Gardening Indoors

The medium most commonly used in which to root cuttings is clean,
medium-coarse sand, such as builders use. It must not be so fine as to
pack tightly, nor so coarse as to fit loosely about the cuttings, and
admit air so freely as to dry them out.

Make a flat similar to that used for starting seeds, but four or five
inches deep. Place in the bottom an inch or two of gravel or coal ashes,
covered lightly with moss or a single thickness of old bag, and then
fill nearly full of clean sand. Make this level, and give a thorough
soaking. After drying out for an hour or so, it is ready for the
cuttings.

Mark the box off in straight lines, two or three inches apart, and
insert the cuttings as closely as possible without touching, and to a
depth of about one-third or one-half their length. A small, pointed
stick, or dibber, will be convenient in getting them in firmly. Wet them
down to pack the sand closely around them.

The best temperature for the room in which the cutting box is to be kept
will be from fifty to fifty-five degrees at night. Like the seed box,
however, it will be greatly helped by ten or fifteen degrees of bottom
heat in addition. For method of giving this extra bottom heat, see page
26.

If the box is kept in a bright sunny place, shade the cuttings with a
piece of newspaper during the heat of the day, to prevent wilting, and
if the weather is so hot that the room is warmer than seventy degrees,
an occasional light sprinkling will help to keep them fresh.

Never let the sand dry out or all your work will be lost. As a rule, it
will require a thorough soaking every morning.

With these precautions taken, the cuttings should begin to throw out
roots in from eight to twenty days, according to conditions and
varieties. Do not let them stay in the sand after the roots form; it is
much better to pot them off at once, before the roots get more than half
an inch long. If some of the cuttings have not rooted but show a
granulated condition where they were cut, they will be safe to pot off,
as they will, as a rule, root in the soil.

The above method is the one usually employed. There is another, however,
just as easy and more certain in results, especially where bottom heat
cannot easily be had. It is called the "saucer" system of propagation.
Make the cuttings as described above. Put the sand in a deep,
water-tight dish, such as a glazed earthenware dish or a deep soup
plate, and pack the cuttings in as thickly as necessary. Wet the sand to
the consistency of mud and keep the dish in a warm light place. The
temperature may be higher than when using the sand box, and there will
not be a necessity for shading. _The sand must be kept constantly
saturated_: that is the whole secret of success with this method of
rooting cuttings. Pot them off as soon as the roots begin to grow.

Cuttings made by the two systems described above are usually taken in
autumn, or in spring. When it is necessary to get new plants during
June, July or August, a method called "layering in the air" will have to
be resorted to if you would be certain of results. Instead of taking the
cutting clean off, cut it nearly through; the smallest shred of wood and
bark will keep it from wilting, but it should be kept upright, for if it
hangs down the end of the shoot will immediately begin to turn up,
making a U-shaped cutting. The cuttings are left thus partly attached
for about eight days or until they are thoroughly calloused, when they
are taken off and potted, like rooted cuttings, but giving a little more
sand in the soil and not quite so much water. They are, of course,
shaded for several days.

Some of the plants ordinarily grown in the house, such as Rex begonias,
rubber plants, sword ferns, are best increased by leaf cuttings,
topping, layering or other methods differing from seed sowing or rooting
cuttings. These several operations will be described in treating of the
plants for which they are used.

Having carried our little plants safely through the first stage of their
growth, it is necessary that we use some care in getting them
established as individuals, and give them the best possible preparation
for successful service in their not unimportant world.