1) When you buy them cut, sometimes they last for weeks, and other times, they start to brown and the buds don't open. Why? What can you do to keep them happy?
2) How do you best take cuttings from (cut) carnations?
cheers!
x H
Sorry don't know why they don't open. When I take cuttings I look for a side shoot on the stem, break them off & put them in water to root then pot them up.
Janet.
Thanks, I'll try some side shoots.
I've done a bit of web browsing and it seems that they are particularly sensitive to ethylene, given off by ripening of other plants, or fruit.
I may also have scuppered them this time by putting them with daffs in a vase - I did wonder whether daffodil sap might be bad news for other flowers. So, it could be a combination of those things. I'll try not mixing them with other flowers, and keeping them away from other plants/ fruit/ bean sprouts, any of which could have been the culprit!
QuoteWhen I take cuttings I look for a side shoot on the stem, break them off & put them in water to root then pot them up.
I find it best not to 'break' them off but better to pull them off.
Grip the potential cutting just above where it leaves the stem and pull upwards and you should find it pulls out fairly easily. This known as taking 'piping cuttings'
http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Carnation/Carnation.htm
If you buy cut carnations dont throw them away after flowering cut them back and pot them up. They will root and can be grown on to proper plants.
Only found this out when our kitten destroyed a frsh bunch last year but is had worked on 3 lots of aldi cut flowers
Thanks for all the tips, everybody. Will try 'em all and see what happens.