Maize cuttings

I promised a blogpost on how to grow maize cuttings. It'll be a short one, since it isn't that complicated.

The first try with maize was to sprout them in the classical way (put them in a jar, rince them with water a few times a day and wait until the sprouts have become large enough to be tasty). Worked well, and the taste was moderately bitter with a curiously sweet aftertaste. The problem was the the most of the seeds were left, and they were hard as stones. Perhaps I could have boiled the sprouts in some sort of warm dish, but I chose to try out the next batch as cuttings instead.

Since cuttings are supposed to be watered from below I built four selfwatering containers out of IKEA plastic boxes (SAMLA). In this way I could use the space on the windowsill better, but any selfwatering container or system to water plants from the rootlevel will do. Then I put the maize seeds in water for in between six to twenty four hours (I don't remember the exact time) to speed up the growing process. This worked well, I could see tiny sprouts through the shells of the seeds when I sowed them in the containers. An advice in a swedish gardening magazine (Allt om Trädgård #6) made me cover them with sand instead of soil.

Twenty liters (~8 USgallons) of sand is heavy, btw. My fight to lift the leftover sandbag, leftover since I made balcony sandboxes for my son, should be written about in epic songs. Of course I didn't use all of it this time.

The seedlings were above soil withing fourtyeight hours. This may be because of me soaking them beforehand, but it may also be because I bought them as "popcorn" in the local mall. Commersial growers tend to favourise fast growing crops. Whatever the reason I could cut myself a healthy sallad within seven days. The bitterness as well as the sweet aftertaste was milder, all in all the cuttings were very much edible.

Finally some space for the roots

Took me two and a half day to get it done, and it was worth it. All my soil is sterilized, I've mixed some new potting soil and the bonsai tomatoes has got new homes. Four cuttings from the old tomato plants keep them company - I hope that at least one of the methods will be successfull.

I got the tip about taking cuttings from tomatoes from the Swedish seed preservation society "Föreningen Sesam" (link in swedish only, sorry). Since I'm convinced that tomatoes are among those species that can handle most mistakes and are friendly to newbees I decided to give it a try. I haven't used cutting as a method often so I followed a rough basic plan. First I cut a good looking twig (healthy green leaves, perhaps flowers but not fruits) taking more rows of leaves than I needed above surface. The I cut away the lowest leaves from the stem - if I'm correct new roots will sprouts from the leafe joints - and put the 'deleafed' part into the soil. To finish I packed the soil gently around the stem and then put a plastic bag with a cut off corner over the plant. Now I'll leave everything alone to allow the plants to settle.

The bags you see on the picture are protective packing I saved from those glossy magazines I've subscribed to (and some free ones that are sent to me weather I like it or not). They are pretty sturdy and I don't have the heart to throw good stuff away. Since I don't put food in them (who knows what they put in printing colours these days) I've despared over my rapidly filling drawers. Finally I've found a use for the bags!

Avatar of Roses cuttings, report #1

I don't know if the photo captures it, but the jars with fertilizers have slightly muckier water than the one without.

And that's about it.

I was hoping for greener leaves, and perhaps one or two roots. But the only thing happening seems to be that I have to change water more often. And I procrastinate that. I bet I wake up some day only to find two jars with dark green goo with a brown stump stuck into it.

I could by some hormones to speed up the rooting process, but I'm not happy about that. Since I have troubbles with my own hormones I do know how much that can go wrong.

At a second thought... [leaving the computer]

Now I've cleaned the jars. Wasn't that hard.

Interestingly enough the cutting in fresh water seems to be more healthy than those with added fertilizer. I have to take a closer look at fertilizing, maybe I'm overfeeding my babies? Well, if one of them survives I'm happy. Scented geraniums are good for flavouring sponge cakes.