Thoughts on California Native Plants Lecture 9 Notes

Before we begin to think about how to grow California native plants, let's think about why we might want to grow California native plants. The native vegetation, through evolution, is adapted to this climate, these soil types and interacts with other natives (insects, mammals, birds, reptiles) in an ecological dance that was going on long before humans arrived, and certainly before the present civilization of humans arrived on scene. Their niche in the ecology of California gain some advantages to the gardener:

They Save Water

Once established, many native plants need little or no irrigation. Not only does one save the limited amount of water we have available, that saves one money.

Lower Maintenance
Less pruning and no fertilizers mean less work for a gardener, saving time to learn more propagation and take more courses at UCLA Extension

Pesticide Freedom
Native plants interact with the insects of their environment in a way that eliminates pesticide use. The pests and diseases evolved with the plants and native plants have their own defense against them. Beneficial insects often become collateral victims when we spray pesticides (even more true if we use organic methods). Stop poisoning ourselves and our world.

Invite Wildlife
Native plants, birds, butterflies, beneficial insects, and interesting critters are, as noted above, co-evolved to be here. Current research confirms what many have intuited for many years: native wildlife clearly prefers native plants. California’s wealth of insect pollinators can improve fruit set in your garden, while a variety of native insects and birds will keep your landscape free of mosquitoes and plant-eating insects. Open your garden to these wild living things that live among us, despite what we have done to their habitat.

Support Local Ecology
While creating native landscapes can never replace natural habitats lost to development, planting residential and commercial gardens, parks, and roadsides with California natives can provide a “bridge” to nearby remaining wildlands.

California native plants are a world unto their own, mostly because we have so little familiarity with them. By that I mean, our culture's experience with growing these plants is something like 250 years – many a good deal less, like 60 years. And that is also the time we've been selecting them for our gardens. On the other hand, beans, lettuce, cabbage, onions have been in cultivation for thousands of years. Over that time, civilizations have selected year after year those plants that adapt to our culture, or in the case of stubborn plants, we have figured out how to make that plant grow to suit us. This selection process has yet to occur for California natives. Add to that the fact that these are plants from the driest of the world's Mediteranean climate that have adapted to survive with cool, wet winters and long, hot, droughty summers, in a land ravaged by frequent wildfires and you have plants that are, by nature, not ready to accept the regimen we intend to use to make them grow.

The cycle that California native plants live by is almost perfectly backwards to the cycle by which we want to make them grow. We want to plant in Spring (along with our tomatoes and marigolds) and have flowers blessing our landscape by July, if we insist on this, we will spend much more money on therapy than plants! Plant California natives in fall, when we hope for rain to establish them, and enjoy the fecundity of flowers in March/April. Right now, in the California native garden, some salvias are blooming, I've seen Blue Eyed Grass and some poppies blooming. By mid-March, the scene is breathtaking!

In the wild, seed dormancy is usually overcome by the seed spending time in the ground through a winter period and having its hard seed coat softened up by frost and weathering action. By doing so the seed is undergoing a natural form of "stratification" or pretreatment. This cold, moist period triggers the seed's embryo, its growth and subsequent expansion eventually break through the softened seed coat in its search for sun and nutrients.

Meeting some of these conditions, for most gardeners can be a tad difficult. In order to imitate conditions that would ameliorate these inhibitors, one must understand the process the seed goes through in real life in order to mimic it.

Being essentially wild plants, these plants employ many different mechanisms to ensure that at least some of the seeds will find conditions acceptable to carry on the family name. These mechanisms can create wacky germination of their seeds that drive gardeners batty but can be imitated, if one knows the mechanisms a given plant uses to germinate at the most propitious moment for plant survival include:

germination after a fire

germination after cooler temperatures indicate winter

germination as daylight gets longer, indicating more longer days

germinating over a long period of time to have at least some of them hit ideal growing conditions

In most plants of the world, the process of stratification is to simulate cold winter conditions which most wild plants have mechanisms to prevent premature sprouting that would have small plants killed by cold while they are still very tender.

Stratification is the process of subjecting seeds to both cold and moist conditions. Typically, temperatures must be between 34°F and 41°F. The term can be traced to at least 1664 in Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber, Vol. II. where seeds were layered (stratified) between layers of moist soil and exposing these strata to winter conditions. Thus, stratification became the process by which seeds were artificially exposed to cold-moist conditions between layers of soil or peat to encourage subsequent germination in spring. Seed of many trees, shrubs and perennials require these conditions before germination will ensue.

In its most basic form, when the stratification process is controlled, the pretreatment amounts to nothing more than subjecting the seeds to storage in a cool (ideally +34° to +36°F; just above freezing) and moist environment for a period found to be sufficient for the species in question. This period of time may vary from one to three months.

To accomplish this you merely place the seeds in a sealed plastic bag with moistened vermiculite 

sand 

or even a moistened paper towel

and refrigerate it. Use three times the amount of vermiculite as seeds. It is important to only slightly dampen the vermiculite, as excessive moisture can cause the seeds to grow moldy in the bag.

The medium must be sterile and must be appropriate to the seed's habitat.  We would probably find vermiculite or sand to be most appropriate while peat will not be as appropriate for CA natives.

The medium must be sterile and must be appropriate to the seed's habitat.  We would probably find vermiculite or sand to be most appropriate while peat will not be as appropriate for CA natives.

After undergoing the recommended period of stratification, the seeds are ready to be removed and sown in the nursery bed for germination. Alternatively, the seed may be sown in small pots filled with moist soil and then the whole thing enclosed inside a plastic bag before placing inside a common refrigerator.

In the case of fire causing germination, is it the heat, the chemical residue left by the fire or both that causes the seed to germinate when there is less competition for natural resources? If it is chemical, the commercially available 'Liquid Smoke' could be added via the initial watering and that might unlock germination.

If it is heat, one will need to start a fire over the seeds to get the heat. For example, in germinating Matilija Poppy (Romneya coulteri) the fire that would burn around these seeds in nature, would be composed primarily of Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) leaves. When I want to start Matilija Poppy from seed, I cover them with dry Live Oak leaves, combined with few dried pine needles, and set them on fire. My thought is that the temperature, the chemistry needed for the poppy to sprout will best be approximated by those leaves of the oak that is a predominant species in the Matilija Poppy's habitat. I might be just a little too fixed on this, but my poppy germination has been excellent. Remember, should you do this, you must not use a plastic container!

http://larnerseeds.com/index.html

http://www.theodorepayne.org/

http://cnps.org/

http://californiaoaks.org/

Syllabus for Plant Propagation for Gardeners

COURSE SYLLABUS

Instructor: David King

Email: greenteach@gmail.com

Phone: 310.722.3656

There are no prerequisites for this course, although some knowledge of basic botany is extremely helpful. We meet on Sundays from January 15 through March 18 for 10 meetings. There is one Saturday field trip.

In our field trip we will attend the WLA chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers meeting on February 11^th, from 10:00 to noon. This is the day of their annual ‘Scion Exchange’ and is not to be missed if you can help it. There is no other forum in Los Angeles that offers a better introduction to grafting!

All other meetings are on Sunday 1:30 to 4:30 PM to The Learning Garden, at the Venice High School campus. This site is close to the ocean and because we meet outside, please dress appropriate to the weather, which is invariably colder than one would imagine. We will do what we can to mitigate the cold and rain, should it come, but the material of the class is best covered with live plant material in the garden – which, of course, is outside.

We will also be working with potting soils and cut plant material in almost every single class, gloves will probably be desired. Dress so that you can comfortably get dirty and still stay dry. Dressing in layers is probably the best idea when it comes to being outdoors at The Learning Garden.

Course Purpose

This course is an introduction to the principles and practice of plant propagation, both sexual and asexual, and the science and art of grafting and budding.

Course Objectives

1. Understand the care and safe use of tools in plant propagation.
2. Understand the biology of sexual and asexual propagation of plants.
3. Understand and use the different styles of propagation of plants.
4. Be able to set up and use a plant propagation system.
5. Demonstrate an understanding of the above by propagating different species of plants.
6. Understand the physiology of plants sufficiently to be able to successfully bud and graft a variety of plants.

Application

The materials presented in this course will enable the student to start plants from seeds and cuttings, in an amateur or professional setting and graft woody plants with a working understanding of the scientific underpinnings of the process.

Text for this course

Plant Propagation A to Z – Bryant; Firefly Books, 2003 It is readily available online or in the appropriate UCLA Bookstore. There will be many additional handouts from the instructor. Reading assignments in this syllabus are from this book.

Please note, The Grafter's Handbook – Garner; Cassell Publishing 2003, is no longer in print. This book (a blue cover) should you find it at a reasonable price, is a wonderful reference book for someone involved in grafting. The replacement text, Grafting and Budding – Alexander and Lewis; Landlinks Press, 2010, is not nearly as thorough and is a much less interesting book, while providing some wonderful high quality photos, where Handbook had only black and white photos and line drawings. You win some... etc. Neither of these books are required.

All material for in class will be available online at http://lagardennotes.blogspot.com/. I try to not have handouts in class to avoid wasting paper printing handouts you may not care to keep and using the internet allows us to use videos (especially of grafting) from other sites you may find helpful.

Class Meetings

To each class meeting, in addition to any note-taking tools you deem necessary (paper, camera, tape recorder etc), each student should bring propagation tools that will be described in our first class meeting; please don't purchase a lot of stuff until then. You will need pruners, a grafting knife, a regular pocket knife (or one knife with two blades for different purposes), a black, permanent Sharpie, a sharp pencil and a sturdy pair of gloves – leather preferred. If you are unsure of what to buy, buy NOTHING until after the first class meeting – we will not be using most of these items until later in the course.

Grading

Your grade in this class is based on a checklist you will keep. You need to be able to perform each of the tasks on the log with sufficient skill and understanding of the process in order to receive a passing grade in this course. The completed checklist must be turned in the last day of class unless other arrangements have been made before hand with the instructor. Additional points (i.e. make up points) can be obtained by adding propagation notes to www.gardenology.org. I reserve the right to administer quizzes throughout the course to insure comprehension. They will count in your participation score.

Instructor’s Office Hours

Please avail yourself of my willingness to meet with you at any time to discuss your progress in the course or to clarify instructional material or to answer any difficulties you are having. My preference is to meet with you at my office at The Learning Garden where we can cover material without distraction but I am willing to meet with students anytime, anywhere to assist you in learning; after all, that is the point your taking the class and my teaching it. It is my wish that all students learn and are profited by their enrollment in this course. Do not struggle; I am here to help.

At The Learning Garden:

 THE FIRST AID KIT IS LOCATED ON TOP OF THE refrigerator in my office

Remember its location.

I’m very serious... So far only two students have had to have emergency medical treatment. I don't like adding to that number.

A garden is filled with uneven surfaces, rocks, plants with thorns and other armaments and an infinity of possibilities for injury; most of the time in this course we will be using very sharp tools which deserve your utmost attention at all times, please give due attention and consideration of this. Remain on pathways and do not walk into planted beds unless it is absolutely necessary. Do not pick anything without permission – it’s common courtesy.

A garden and the plants do not talk; I feel responsible as their spokesperson and take that responsibility seriously. You may not abuse my plants.

Food and drink are allowed, but the removal of any trash or waste is entirely incumbent on the eator and/or drinkor. I hold you responsible.

We will probably have hot tea and coffee to mitigate the cool weather we anticipate needing to endure. Bring your own cup or mug and any eating utensils you feel you need. I drink it black – if you want sugar or cream, it's on you.

Appropriate clothing is essential. Remember, Venice can be hot and cold by turns. Layering is suggested; a jacket or sweater close at hand is essential. We will meet regardless of weather. If it is a light rain/mist, we will continue work. If it is a gully-washer (as though we get those in Southern California), we will meet in a classroom or the shade house and carry on.

Point Assignment

For Credit Students. It is more important to me that you learn the material above all other considerations. I will endeavor through point assignment, lecture and demonstration to teach you in a way that will facilitate learning the material. If you aren’t understanding, please allow me to help you.

Tools You Will Need

Each student shall provide:

Pair of pruners – secateur type, like Felco #2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12 or 13. No anvil pruners allowed EXCEPT for those students with hand pain or arthritis that must use the ratcheting type of pruners. Felcos can be bought on the internet (eBay) for much less than most local sources; I am also a Felco distributor and carry several models at a very competitive price. Coronas and other secateur pruners are OK, although if you have ever used Felcos, you appreciate why I am so fond of them.

Pruning knife – only used for plants. It is suggested that everyone also have a second knife for all the other needs in a garden. If one does not plan on doing a great deal of propagation needing a sharp knife, an inexpensive knife with break-away blades available from many local stores may be used. Grafting knives and horticultural knives are also found for reasonable amounts on eBay and other internet connections; I also have a selection of inexpensive pruning knives from Swiss Army. No one should feel pressured to buy my items – I only have them because they can be hard to find locally and often all you can find are the really expensive Felcos which you don't need.

Pair of gloves – leather is preferred, some folks like to have more than one.

Sharpie – fine point, only black will not wash off

Pencil – sharp, wooden (the Learning Garden does have a sharpener)

You will need to take notes, so paper is necessary – may I suggest you take notes in pencil because it won’t run if it gets wet and a pencil is a wonderful small dibber in a pinch.

The Garden (or instructor) will provide:

Cactus mix and potting soil to be used as needed

Watering devices

Pots

Root stimulating gel

Other tools and supplies as needed

Oil, sharpening devices, cleaners and rags for pruner and knife maintenance

Alcohol wipes and hand soap.

Plant material/seeds

First aid kit

Plant markers

If you forget your pruners or knife, I do have a few of each, and while I do have gloves, a pair that fits your hand is preferred (and a pair of gloves are somewhat personal too). I can sharpen your pruners and we will learn how in this course.

Date	Mtg.	TOPIC
01/15/12	1	Lecture: Introduction – roll, Extension policy, meeting time and place, attendance and tardiness, tools etc. Tool selection and care. Sexual and asexual propagation defined. Introduction to the different propagation. Botany as applied to propagation. Planting mediums. Demonstration: Working environment; Safety and tool use Practical: Planting medium mixes and mixing.
01/22/12	2	Lecture: Meristematic tissue and the principles of propagation by cuttings; Pages 92-113 Demonstration: Different kinds of cuttings Practical: Making cuttings
01/29/12	3	Lecture: General Propagation Methods and Application; Pages 47-91; pests and diseases and methodology to deal with them. Demonstration: Division of perennials Practical: Dividing perennial plants
02/05/12	4	Lecture: Biology of Grafting, reasons to graft and history; tools of the trade; SAFETY Demonstration: A graft Practical: Grafting an apple or other stone fruit
02/11/12	5	Field Trip to California Rare Fruit Growers
02/19/12	6	Lecture: More grafting and possibilities Demonstration: Another graft & budding Practical: More grafting
02/26/12	7	Lecture: California Native Propagation Demonstration: Fire scarification of a California native Practical: Transplanting seedlings
03/04/12	8	Lecture: Seeds, structure, germination and viability, collection, storage. Propagation, pages 47-74; seed starting problems and their solution. Demonstration: Scarification/Seed sowing Practical: Sowing seeds of different sizes
03/11/12	9	Lecture: Propagating ornamentals; Katarina's presentation NOTE: This lecture may well take place on a Saturday as a field trip to The Huntington. Demonstration: Ornamental propagation Practical: Propagating something unusual.
03/18/12	10	Lecture: Covering all things left uncovered. Demonstration: As dictated by circumstances. Practical: Work on your checklist. (Student evaluation of instructor…) FINISHING REQUIREMENTS FOR CREDIT STUDENTS

Our Class Meeting Locations

The Learning Garden

13000 Venice Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90066

310.722.3656 (my cell)

The Garden is located on the south east corner of Walgrove Avenue and Venice Blvd. It is the first gate on Walgrove south of Venice – there is a small amount of parking inside the gate, there is no other secured parking, other than those few spaces, you are on the street and on your own. DO NOT PARK ON THE CAMPUS PROPER.

California Rare Fruit Growers, West Los Angeles Chapter

Scion Exchange meeting on Feb. 10, 10:00 AM, location is TBA

Tool Suppliers:

Search online at eBay and other buying services, but the following companies, in addition to myself, reliably have the tools you need and prices that are competitive.

A.M. Leonard (AKA The Gardeners Edge) www.gardenersedge.com They have everything and they make good house brands of knives and pruners.

Peaceful Valley Farm Supply www.groworganic.com Felco and Corona pruners, inexpensive Swiss Army grafting knives. A good choice.

Scoring For A Grade in This Class

Class Participation	25.00%
Checklist	75.00%
TOTAL	100.00%

Felco Pruner Dealership!

It has been a while since the last post and for that I apologize. My left wrist, which had been healing nicely, got whacked around in late June/early July and ever since has felt as bad as when I first injured it in May! I have been trying to keep it under wraps since then and trying very hard to not do anything, even typing, that might stress the injury further.

But, I've just been approved as a Felco distributor and I had to share the news! I have sold a lot of Felcos in my time, however, I just wasn't making any commission on the sale, so this is not that big of a change. It should be a win/win situation - students in my classes can get these valuable tools without having to pay high prices and add shipping on top of that. There are inexpensive Felcos that are rarely seen for sale in Los Angeles such as the 160L and 160S (pictured), which have composite handles and the same famous Felco blades. With a retail price of $25 there is no reason any student, or gardener, should suffer with anything less than a Felco.

I do intend to stock some of my favorites as well - oftentimes in Los Angeles you cannot purchase anything other than the Felco 8, which is the standard ergonomic right hand pruner. I have come to prefer the Felco 6 for my day in and day out pruner - it is smaller and so gets into tight corners with more ease and fits my hand nicely. You can purchase these online for as little as $51 plus tax and shipping; and, while I've not worked out the final price, it will probably be a lot closer to $45 without shipping. I hope to have a few left-handed models and a representative selection of the other popular models.

In line with this, I'll be able to offer grafting knives from Tina and Swiss Army - both brands I use and respect as being good knives with good value, as well as Silky saws, which are the top of the line for pruning saws. I know I'll stock several of the Swiss Army knives most days and for my propagation class (held in the propagation season) I'll add a few Tina knives - including a few left handed models.

I don't have any stock yet and it will be a few weeks before I begin to have an inventory - I expect to carry a larger inventory when I am actively teaching the UCLA Backyard Food Production class and especially for the Propagation class where these are required tools.

If you have Felcos that need repair, cleaning/sharpening/broken parts replaced, give me a call or stop by The Learning Garden. I will give you a fair price and very good service. 

Starting from the left: Felco 2 - a good quality, somewhat ergonomic pruner, the Felco 6 the state-of-the-art ergonomic pruner for smaller hands, the Felco 7 with it's rotating handle (and probably overkill for most gardeners not pruning several hundred roses at a time), the Felco 8, like the 6, the standard state-of-the-art right handed pruner for larger hands,which has been my standard pruner for most of the last 25 years, the Felco 9 for southpaws and the Felco 13 for two-handed pruning - if you do a lot of pruning, think hard about adding a Felco 13 for those days of heavy work - an 8 on one's belt on the right side and the 13 on the left will do almost anything you could ask for without countless trips up and down the ladder! The final Felco on the right is an anvil pruner. I will not sell, nor recommend any anvil pruner. I am sure the Felco anvil pruner is well-made, but research shows the anvil style of pruners are much more likely to crush a plant stem while cutting it and they are difficult to make good cuts with because the 'anvil' is much bulkier than the hook of the bypass pruner.

And I can go on... I am very pleased to be able to offer these tools to the West Los Angeles gardening public. Stay tuned for more 'cutting edge' news...

david

FYI: Soil Mixes for Class Use

A delivery of  three cubic yards of compost at The Learning Garden is cause for celebration because we use it in all our garden beds as well as in our general use potting mix.  It must be screened by a fairly fine screen for the regular potting mix; an even finer screen is essential if one wishes to use compost for sowing seeds.

Basic Mix with Compost

2 parts Sifted Compost
2-4 parts Sphagnum Peat Moss
2 parts Perlite
3 parts sand
(Note: compost provides some basic nutrients for plants and should enable a few weeks growth without additional fertizlation.)

Cutting Potting Mix 1:1

1 part peat

1 part sharp sand

Seed Starting Mix 1:1

4 parts peat
4 parts vermiculite

david

Some Notes on Sexual and Asexual Propagation

Asexual propagation involves the use of seeds. You may use hybrid seed or open-pollinated seeds, once that variety has been in production for over 50 years, they are called heirloom seeds.

To sow seeds you will need a potting mix, a container and a watering device. Oh, and light.

Asexual propagation is any other way you can get ‘baby’ plants. Under this broad generalization, we include;

dividing bulbs

cuttings

air layering

division

To do these things, you need a spade (with a sharp edge), some knives, pruners, potting mix, a watering device, and, preferably some kind of root stimulant.

BY DIVISION

First Aid kit is on top of the refrigerator!

TOOLS: File, sharp spade or shovel

Pruners

Knife

Pruning saw

Organic fungicide = sulfur

Bulbs, Corms, Rhizomes and Tubers we have in the Garden you may work with include:

Iris all members of this family

Watsonia

Daffodils & freesia (later in the season – they are actively growing now)

Saffron crocus

Bamboo – several species

Most herbaceous perennials are easy to propagate by some form of division. Some common ones we can try in the Garden include:

Artichokes

Rhubarb

All chrysanthemums (including Shasta Daisy)

Cacti and succulents

The olive tree and western sycamore trees have sucker growth that might be propagated.

You may divide almost any plant in the Garden AFTER CHECKING WITH ME. If you divide the artichoke, rhubarb or any of the succulents, I want to be with you.

Pests and Diseases

Fungi

including Dampening off

Fungus gnats

david

Definitions and Terminology for Propagation

Buds on a named-variety of Ceanothus - all Ceanothus hybrids are propagated by cuttings; the hybrid can't be maintained any other way because the crosses aren't stable.

Apical dominance Apical dominance is phenomenon where the tip of the main trunk or branch bears the dominant meristem. The tip is apical meristem. This allows the convenience of the tip to grow fast and avoid being shadowed by branches. If the dominant meristem is removed, one of the nodes left on the branch or trunk will assume dominance, usually the topmost bud/node. 

Apical meristem The growing tip composed of completely undifferentiated meristematic tissue, these are the buds (nodes) and growing tips of roots in plants.

Asexual reproduction (also known as vegetative reproduction) Any reproduction in plants that does not involve meiosis or fertilization; there is only one parent contributing genetic material to the resulting offspring – they are, in effect, “cloned.”

Bud See node.

Callus The mass of parenchyma cells that develops from and around wounded plant tissues in order to diminish evaporation from the wound and initiate healing. In grafting it occurs at the junction of a graft union, arriving from living cells of both scion and stock. The production and interlocking of these parenchyma (or callus) cells constitute one of the important steps in the healing process of a successful graft.

Cambium A thin meristematic tissue of the plant located between the bark and the wood. Its cells are are capable of dividing and forming new cells. For a successful graft union, it is essential that the cambium of the scion be placed in close contact with the cambium of the stock.

Clone A population of genetically identical cells or individuals. Such a population is obtained by mitotic division or by asexual reproduction.

Distal The distal end of either the root or the shoot is that furthest from the stem-root junction of the plant and nearest to the tip of the shoot or root. Alt. proximal. See polarity.

Dormant/dormancy (buds) A bud which have stopped its development for a period due to unfavorable environmental conditions (e.g. a dry or cold season). A dormant bud will sprout as a response to improved growth conditions or a “biological clock” e.g. longer days.

Grafting The connection of two pieces of living plant tissue in such a manner that they will unite and subsequently grow and develop as one plant.

Grafting wax Substance applied on the graft union in order to minimize desiccation and exclude water access.

Graft union The site of the grafted plant where the scion and the root stock are united.

Hedging Trimming trees and keeping them low in order to overcome or bypass the poor rooting and often poor form of cuttings from old trees. Cuttings from hedged plants tend to maintain their young physiological age.

Hormone A substance that has a marked effect on a specific plant part and produces this effect when present in very low concentrations, e.g. promotion of root, shoot or flower development. Hormones are produced within the plant but artificial synthesized plant hormones applied to the plant part have the same effect.

Incompatibility (graft incompatibility) Inability of the stock and the scion to form or maintain a union that will result in the desired plant growth.

Meristem (meristematic tissue) This is tissue in all plants consisting of undifferentiated cells (meristematic cells) and found in zones of the plant where growth can take place. Grafting and cuttings rely on this phenomenon of plant physiology to achieve results.

Node The horticultural term for a point of the stem from which one or more leaves arise or can arise. In the mature stem the nodes are usually well separated by internodes which elongate during growth. Apical meristem is the botanical term. Nodes may be dormant and only visible as a slight swelling along a stem.

Scion An aerial plant part, often a branchlet, that is grafted onto the root bearing part (stock/root-stock) of another plant.

Sexual reproduction  Plants reproduce sexually in a number of ways, but for the purpose of this course where we are dealing with primarily higher (flowering) plants, sexual reproduction takes place through pollen from a male flower being transferred to the female flower and the resulting fertilization resulting in the growth of seeds with the following generation having genetic traits of both parents.

Strike Slang for a cutting that has rooted. Occasionally used as a verb for the act of making a cutting.

Stock/root stock The lower portion of the graft, which develops into the root system of the grafted plant. It may be a seedling, a rooted cutting or a layered plant.

Take A slang term for the phenomenon of the successful union of stock and scion and growth of the grafted plant.

david

Lecture Notes on Seed Starting

I.  Roll

II.  Soil mixing station; potting bench; where to find six-packs

III.  Seed morphology basics

      A. An embryonic plant enclosed in a hard coat

      B. Evolution of higher plants (the flowering plants/Angiosperms) – previous 'improvements' in evolution were the mosses and ferns and liverworts which do not have seeds but propagate by other means
     C. Parts of a seed

1. Outer covering – seed coat – may be so hard to require manipulation to allow seed to grow seed coat helps protect the embryo from mechanical injury and from drying out.
2. Source of nutrients for the new plant – may be stored in the first leaves or may be stored around the plant in an endosperm – cotyledons of peas and beans are swollen because they are the storage of nutrients for the new plant
3. Embryo – composed of the Hypocotyl, Radicle and cotyledons – the little plant

500. Dormancy – caused by many different factors, not usually a factor in most popular seeds because they have adapted to human sowing – wildflowers and CA natives are not adapted to human sowing and dormancy is the leading cause of madness among seed sowing.
     
     
     1. Not all seed germinates at the same time to insure survival of the species
     2. Delayed germination insures passage of seasons for seed to germinate at the most auspicious time
     3. Event – such as fire – may help species out-compete other plant species
     4. Steps to work around will be covered in later lecture
     
     
     
     
     
VI.  Seed starting – indoors, outdoors, A. Indoors – more control over seed environment B. Outdoors – essential for root crops and allows for a lack of a transplant setback     1.  Soil choices Constituents of potting soil – peat, vermiculite, perlite, forest fines (compost), sand     2.  Pot choices - paper, clay, plastic, found pots      3.  Seed choices – catalogs, specialty houses, collected,     4.  notes on wild collecting seed (1.)  Always get permission from the landowner before collecting seed. (2.)  Check laws and regulations before you collect seeds from city, state or national parks. (3.)  Properly identify the species (This is usually easiest to do when the plant is in bloom), and store it's seed separately from other seeds. Include notes on the growing conditions where you harvested the seeds. (4.)  Never collect more than a small percentage of the seed from a wild population (Once established, you will be able to get additional seeds from your own plants). If there are only a few plants of a particular species in an area, locate a commercial source of the desired plant. (5.)  Wildflowers may be very obvious while in bloom, but often by the time the seeds are mature, the plant will seem to disappear into the landscape. Never harvest seeds until they have ripened on the plant (after seed heads begin to brown but before seeds drop out). This usually takes at least a month. Do a little advance scouting and mark the location of desirable plants, so you can find them again at harvest time. (6.)  Do your homework, so you will know any special requirements for the seeds, such as chilling or extended dormancy. It would be pointless and wasteful to plant seeds which were unable to grow. D.  Seed sizes      Very tiny – lavender, poppy, alysum      Tiny – carrot/lettuce/Cruciferae      Medium – sweet pea, cotton      Large – fava bean on up to avocado

E. Tools to use in sowing seeds -
          tweezers           widget           Swiss Army Knife           spoons           packet

F. Stratification types
          hot water           fire           cold           alternating temperatures           filing           treated with acid

F. Upsizing plants
          pricking out           potting on           setting out into the ground

G. Sowing in the ground – carrots, radishes
H. Setting plants out – lettuce

V.  Practice

david