 Rooting
cuttings in water is a good way to introduce younger children to propagation.
Taking cuttings from living plants and watching them grow roots before
their eyes is one way for children to learn about propagation and the importance
of roots to a plant.
It's as simple as cutting off a piece of plant
and sticking it in water. The cutting should be taken just below
a leaf joint as this is the optimum area for root production. If you take
the cutting in between leaf joints die back and rot will occur up to the
leaf joint. Remove all buds and blooms.
Plants that root well in water include: Basil,
begonias, impatiens, philodendron, Pothos, Plectranthus, Peperomia, Coleus,
ivies (grape, English, Boston, etc.), wandering Jew and mint (pineapple,
chocolate). There are many more but this will get you
started. This
first grader is painstakingly pinching off flower buds from an impatiens
cutting in preparation for rooting it. It is especially hard to do
this with impatients with their vibrant healthy looking blooms. However,
if you do not, they will fall off and make a mess all over the windowsill.
New buds form quickly and within a few days they will show their cheery
colors again. Explain to the children that we remove the flowers
and buds so the plants can put their energy into forming new roots.
A
few weeks later the cuttings have produced new roots are planted in a container
where they will spend the rest of the winter on a window sill in the classroom.
In the spring we plant then in the school gardens once again.
Mrs. Wind is assisting her first grade students with planting the cuttings
for their classroom.
Ask Granny for the location of these and other
plants in the gardens that are good for taking cuttings.
Chocolate Mint and pineapple mint
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Click on phot to enlarge
Purple Heart (setcreasea)
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Arrowhead will live in water
indefinitely.
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Begonia will continue to bloom while rooting in water.
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