Propagating and Cloning Impatiens – A-Grade Hydroponics
Impatiens come in all shapes and sizes, they are a vigorous growing flowering plant. Flowers that form on impatiens plants are truly stunning, and come in a multitude of colours and sizes.
The flowers are comparable to that of the orchid, they are part of a genus of 1000 or more flowering species, truly breathtaking to look at, honestly I could stare at them all day when they bloom, a captivating flower.
Botanically, the flowers are comprised of 5 petals and have between 3-5 sepals, with the lowest sepal elongated into a spur in most varieties, petals unite in pairs which then laterally form what seems to be a singular petal.
The leaves (phyllotaxy) are ovate to lanceolate that form serrated edges, colour usually represents plant health so vibrant green is the most desirable.
How to take cuttings?
Impatiens like many other plants form growth nodes, the key is not to take cuttings too early, 8-12cm sized cuttings seem to be the ideal size from my experience, in this particular how-to I use Grodan rockwool propagation cubes and they rooted faster than anything I’ve tried, so below I’ll do the step by step methodology and include photos to help with the process:
Step 1
Prepare 1L of water in a jug and add approx. 1ml p/L of Hy-Gen Humiboosta
Step 2
Soak grow cubes in the 1L solution
Step 3
Place soaked grow cubes on the base of your propagation tray or dome
Step 4
Remove as many cuttings from a nice sized plant, see pic
Step 5
Carefully removes excess branching and leaf matter to help form a clear stem then insert into grow cube
Step 6
Place your cutting into your soaked Grodan rockwool cubes and place inside a propagation dome. Placing a lid on propagation dome will raise humidity to 100%, rooting will be prolific and they will actually root into the moist air of the environment and the cube if the conditions are right. See pic
Once you have spawned roots, it is now time to transplant your cube and cutting into a medium and pot. You should now have a new healthy Impatiens plant! See above
And there it is, nice and easy way to propagate and clone the beautiful Impatiens plant. Be sure to make lots of cutting and you’ll have colour popping out everywhere!
#growwithus
