Plant Propagation Experiment (Vol 2)

This evening, Sunday, July 10, 2022, 7 Free the Fern volunteers met up to help with a Plant Propagation Experiment (Vol 2).

Teresa demonstrating how to gather cuttings from red huckleberry

Teresa & Denis offered to lead our experiment. They donated the materials needed (peat moss, sand, and rooting hormone) to Free the Fern. They also lead our group of volunteers in our collection effort.

Sorting our softwood cuttings into groups

We succeeded in collecting the following softwood cuttings:

Trailing blackberry – 5

Red huckleberry – 2

Mock Orange – 3

Gooseberry – 3

Tall Oregon grape – 1

baldhip rose – 8

red flowering currant – 9

Each softwood cutting was dipped in rooting hormone and planted (in groups of 2-3) in 1 Gal pots filled with 50/50 peat moss and sand mix. The pots were then placed in our Free the Fern greenhouse.

Dipping red flowering currant stem in rooting solution

Planting softwood cuttings in 50/50 mix of peat moss and sand

We look forward to seeing how these softwood cuttings will do. Those that successfully root down, we hope to replant in the Red Alder trail.

In addition to collecting softwood cuttings on July 10, volunteers also collected seeds in the Douglas Fir Teaching Garden on the Red Alder Trail. Specifically, we gathered seeds from Pacific bleeding heart and Red Columbine flowers. These seeds will be dried and stored, before they are planted in the Red Alder trail in late fall.