Dianthus Collection
Propagation form cuttings

Cuttings are best taken as soon as the first flowering is over. These will root quickly and grow on well to form new plants.


A section removed from a plant.
Click for detailed image.

 Take 'pipings' of larger plants and heel cuttings from the smaller and more fragile species.
Cuttings may be taken while the plant is still flowering by selecting shoots with out signs of a flower bud. Some Dianthus direct so much energy into flower bud production and very little cuttings material is ever produced. In these cases remove all flower buds and give a weak feed. Take cuttings of the new growth that develops.

Trim off the lower leaves with sharp scissors and remove any heel tag.

Dip into hormone rooting powder and insert into a mix of sharp sand, perlite and fine grit. Stand in water until the surface is moist and put in a closed frame for a few days. Then treat like saxifrage cuttings giving exposure to light and air.
Pipings = pull the non-flowering stem away from the plant and the stem will break above a leaf joint.
Heel cuttings = material separated from the parent plant at a stem joint.
piping
heel cutting 		When the roots appear through the bottom of the pot put each rooted cutting into a pot in John Innes No.1 mixed with equal parts of sharp sand and grit.
Top dress around the neck of the plants with grit sieved to remove the dust.
     
Rick Lambert