PROPAGATING PANSIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 June 1939, Page 5

PROPAGATING PANSIES

THE SHOOTS TO SELECT. Growers who have the pfopagatitm of further stocks of pansies ahd violas in view? naturally commenced to cutback the plants in February. It is always an advanrtage to get the cuttings rooted early in the season. Propagation can, however, proceed folsome time yet. Where the uninitiated grower is most likely to go wrong, is in the selection of the cuttings themselves. In all too many cases fat luscious shoots, which on inspection prove to be hollow in the stem, are selected as ideal material. Actually, nothing could be further fi'oih the truth. Sturdy, but short-jointed basal growths, phly two or three inches in length, will prove more satisfactory iir every way. In some cases these can be obtained with a few roots already attached. Shoots trimmed in the normal manner are, however, by no means difficult to handle. All that is necessary is to remove the lower leaves and trim neatly off below a joint. A ffiade-up bed in a cold frame is preferable to boxes for rooting the cuttings. It is worthy of note that the bed should be made up comparatively close to the sash of the frame itself, or there will be a tendency for the plants to become drawn. Insert the cuttings about two inches apart each way, and see that the soil is made firm around the base. If left with an air space at this vital point, rooting will be a slow and doubtful process. Until fresh leaf growth gives evidence of root activity, a fairly close atmosphere must be maintained. Once this growth is seen to have started in real earnest, sashes should be removed on every possible occasion.