or replica of the parent plant is produced each time and therefore the gardener knows exactly what to expect and can plan his garden layout accordingly. Whichever type of asexual propagation used, the end result is always identical in colour, shape, size of leaves, height etc to the parent plant.
With vegetative propagation, and cuttings in particular, all parts of the plant are used to produce new plants, including the roots, leaves and stem. Gardeners often raise new plants vegetatively because certain varieties cannot be raised through seed or because it is the simplest, most efficient and most straightforward method.
Division is generally described as the simplest method of asexual propagation, as this method involves digging up the established parent plant and dividing or separating it into smaller pieces by hand or with a study knife before replanting.
Not all plants, however, can be propagated in the same way and you will have to learn which plants are better suited to which type of propagation or you can experiment yourself and see which works best.
When reproducing new plants through cuttings, taking shoot cuttings is generally the most popular and easiest method. Leaf cuttings are also a good method but this technique is slightly more tricky than shoot cuttings and not all species of plant take well to this method.
Helpwithgardening.co.uk's section on propagation offers plenty of articles on this topic and describes the various propagation methods, both sexual and asexual, in great detail, giving step-by-step instructions on how methods such as planting seeds indoors and outdoors, layering, division, grafting and propagation through cuttings are carried out.
