On Thursday I had a bit of a frenzy on taking some cuttings. Trying to increase my stocks of rosemary, sage, bay, blueberries, goji berries and a few others for free.
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| Quick fix cold frame |
I've no idea if they will all work or if it's the right time for all of them, bay for one I'd imagine would be better in the autumn but it's worth a shot as I'm doing others and had everything set up.
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| A gritty sandy mix for the cuttings (I mixed up an ericaious one for the blueberries) |
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| Rosemary cutting with the bottom leaves stripped away |
Once I'd finished with the cuttings I needed somewhere to keep them. Most books say a plastic bag over the top or a cold frame out of direct sunlight. I decided that a cold frame would be better so I found a few sheets of old corrugated perspex saved from a job and set about building a temporary one on our north facing patio.
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| All the cuttings under my temporary, quick fix cold frame. |
This turned out to be a little bit simple, even for me. I stacked the quarry tiles that I've got saved for when we build the porch and then added one of the sheets on the top and front weighted down with a few more tiles.
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| Temporary cold frame |
Hopefully this should work well, it's easy for me to water them and as it's by the house I should be more inclined to keep an eye on them. One day I'll get round to building some proper cold frames, with brick sides and glass tops, but that's some way off yet!
What else should I be taking cuttings of at the moment? Anyone else built a temporary cold frame like this?
I do not have any cold frames. I am starting some seedlings in filtered light in shadey area. I am not sure I could even use a cold frame here this time of year. Even in shade I think it might cook my plants. Hope all your seedlings take!
ReplyDeleteIt's a bit warmer with you guys so I doubt you'd need all the things we have to have to keep plants warmer (flease etc). Maybe you could use one as a solar dryer!
DeleteI watched Monty Don making cuttings like yours on Gardeners World last night. If you could fit a irrigation/mist like watering system it would prevent the cuttings from becoming dehydrated and dying. I like the perspex sheeting instead of glass window frames, especially where children play. Please write an update and let us know if the cuttings took, Kev.
ReplyDeleteIf Monty don was doing it then I can't be too far off then! I'd love a root mister like they use in the nurseries for cuttings, my success rates would be so much higher! I'll let you know how I get on.
DeleteThat is an easy way to set one up quickly and should work.
ReplyDeleteI was just going for simple and quick! Hopefully some should take.
DeleteI take cuttings any time of year too. If you are tidying up a plant you might as well have a go at striking another. Good luck with these.
ReplyDeleteYeah that was my thinking. and I love free plants! I'll be please if the blue berries take though as I've tried these a few times with no luck.
DeleteEasy, quick and cheap - all the things I like!
ReplyDeleteHey Kevin,
ReplyDeleteThe editors at Mother Earth News magazine are assembling cold frame project ideas for a 2016 article. We’re very interested in your cold frame. Would you allow us to feature your project in our magazine? If so, we require high resolution photographs of the project. By high resolution, we mean the original camera file, preferably in a tiff format (although a large jpeg file would also work). If you don’t have high resolution photos, would you be willing to photograph your project again for us? We’d need the photo in hand no later than April 1st.
We hope to hear from soon.
Sincerely,
Russell Mullin
Editorial Intern
MOTHER EARTH NEWS
Email: rmullin@motherearthnews.com
1503 SW 42nd Street
Topeka, KS 66609