watering container plants

[FroggyBV]

Greetings...
New to forum, and fairly new to trying to start container and basket plants from cuttings. Wish to stop having to buy new baskets and potted plants from nusery every spring, such as fuchsia, lantana, blue fan, etc.

I am having very good success rooting clippings, but have a very basic concern about maintaining those new little plants thru the winter in my small green house. I read many comments about "over watering" pots with new small plants, causing root rot, etc. My past experience and belief has been that a pot with non-compacted soil and plenty of clear, open drainage holes will allow excess water to drain away after the soil is sufficently wet.

Can WELL DRAINED pot STILL be too soggy??

Thanks for any comments from those with experience rooting and maintaining plants from clippings.
FroggyBV

[PlantLady62]

I admire you for growing your plants from cuttings - it's fun and you know exactly what you're getting. I grow many plants from cuttings in my greenhouse during winter. Sometimes I make mini-greenhouses for each pot, with a clear cup on top to trap moisture, but I have found that they do just as well without it. I'm really bad about lifting the cups to test for rooting and letting all the moisture escape, so lately I have been leaving off the cups, and they seem to do just as well if I am vigilant. I use Rootone, or a similar product, and use a mixture of perlite with a soiless potting mix. I have known some people to use only Perlite, but I tried it, and it dried out too much, and it was hard for me to detect the moisture level with something that is white. I try to be vigilant about giving the leaves a spray of water each day. I think if you use perlite or sand with the soil-less mixture, your drainage should be adequate. The perlite/soil seems to stay moist after the initial watering in, and I only moisten the leaves after that. Of course, the mixture gets a little water at the same time, which seems to be just enough to keep it from drying out or being saturated. I don't know if you've ever tried this or not, but I always keep some containers of willow water on my greenhouse benches. You would be amazed at how quickly SOME plants root when they are put into the willow water. Not everything works, of course, but it's fun to experiment and find out what does.

[david eugene]

growing your plants from cuttings - it's fun and you know exactly what you're getting.

Couldn't agree more..