Reap What You Sow

Belfast Telegraph: "Gardening: Reap what you sow


John Graydon
18 March 2006
Garden centre owners won't thank me for saying this, but gardening doesn't have to be an expensive hobby. If you have an established garden or know someone who has a mature plot, you can be quids in at this time of year.
The trick is in reproducing plants from current stock or sowing seed.
Greenhouse gardeners will be well ahead of me at this point. Their calendars tell them that there are plenty of plants about to sprout shoots which can be used to create new stock.
Fuchsias, pelargoniums, cultivated geraniums, dahlias and chrysants all fall into that category.
A sharp knife, a keen eye, decent compost, a little knowledge, some heat and a little luck are all that's needed to increase the stock.
Cut off a fresh shoot of around six inches in length just below a leaf node. Trim off the bottom leaves, pinch out the growing tip of the shoot and plant the stalk into some fresh, well watered compost and grow under glass.
Those greenhouse gardeners have no problems on the latter score but even if you don't have room for such a structure, you can grow on young plants in a specialised propagator on a windowsill.
They come in all manner of specifications and prices but even the most basic model will - with a little care on your behalf - create the necessary heat to help you grow on the young plants created from the shoots more: