May Swap - FOTESS - Snip and Share
First of all, let me say that you need to be a member of FOTESS in order to participate in this swap. FOTESS stands for Friends of the Earth Simple Swaps. We try to keep our swaps simple, try to make sure the postage for them is not too expensive, and we try to recycle and reuse and share seeds as much as we can. If you are not currently a member but are a reliable GardenWeb swapper, you can get in touch with me or Shirley and see if you are able to join in time for this swap.
Here are the rules if you sign up... and we hope you do!!!
1. Fill a small priority mail box (the size that you can send for about $5) with about 12 - 15 cuttings for the partner who will be assigned to you. You must pack them carefully and according to the instructions. You can send two cuttings from the same plant if you want to make sure that one roots; but no more than two of any one plant.
2. You must send your package with delivery confirmation. Because your box will contain plant material, please take your cuttings late in the day the day before you ship or the morning of the day you ship so the cuttings will stay as fresh as possible. Also, mail only towards the beginning of the week so the package will not sit somewhere over the weekend. I am going to try to match partners so the boxes will travel a short distance rather than all the way across the country, but that will depend on the location of those who participate.
3. Select plants that have a likely chance to root. I am going to give a crazy example here, but you would not cut just a daisy blossom off your plant and mail that to your partner or a cutting from a plant that just sprouted from seed a few days before. We want a stem part that normally contains leaves and has the strength to undergo the rooting process. Don't take so much off your "mother plant" that it won't survive the pruning!
Okay - back to being serious: There are many ways to propagate plants - from leaves, sections of roots, grafting, using misting systems, air layering, etc., but this tme we intend to use stem cuttings that will be rooted in a container of sterile sand or some other medium or in water - a simple way! Do not leave lots of foliage on the cutting. The plant will not be able to support lots of foliage as it tries to root and that foliage will take up lots of space in the box. It is fine to leave a few leaves. If this terminology is meaningful to you, try to make sure there are some nodes/nodules (or bumps or stubs) from leaves or offshoots that you have removed where it will be asked to develop roots. That makes the process more likely. I would not recommend that you scrape or scar the cut end before sending it. If the recipient decides to do that before trying to root the cutting, he or she can right before potting it up.
4. Before you wrap the cutting, if you have rooting hormone on hand, you can dip just the end of your cutting in water and then in the rooting hormone (dip lightly - we don't want a rooting hormone snow storm in the package.) The way to package your cutting is to wrap the bottom of each stem with a paper towel or newspaper that is just barely damp. You don't want it saturated. Wrap only the end. I feel like I should say that again in bold: wrap only the end! If you put the entire stem and foliage inside the wrapping, it will likely begin to rot or mold before it is received. I was in a swap where cuttings were totally wrapped in plastic and shipped in the summer (the entire thing was wrapped in plastic- stem, leaves, etc.) and the whole box had totally turned to mush by the time it reached me so we don't want that. You will likely find that you need to cushion the other end of the cutting (the foliage end) as you pack your box. If so, use something that "breathes" like shredded newspaper. Do not pad that part with plastic or something that will hold in too much moisture.
5. I know some members may think they really want to participate in this swap, but may not have 12 - 15 cuttings. If you don't have that many, you can make up the total by adding a bulb, corm, rhizone, seed potato, garlic start, strawberry runner, or some other type of plant material. Not seeds! This is intended to be a cutting swap so please make sure you have mostly cuttings included. (If you personally don't have enough maybe a friend or family member will let you take a few cuttings from some of their plants.) Another possibility is to add a well grown winter sowing plant or two to the package in order to reach your total. Send young plants but ones that are likely to make it; not one with just two tiny wispsy roots.
6. Label each plant cutting and if you have information about how best to prepare it for rooting, add that as a note.
7. If there are some things you would really like to receive (e.g. cuttings of herbs, cuttings to grow shrubbery, cuttings for house plants, roses, or whatever) you can list that when you sign up. Keep in mind, you may or may not receive it. Do not send things that are invasive. Make sure all cuttings are free from disease and pests. If you are sending something that is already rooted, rinse most of the soil from the roots and then package it like we listed for the cuttings.
Sorry for all the rules, but cuttings are wonderful if they are shipped carefully. Aren't we a thrifty bunch to try to share our plants in this way?)
Sign up by May 5th and I will try to get partners assigned the very next day.
Mail your package by May 15th.I am making this early so all boxes will be received before the Memorial Day Holiday; that holiday weekend would be a long time for cuttings to sit in the mail.
If you fear you will not be at home when the box arrives (maybe you are traveling early in May), just let us know when you sign up and you and the person who sends to you can work something out. All boxes, even the special arrangment ones, if we have any, need to be mailed by May 29th so we can wrap up this swap by early June and move on to the next one!
Things that typically do well - help me out by posting some ideas to the thread:
most herbs - rosemary, oregano, mint..., shrubs like forsythia, quince, many salvias, plants like brugmansia, many houseplants, most antique roses root well, confederate rose, Christmas or Thanksgiving cactus, ivy or geranium cuttings, dusty miller, impatiens, sedum, pussywillow or other willows, kiwi, blueberry cuttings, hardy mums, night blooming cereus, kerria japonica, angelwing begonias, St. John's Wort, pothos.
Coleus are very easy to root so if you have some in a greenhouse or that you overwintered indoors or if you just bought a large enough plant that you can spare some of it, those are fine to send!
Of course you may have some bulbs that multiplied and can be thinned or iris rhizomes or garlic starts or corms from glads. Do not wrap those or seed potatoes in a moist paper towel. Keep them dry for shipping.
Keep thinking of ideas! You can look for information on how to root your cuttings online, but let's share and post ideas about what you have good luck rooting and methods you have used with success (or maybe what to avoid!)
We will leave the rooting system up to the receiver. I usually dip the end in rooting hormone and place the cutting in semi-shade. You will need to keep it moist, but not soaking wet. With our weather here, I just water thoroughly every day or maybe a few times a day until roots develop. Some people "tent" the container in clear plastic to keep it moist and if that is how you are usually successful, that is fine. With our humidity, I don't usually need to do that. Some people put cuttings directly in the ground and cover them with a jar. Too hot here to do that, but it may work well where you are.
I hope after the swap you will come back to say how you rooted things and what was successful. We all want to learn more.
Shirley made the April Swap a hard act to follow! The poetry was so much fun and I defintely learned more about poetry. Good job, Shirley!
Jeanne
sjc48
canyonwind
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