Episode: #1 10/3/07
Presenter: Phil Dudman
Phil shows you a fun and interesting way to propagate some of your favourite plants. It is called marcotting or air – layering, and it is just like taking a cutting, only you leave it on the plant. It is a great technique for propagating woody plants that are sometimes hard to strike, like fruit trees, natives, or something like a camellia.
Because the cutting stays on the plant, it continues to be fed by the parent plant, so you are almost guaranteed success, and as a bonus, you can produce something that’s quite large and instant looking.
It is really quite easy:

• Find a healthy branch around 1-2 cm in diameter. Go for something that will make a nice balanced instant looking plant.
• Then with a clean sharp pair of secateurs, make an upward cut into the stem just below a leaf joint because that is where the roots will form.
• Use hormone gel as that will help the roots to form quicker. You can pick it up at any good gardening centre. All you do is use a paintbrush to dab a little of the gel around the cut.
• You also need something for the roots to grow in, Yates Coir Peat is good and it is ideal because it can hold moisture for a long time.
• You want it to be moist but not wet so soak it first then give it a squeeze to get rid of any excess water.
• The trick is to pack some of it under the cut to keep it open. Once that is done take a sheet of alfoil around 20 cm wide hold it underneath the cut,
• pack in some more peat then wrap the whole thing up around the shoot quite tightly making sure that it is air tight so that the peat inside does not dry out.
• Depending on the plant, new roots will start to form in about 3-6 months. After that you will start to see a white area where it all starts to happen. Give it another month or two, and it will be teaming with roots.
• From there it is just a matter of cutting it off, potting it up into a good quality potting mix like Yates Potting Mix, watering it in and leaving it in a protected, shady spot. When you get some new growth, add a little slow release fertiliser and before you know it you will have something as good as this.

Marcotting is a great way to make new plants that I know you will find easy and very rewarding, so why do not you have a go yourself this weekend.


Waterwise Peat

• Ideal additive to potting mixes. Can also be added to garden soil as a soil conditioner.
• Coir peat is a renewable organic resource.
• It can be mixed into garden soil or potting mix.
• Coir attracts, absorbs and holds moisture for the plants to use over time, improves the wettability and structure of garden soil and potting mixes and encourages beneficial soil micro-organisms and earthworms.

Waterwise Premium Potting Mix

• Wetting agents and water crystals help water penetrate into the mix and retain moisture in containers or in garden soil for release over time.
• Ideal for container grown and garden plants.
• Contains Dynamic Lifter Organic Plant Food for plant nutrition and to encourage beneficial soil micro-organisms and earthworms.
• Contains coir peat which stores water and nutrients and improves the structure of the mix.

For more information visit: www.yates.com.au