[rwinsouthla]

Yep.....closet cloner. I'm too cheap to go buy the stuff myself. I love going to people's gardens and seeing their cool stuff. I get some cuttings and bring them home. I have a mist system set up for my tomato seedlings so when the maters are in the ground, the cuttings go in for rooting. Here is a super cool website that has EVERY imaginable method of propogating flowers, shrubs, trees, bulbs, and anything else. www.landspro.com

As for the pH adjustment, lime (relatively inexpensive) will raise the pH of water rather easily. If you don't have lime, limestone from a driveway will do the same, only slower. As far as pH reduction, composted oak leaves and/or pinestraw is low in pH. Make a "tea" with the composted leaves or pinestraw and the pH should be about 5-6. Not sure what "safe" chemical is readily available for pH reduction but the leaves and pinestraw work well.

 

[rwinsouthla]

Wilderness.....you're a genious. Something as simple as vinegar. I wish I had thought of it.

 

[rwinsouthla]

I'd like to salvage some elderly heirloom pear & peach trees. Can they be cloned, or would I be forced to graft them?

Look on the bottom of the tree to see if it was grafted to begin with. Don't know for sure, but my gut tells me you may need to graft it onto another rootstock. You can definitely clone the tree but whether or not it will produce fruit I don't know.

 

[rwinsouthla]

Has anyone ever tried "layering" for propogating woody shrubs, trees, etc? that is my next adventure.

I am an avid cloner. I have a 50 spot gro-cloner. I only have a couple of acres here but my garden would have cost so much more without that cloner.

With my gro-cloner I can root a new plant in about 7 days.

Yes. Works well and low labor. I do azaleas, indian hawthorne, crepe myrtles, gardenias, lantana, and verbena. Most do well and it is almost fool-proof. I pull the branch down, scrape away a little of the bark and put that scratched part on the dirt. Put a brick on it and walk away for about 6 months. May work a little better with a stack of leaves on top to keep it moist there.

 

[rwinsouthla]

Actually Zebraman there is a technique that propogates while still attached to the original stock plant. I will make a point of finding it online some place and posting it here. The name of the technique is just not coming to me at the moment.

If I understand correctly grafting is taking one plant and "attaching" it to root stock that will grow better in a particular environment.

I will find it and post it here tomorrow hopefully

www.freeplants.com enter his site. Look on the left side and scroll down. Could it be budding? Grafting is mentioned there too but I think it may be budding. His site is a bit annoying with all of the "buy this" and "buy that" around but lots of good info.