Plant Propagation: Creating Many Plants from One

HI U OLE PATOOTS DOIN, , , , , , , , , , ,

We have a muscadine orchard of 44 plants and on April 26 last year we had a hard freeze which killed about half our vines. We are trying to recover by using a propagation method I found on the internet a few years ago. It is far easier and more effective than the method I used in the past.

First, we are picking suitable vines prior to our spring pruning. We cut the bottom out of a 2 liter coke bottle and tread the vine up through the neck opening. Then we scrap a spot from the bark of the vine and add a root hormone.

Next, we add leaves and chips to contain the potting soil we add. As you can see the bottles are tacked to a temporary support board and convenient to keep watered as the vine begins to produce a root system that you can see develop through the clear plastic bottle over time. By late summer the bottle will be full of roots and ready to stand on it's own. We cut the vine from the parent plant and repot it for transplanting in late fall.

Each one of these potted Southern Grapes will cost you about $12 and what you see is 15 that we did in a few hours. We have both the bronze and black muscadines and make jelly, juice and I used to do wine. As a GA TECH Ch. E , I could make wine with the best . The problem is that it did not taste good, so I gave the practice up. Even though we are in East Tenn, this is about as far north as you can grow the large Southern Muscadines and also Figs. Extreme cold can kill our plants. This propagation method will work on any grape vine or fig tree.

In the picture.. excuse my thumb, I'm a novice photographer. We garden because it is a good way to stay healthy. We usually put up about 20 half gallons of muscadine juice during the season and 10 pints of jelly.

I am not in the league with Ted, Bill , Dave, Momma and Timh as far as health advice is concerned, but I can hold my own in growing healthy veggies, berries and fruit. So that will be my contribution to your health, if you want to go down this trail.

====== ORH=====

HI U OLE GARDENING PATOOTS DOIN, , , , , , , , , , forgot the 50's song but the lyrics .. "I spoke too soon, I wasn't wise".....

Anyways, I was wrong about the Japanese Beetles. They are devouring our muscadine leaves, stripping them bare. I tried to spray them with Diatomaceous Earth but the dew was gone so I will go back early tomorrow and de-do.

I know one thing ...... if I come back in the next life and it's not as a goat , then I want to come back as Japanese Beetle because all they do is eat and breed. If you kill one then you kill two because they are full time in the act.

ATS=======ORH=============

HI U OLE PATOOTS DOIN, , , , , , , , , , ,

We have a muscadine orchard of 44 plants and on April 26 last year we had a hard freeze which killed about half our vines. We are trying to recover by using a propagation method I found on the internet a few years ago. It is far easier and more effective than the method I used in the past.

First, we are picking suitable vines prior to our spring pruning. We cut the bottom out of a 2 liter coke bottle and tread the vine up through the neck opening. Then we scrap a spot from the bark of the vine and add a root hormone.

Next, we add leaves and chips to contain the potting soil we add. As you can see the bottles are tacked to a temporary support board and convenient to keep watered as the vine begins to produce a root system that you can see develop through the clear plastic bottle over time. By late summer the bottle will be full of roots and ready to stand on it's own. We cut the vine from the parent plant and repot it for transplanting in late fall.

Each one of these potted Southern Grapes will cost you about $12 and what you see is 15 that we did in a few hours. We have both the bronze and black muscadines and make jelly, juice and I used to do wine. As a GA TECH Ch. E , I could make wine with the best . The problem is that it did not taste good, so I gave the practice up. Even though we are in East Tenn, this is about as far north as you can grow the large Southern Muscadines and also Figs. Extreme cold can kill our plants. This propagation method will work on any grape vine or fig tree.

In the picture.. excuse my thumb, I'm a novice photographer. We garden because it is a good way to stay healthy. We usually put up about 20 half gallons of muscadine juice during the season and 10 pints of jelly.

I am not in the league with Ted, Bill , Dave, Momma and Timh as far as health advice is concerned, but I can hold my own in growing healthy veggies, berries and fruit. So that will be my contribution to your health, if you want to go down this trail.

====== ORH=====

Hi ORH...I've got to say that your garden posts and photos have been fascinating and my hearty thanks for that. I'm a smalltime gardener compared to you and your lady.

I just thought to pass on some gardening or farming information that you might find possibly interesting if you are what they call a 'natural gardener'. The man''s name is Masanubo Fukuoka from Japan. I've just read his book called 'The Natural Way of Farming'. He practiced what he preached and was highly successful and became quite famous. Roughly speaking his unusual and extremely contrary farming principles were the following:

• human cultivation of soil, plowing or tilling are unnecessary, as is the use of powered machines.

• prepared fertilizers are unnecessary, as is the process of preparing compost

• weeding, either by cultivation or by herbicides, is unnecessary. Instead only minimal weed suppression with minimal disturbance

• applications of pesticides or herbicides are unnecessary

• pruning of fruit trees is unnecessary

Fukuoka also used to cover his rice fields with rice hay and plant white clover for the nitrogen. This was enough to suppress the weeds when he eventually planted rice in his fields. He had record yields. There was also one year where Japan had the most severe spring frosts ever -- all rice crops were destroyed. All that is except Fukuoka's rice fields -- which were not destroyed because he always covered his rice fields with hay and planted white clover to keep the soil protected and warm. He also successfully re-introduced the ancient farming practice of the seed ball. This is where you make up a small ball with the ratio of seed to clay(and humus) at about 4 to 1. You just chuck these seed balls out onto your field and they will naturally spread and germinate even in frosts.

You can read Fukuoka's book, The Natural Way of Farming: The Theory and Practice of Green Philosophy for free -- see this link. His primitive farming method was also called do-nothing farming. But his farming method was really all about not disturbing the natural eco-balance when you farm. Here was a man who followed Nature's way and was very successful at it. Can't argue with that.

Thanks for posting this Bill. If I may, from nearly 2 centuries ago and the other side of the globe, Henry Thoreau's Walden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden has inspired many on the need for self-sustaining farming as well as self-reliance and oneness w/ Nature in general.

On the other end of the spectrim, it is so sad to see the devestation of clearcut slash & burn farming, overpopulation, wildlife & habitat destruction, etc in many parts of the globe. Thank goodness western philanthropist and Christian missionaries have taught many of the developed models for idealistic farming & living. In my neck-of-the-woods, we have a prominent Christian Mennonite community that practices minimalism, separatism, and sustainable farming and living. They are a great model of sustainable agriculture, land preservation, and generally natural and wholesome living.

HI BILL, , , , , , , , , I always try to learn new tricks and appreciate your post. Got 2 more days on the beach and back to Ten Mile to put our garden in. As you probably guessed, we transplant almost everything so we have a blank garden and two days later it is knee high. This way I don't sweat the germination rate because of this. We have more potted transplants than we need.

Growing good food is not the only reason we garden. The world is in trouble and I'll leave it at that.

=========ORH=========

Dear Bill --- thank you so much for your post and the chance to read Fukuoka's book which made me cry. I cried because of the realization how far the world is on the brink of self destruct.

I see the future is for those that resonate and practice what this wise and simple soul lives. It is perhaps no coincident that your post about the book came out on "Buddha Pournima" which Buddhists celebrate the world over.

Yes, the future is for these souls and those who practice ahimsa, non injury to all and everything. This is shown in the daily choices that affect all and everything.

Ganesh while in a garden in Hawaii, pointed out to two present " the gardener unnecessarily lopped off a branch from a tree and the whole universe knew it". This is to be meditated on.

Namaste, Om