Hello everyone (:

I'm absolutely new to gardening, specially when it comes to propagation. But I just couldn't resist experimenting. The idea of growing my own plants is tempting

So here are the pictures, one is a Marigold, and another is a Vinca (I guess?)

I'll explain what I did- I took their stem cuttings from the main plant, and I plucked the leaves from the lower part of the stem & planted it straight into the new pot and soil (and oops, also watered them a tiny bit).
I didn't let them dry up/callous over. Will they form roots without that step??

I haven't covered them with plastic or anything yet to store them in an airtight condition- is this necessary?

I don't want them to die

Please help (:

Queen

I have rooted vinca major from cuttings but, marigolds are easily propagated by seed, so enjoy trying your experiment. It may get roots . The best way to find out is to try it out.

Looking at the 2 pics, I have hope for the Catharanthus (vinca,) but no the marigold. It may be possible to propagate marigolds from cuttings, but I think one would need a regular stem, not just the inflorescence. There may be enough regular stem buried beneath the soil surface and we just can't see it.

Agree, the only way to find out is to try! ;)

purpleinopp said:Looking at the 2 pics, I have hope for the Catharanthus (vinca,) but no the marigold. It may be possible to propagate marigolds from cuttings, but I think one would need a regular stem, not just the inflorescence. There may be enough regular stem buried beneath the soil surface and we just can't see it.

Agree, the only way to find out is to try! ;)

Um, I should have taken a longer cutting maybe. But the marigold has the same length of stem buried under soil as can be seen above. I had no idea they are propagated better using seedlings.

Let's see what happens!

I don't need to cover them with plastic to provide a humid environment do I ?

LinusdeLeon said:I have rooted vinca major from cuttings but, marigolds are easily propagated by seed, so enjoy trying your experiment. It may get roots . The best way to find out is to try it out.

If they grow, I shall post an update

There's always a maybe about propagating, and my comments were not in regard to the specific plants you have, but juxtaposing what is seen against my own similar situations and the anecdotes of others. The general CW is that inflorescences are less likely to take root, but as with anything in regard to plants, there will be exceptions. I can not offer any more specific advice about these particular plants because I've not yet had the pleasure of trying to root cuttings of either, but wish you the best!

Marigolds are among the standards in even the most basic rack of seeds. Many stores only have the seeds available from spring-early summer. (seed-planting season, generally.) Some plants don't really have enough time in some locations to be enjoyable the same year if planted from seed, but marigolds are fast, and worthwhile for the dollar or 2 that the seeds cost. Starting the seeds early indoors could be another option.

If you end up needing more vinca next year, in your location, as you probably already know, they'll be with the annuals.

purpleinopp said:There's always a maybe about propagating, and my comments were not in regard to the specific plants you have, but juxtaposing what is seen against my own similar situations and the anecdotes of others. The general CW is that inflorescences are less likely to take root, but as with anything in regard to plants, there will be exceptions. I can not offer any more specific advice about these particular plants because I've not yet had the pleasure of trying to root cuttings of either, but wish you the best!

Marigolds are among the standards in even the most basic rack of seeds. Many stores only have the seeds available from spring-early summer. (seed-planting season, generally.) Some plants don't really have enough time in some locations to be enjoyable the same year if planted from seed, but marigolds are fast, and worthwhile for the dollar or 2 that the seeds cost. Starting the seeds early indoors could be another option.

If you end up needing more vinca next year, in your location, as you probably already know, they'll be with the annuals.

That's pretty informative.
I have lots of Marigolds growing in my garden, I just wanted to experiment with the stem cuttings :D
I'll leave the one I planted as it is- fingers crossed

My pleasure! Those pots look so cute!

@queen1694 - any update on your cuttings?

cwhitt said:@queen1694 - any update on your cuttings?

Hi Christie,
Umm, well they died.
And I'll admit I couldn't take care of them either due to paucity of time. So I can't tell if it was the propagation method or my negligence :/

@@queen1694
Had to look up that word paucity - good to add a new word to my vocabulary.

cwhitt said:@@queen1694
Had to look up that word paucity - good to add a new word to my vocabulary.

Haha. My pleasure!

Purely anecdotal, but last year we had super muggy weather (lots of rain, high humidity, etc) and my marigolds formed air roots. So I cut one off & planted it, mostly just as an experiment. It rooted, bloomed, and came back this year bigger & bushier. I don't know if the air roots were the cause, or how to force a plant to grow them, but it is possible to propagate marigolds from cuttings (especially if you have no idea what you're doing).

wow - never heard of that - how interesting!!!

@okieheart, your story reminded me of the hyacinth bean vine seeds that germinated while still in their pods. The pods were brown and deteriorating and so the beans/seeds germinated while inside the pods. We must have had good rainy days and high humidity for them to germinate.

Are there any other accounts of Catharanthus propagation? I had some success last year with water, but a few tries this summer have failed. I cut a few stems yesterday and put them in pots with other plants already growing. Maybe that will work better, or maybe I was just too early with the water cuttings, it was really hot when I tried those.

And about marigolds, I tried several stem cuttings last year in water and they all took root very quickly.

A couple of the Vinca cuttings from yesterday.


This pot has a wick.


They still look good today. We will see what happens.