Planting cuttings

When we take cutting from a plant we should plant them in the next half an hour. We can put them in water till we work with them.

Before planting them we can deep the cutting into rooting compound first.

We will have to create the proper mix of soil to put into the pot. It should contain:

• Soil
• Sand
• Compost
• Vermiculate or perlite

Once we have the mix we will fill the potts and plant the cuttings in the perimeter of a pot.

The cuttings should be in the pot at least for one year and then we can move it to another pot where they should be another year. After two years they can be moved to their final place.

Rooting compound

Synthetic plant hormones (PGR) are commonly used in a number of different techniques involving plant propagation from cuttings, grafting, micropropagation, and tissue culture.

The propagation of plants by cuttings of fully developed leaves, stems, or roots is performed by gardeners utilizing auxin as a rooting compound applied to the cut surface; the auxins are taken into the plant and promote root initiation. In grafting, auxin promotes callus tissue formation, which joins the surfaces of the graft together. In micropropagation, different PGRs are used to promote multiplication and then rooting of new plantlets. In the tissue-culturing of plant cells, PGRs are used to produce callus growth, multiplication, and rooting.

We can create our own rooting compound

Just as in humans, hormones stimulate various functions in plant growth. The first hormone discovered to cause root growth is called auxin, and the synthetic version of auxin is what we find in commercially sold compounds today.

The willow plant is a natural source of auxin. Therefore, it can be very easy to make up a fresh batch of homemade rooting compound whenever you need to plant some new cuttings.

Gather a handful of willow branch tips 

1. Chop or mash into smaller pieces 
2. Fill small container with pieces 
3. Fill container with water & allow to sit overnight 
4. Remove willow pieces 
5. Dip cutting into the water, covering the stem 
6. Put cutting into your potting mix (or moist sand) 
7. Cover with a plastic bag to retain moisture 
8. After roots form, re-pot

Also, don't get rid of the willow water when you're done with your cuttings. Save it to water your plants!

If you don't have access to willow, dissolve a few aspirins in a jar of water. Aspirin is made from willow bark, so it can have the same effect as the willow water.

Pruning a tree

Scar in the bark due to wrong pruning

When we prune a tree we have to be careful not to make scars on the bark. If the pruning of a branch is done to close to the bark, it will leave a scar in the bark and the inner part of the trunk will be exposed to air, therefore to fungi and roteness.







When pruning a branch we should always leave at least 2-3 cm of the branch out of the trunk, so when the bark reabsorbes it, does not make any scar in the tree.

Proper pruning leaving 2-3cm of distance to the trunk

How it should look after pruning

Scar due to a too tight staking of the tree

Other scars in the tree may be done by a bad staking. It we stake the tree too tight or with a hard material that is not rubber, the wind will make the string rub the bark and cause a scar like the one shown in the photo.

School hedge

We have planted a hedge to give some shelter to the school orchard.

We used:

• 6 rosa rugosa
• 6 berberis purpurea
• 7 cotoneaster bulatus
• 21 privet legostrum
• 22 Common Holly

That is a total of 62 plants that will allow as to have a double row of 31 plants each.

The lenght of the hedge is 6meters+15 meters that makes a total of 19 meters.

19/31=0.6m=2 feet

The distance between the plants will be of 2 feet in each of the two rows with a gap of 1 foot in between both rows.

With a string and some pegs we marked the position of each of the plants on each of the two rows.

We divided into three groups, one will dig square holes, the other will do round holes with the auger and the last will dig a trench.

TRENCH WORK

AUGER HOLES


SQUARE HOLES

Planting a hedge

A hedge can be planted to create shelter for the beds of a veg garden or an orchard.

To plant the hedge we will:

1. Clear the surface
2. Distribute the plants along the surface
3. Prepare the planting holes
4. Plant the trees

To clear the surface we will need:

• Strimmer
• Hedge clippers
• Spade
• Lawnmower
• Knapsack sprayer (after 10 days of clearing the surface)

To prepare the planting hole we will need:

• Auger
• Spade
• Shovel
• Wheelbarrow
• Measuring tape
• Post and wire
• String and pegs to get them into a line

The holes could be done:

1. Trench: It is the old method so it will take longer to prepare. Once the trench is been digged put some compost and lay the bareroot plants on the trench. Put back the soil that had been taken out from the trench and make the trees stand upwards. Press the soil around the tree.
2. Square holes: Dig a square hole bigger than the pot we are planting. Place some compost on the bottom of the hole and then place the tree. Fill the hole with soil and press around the tree to compact the soil and avoid air getting into the roots.
3. T cuts: Make a T-cut with the spade and slide the roots of the tree from the side so the roots are in the right position. It is the method that will give the minimal disturbance to the soil. It will not bring new weeds.
4. Auger: A round hole is not ideal because it can cause the roots go circular and die. The benefit from an auger is the speed and that is the reason why it is used by most of the gardeners.

Ethylene

Plants are sensible to smell and gases.

There is a gas produced by the plants called Ethylene. It is a natural plant hormone used to force the ripening of fruits.

Ethylene production is regulated by a variety of developmental and environmental factors. During the life of the plant, ethylene production is induced during certain stages of growth such as germination, ripening of fruits, abscission of leaves, and senescence of flowers. Ethylene production can also be induced by a variety of external aspects such as mechanical wounding, environmental stresses, and certain chemicals including auxin and other regulators.

What is actually caused by the gas may depend on the tissue affected as well as environmental conditions. In the evolution of plants, ethylene would simply be a message that was coopted for unrelated uses by plants during different periods of the evolutionary development.

List of plant responses to ethylene

• Seedling triple response, thickening and shortening of hypocotyl with pronounced apical hook.
• In pollination, when the pollen reaches the stigma, the precursor of the ethylene, ACC, is secreted to the petal, the ACC releases ethylene with ACC oxidase.
• Stimulates leaf and flower senescence
• Stimulates senescence of mature xylem cells in preparation for plant use
• Induces leaf abscission
• Induces seed germination
• Induces root hair growth — increasing the efficiency of water and mineral absorption
• Induces the growth of adventitious roots during flooding
• Stimulates epinasty — leaf petiole grows out, leaf hangs down and curls into itself
• Stimulates fruit ripening
• Induces a climacteric rise in respiration in some fruit which causes a release of additional ethylene.
• Affects gravitropism
• Stimulates nutational bending
• Inhibits stem growth and stimulates stem and cell broadening and lateral branch growth outside of seedling stage 
• Interference with auxin transport
• Inhibits shoot growth and stomatal closing except in some water plants or habitually flooded ones such as some rice varieties, where the opposite occurs
• Induces flowering in pineapples
• Inhibits short day induced flower initiation

In the prairies of North America the grass will use the ethylene to ensure their survival. When the buffallos are coming to the prairie and eating the grass it will create ethylene that will be taken downwind to tell the grass there that it has to produce seeds and put them to the ground to ensure that next year the seeds will grow again.

It is the same in a forest. The outside part of the forest will get the first cold weather of the winter season. The trees in the outside circle will turn their leaves into yellow and will generate ethylene to send the message to the inner trees that they have to turn their leaves colour in order to loose the leaves and not get frozen and die.

The ethylene will:

1. Ripen the apples, tomatoes, potatoes. Potatoes and apples should never be stored in the same room as the ethylene from the apple will cause the potatoes to sprout.
2. Make the grass produce seeds. The dandelion produces a lot of ethylene, that is why it is usually taken out in a garden to avoid the grass go seedly.

Polyethylene is a synthetic material. It has a similar structure as the ethylene, but it is not the solid form of ethylene.

Making charcoal

Timber that is not going to be used can be converted into charcoal that would be a clean heat source.

To make charcoal we need a metal barrel, the best would be of 4 feet tall and 10 feet of diameter.

We feel the barrel up with logs of around 50 cm, it can be fresh timber, it doesn't have to be dry.

When the barrel it's full we light a slow fire under the barrel for 3-4 days and we let it cool down for one week.

Willow wood it is very good to make charcoal. With small pieces of wood we can make charcoal drawing sticks.