Most Mums can take the cold
By Jeff Rugg / Copley News Service

Q: I bought some healthy mums in pots right after Thanksgiving. Can I plant them outside now, or should I keep them in my house? Should I water and feed them or keep them in the pots in my garage and let them go dormant until spring? I'm hoping they'll survive somehow.

A: Chrysanthemums are often sold in the fall just as they are blooming. They make colorful displays just as most garden plants are losing all their flowers. They are usually grown as perennials that die back to the roots for the winter and go dormant.

There are many varieties of mums that are very cold tolerant, but some are not. Most of the fancy flowered florist mums are not cold tolerant and although they can be planted in the spring and make nice summer and fall plants, they won't survive the winter in the northern half of the states. In southern states they might make it, depending on the severity of the winter. Most mums sold in the fall as landscape plants will survive a year or two in the landscape. Cut the top off and plant the root system. Mulch over it to protect the crown of the plant and wait and see.

Even though they might do well as a house plant for many months, I doubt they will survive indoors in most homes until spring. If you don't have a place to plant them outside and want to continue growing them in the pots next year, you can try the garage. Let them get cold but not too much below freezing. The roots can tolerate frozen soil, but not really cold temperatures. Keep the soil damp by occasionally adding some water or snow to the pot.

Q: My father-in-law has lovingly agreed to give me an offshoot of his grapevine. When would be the best time to cut it off and plant it? I thought maybe cut it in cold winter and store it until spring, but I don't know if it would just dry up and die.

A: You have perfect timing with your question. If you mean that the vine has more than one set of stems coming up from their own roots, go ahead and dig it up and transplant it as soon as you can before the ground is frozen. If the ground is already too cold, wait until spring to dig it up.

Most grape varieties root easily from dormant hardwood cuttings. From anytime after the leaves fall off until new growth starts in the spring, select pencil diameter stems that grew this past summer. Cut off pieces about 1 foot long that have three sets of buds. Cut the stick off at an angle just below the bud closest to the trunk and cut the stick off straight across just above the top set of buds. That way you can cut off several from one longer piece and know which end is up and which is down. You need to try several, since they may not all root very well. Rooting hormones is not particularly successful with helping grapes root, so don't bother with them.

Select stems to cut that are plump, not shriveled and from sunny plants, not those in the shade that will have less stored nutrients. The sooner they are cut off, the less winter they will have gone through and the less possible winter weather damage they may have incurred.

You can place the cuttings in damp sand or peat moss in a plastic bag in the refrigerator and store them at 30 to 40 degrees until spring.

Plant them in the spring by burying them in a trench so only the top pair of buds is sticking up higher than the soil by about 2 inches. The top bud is the one that was originally growing farthest from the roots of the plant. It has the straight cut just above it. They must stay damp, but not soggy. The ones that grow can be moved to a new location the second spring.

Indoor propagation is even easier. Do all the same cutting work and instead of storing them in the refrigerator, you can plant them in a pot.

Find a pot that will allow the cutting to be 2 inches off the bottom and stick up over the top by 2 inches. Add 2 inches of potting soil to the pot. Lean the cuttings around the outside of the pot on top of the soil. Keep them about 2 inches apart. Fill the pot so the top of the cutting is sticking up 2 inches above the soil. Dampen the soil and let it drain for a few minutes. Place a plastic bag over the pot and saucer and seal it up. Place it in a bright light area where it will not get any direct sunshine. Don't let the soil dry out.

When the top stem has grown at least five leaves, it can be removed from the pot and moved to its own pot or planted outside if the weather is warm. If moved to its own pot, it may have a 5-foot-long stem by the middle of summer.

This method allows you about a one year head start on the other method. In either case, when the plant is moved into the final planting location, cut off any flowers that are produced the first season in the ground. The plant will become better established in the ground before producing fruit and it will be stronger in the future.

Many trees and shrubs can also be grown from dormant hardwood cuttings by using these methods. Most deciduous trees will do better following the cold storage method. Rooting hormones do increase the chances of rooting on many of these species.

This method of cloning works because the two sets of lower buds that are placed in the dark, damp growing conditions of the soil, will often produce roots instead of stems. The scar tissue that forms over the cut end will also often produce roots. The long section of stem between buds usually does not produce roots, so it is cut off and thrown out. Some soft stemmed plants like tomatoes do produce roots from along the sides of the stems.

E-mail questions to Jeff Rugg at info@greenerview.com.