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Post by Moonlight on Sept 18, 2014 10:15:47 GMT
What are the best methods for rooting sports?
After having my Lilac Willo's Violet have now discovered a White Gurtla Twilight. Have tried rooting Lilac it looks pretty poorly now but at least we tried. What are the best way/s to raise the chances of saving a sport?
Has anyone ever seen a White Gurtla Twilight, as opposed to a very pale Gurtla Twilight?
At the moment the best I can come with is a, try and save the tubers and b, try and take as many cuttings as I can from the parts of the tuber roughly below the sport blooms.
I am hoping that my daisy eyed Willo's Violet (different plant) have developed lots of pom seed that I can grow into some interesting worth keep-able seedlings...
I'll be honest poms are not my favourite classification of dahlia but I do really love things that are 'a little bit different' or unusual and I think it is shame to loose them just because I don't know what I am doing.
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Post by scrumpy on Sept 18, 2014 11:15:36 GMT
You have to take cuttings from the same stem that the flower is on. Root as you normally would and try to keep them growing over winter in a 3" pot. That means using horticultural lights. Cuttings now should produce a tuber by spring....then take cuttings from that.
I managed 4 cuttings of the zoe sport last year, they produced tiny tubers, but they did their job.
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Post by Moonlight on Sept 18, 2014 11:36:11 GMT
You have to take cuttings from the same stem that the flower is on. Root as you normally would and try to keep them growing over winter in a 3" pot. That means using horticultural lights. Cuttings now should produce a tuber by spring....then take cuttings from that. I managed 4 cuttings of the zoe sport last year, they produced tiny tubers, but they did their job. |
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Post by ian on Sept 18, 2014 12:23:59 GMT
Moonlight, Gurtla twilight tends to go white later on in the season and usually when it is low in the foliage. If you are sure it is a sport then you are doing the correct thing rooting the cuttings do not worry about lights as long as you keep it frost free and in a light position it will be ok (it may go a bit leggy but that is not a problem. What most people do is to mother plant it so when it has got away growing well 3 -4 pair of leaves then take out the growing point (you can root this if you like)then allow the breaks to develope a couple of pair of leaves then nip these out and by the spring you will have quite a bushy plant from which you take your cuttings. when you have taken your cuttings then the original cutting will have formed a small tuber of which you can plant straight back into the ground come planting out. You only need lights if you intend to take cuttings inside or over the winter when the day light is short, but if you mother plants then the cuttings can be taken spring time. Hope this is useful Moonlight. Ian
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Post by ian on Sept 18, 2014 12:25:01 GMT
Moonlight, Gurtla twilight tends to go white later on in the season and usually when it is low in the foliage. If you are sure it is a sport then you are doing the correct thing rooting the cuttings do not worry about lights as long as you keep it frost free and in a light position it will be ok (it may go a bit leggy but that is not a problem. What most people do is to mother plant it so when it has got away growing well 3 -4 pair of leaves then take out the growing point (you can root this if you like)then allow the breaks to develope a couple of pair of leaves then nip these out and by the spring you will have quite a bushy plant from which you take your cuttings. when you have taken your cuttings then the original cutting will have formed a small tuber of which you can plant straight back into the ground come planting out. You only need lights if you intend to take cuttings inside or over the winter when the day light is short, but if you mother plants then the cuttings can be taken spring time. Hope this is useful Moonlight. Ian
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Post by Moonlight on Sept 18, 2014 13:43:17 GMT
Moonlight, Gurtla twilight tends to go white later on in the season and usually when it is low in the foliage. If you are sure it is a sport then you are doing the correct thing rooting the cuttings do not worry about lights as long as you keep it frost free and in a light position it will be ok (it may go a bit leggy but that is not a problem. What most people do is to mother plant it so when it has got away growing well 3 -4 pair of leaves then take out the growing point (you can root this if you like)then allow the breaks to develope a couple of pair of leaves then nip these out and by the spring you will have quite a bushy plant from which you take your cuttings. when you have taken your cuttings then the original cutting will have formed a small tuber of which you can plant straight back into the ground come planting out. You only need lights if you intend to take cuttings inside or over the winter when the day light is short, but if you mother plants then the cuttings can be taken spring time. Hope this is useful Moonlight. Ian 
My Lilac Willo's Violet is a true sport. It's a shame that it isn't going to make it.
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Post by Tel on Sept 18, 2014 15:21:37 GMT
If you know what stem your sport is on. you could leave that stem longer than normal, when you store it for the winter. I have had new growth off stems in the past, when I had not cut them back far enough.
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Post by robh on Oct 30, 2014 17:54:37 GMT
would a grolux lite for aquarium plants be anmygood
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Post by Tel on Oct 30, 2014 19:01:41 GMT
would a grolux lite for aquarium plants be anmygood I have used one in the past, when I thought I had a sport, managed to keep taking cuttings all winter. but the plants were kept on a heated bench. So they had heat and light. I used a box lined with silver foil. |
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