November 19, 2020 - Progressing with the High Tunnel Project

 Over the last few days, I have spent the majority of my time at work busy planting in the high tunnel! Back in September/October - I planted a variety of native cuttings in the hopes that I would get them to propagate and grow roots - Oregon Grape, Spirea, and Snowberry. After 6 - 8 weeks, I figured it was time to pull up those plantings to see if any of them had successfully rooted. In total - I repotted 80 plants that had successfully grown roots - in order to get them ready to be placed out in the field this spring. With the beds in the high tunnel cleared out, room was made for new cuttings to be propagated! 

How to Re-pot Cuttings That Have Rooted

• It is first necessary to identify which of your cuttings have successfully grown roots
• after a 6 - 8 week period of allowed growth, gently pull up on your cuttings to test root growth
• if you feel resistance when you pull up - this means that the cuttings have successfully rooted and it is time for you to transfer them to pots! Woohooo! 
• roots should be about one inch, or longer, in length
• When pulling out your rooted cuttings
• BE EXTREMELY careful so you don't damage the root system
• I like to use a thin pair of nitrile gloves, instead of leather/gardening gloves - so that I have better precision
• Gently dig out cutting with your finger tips
• Brush sediment gently off of the roots until you can tug it up without breaking the main root system
• Once up-rooted
• Gently swish plant through a small container of water to clean off the roots
• You may also need to message the root system with your hand to get it clean - but only do this if the roots are hardy - as some plants and root systems will break very easily. 
• Leave the cutting in the water while it is waiting to be repotted - we want to keep the root structure moist
• Feel free to add rooting hormone & let the cuttings soak while you pull up the others
• Prepare as many pots as you have rooted cuttings
• Use your finger or a tool to create a hole about 4 inches deep in the pot
• Place in cutting, and fill in hole with surrounding soil 

*To learn how to propagate new plants from cuttings, you can read my high tunnel post that was made in October - Click here to get taken to that post*

This is what I like to call my "Propagation Station." This little table in the high tunnel is where I usually will process/transfer cuttings. 

There are a total of 4 raised beds within the high tunnel. 3 of them are filled with a soil mix, and one of them is a "sand pit" where we place most of our delicate cuttings to root. Above you see the southeastern bed, which I filled with a variety of Oregon Grape, Snowberry, Pacific Nine-bark, and Black Cottonwood cuttings. 

The beautiful Red Osier Dogwood plants that we inherited from last spring's plantings. I re-potted them so that we can soon place them outside for the winter (which allows them to become better accustomed to their future planting environment when we transfer them to the field this spring). Behind the plants you can see the "sand pit" - which has plastic over it in order to keep humidity & warmth in for the variety of cuttings I added to it.