About Us
A PASSION FOR PROPAGATING HOLLIES
By Carmen A. Gianforte
My passion for propagating hollies started shortly after attending my first Holly Society meeting in 1954. We lived in Baltimore, Maryland, in a two-story house. Remember those big old houses that had a front porch that went from one end of the house to the other? My Dad had the area under the front porch dug out and then installed propagating benches for me. Over time, I added heating cables, irrigation, and fluorescent lights operated on timers.
The technique I’m currently using starts with installing heating cables that are set to maintain a propagating medium temperature of 70 °F (21 °C). The mist system is set to turn on for 6 seconds every 10 minutes for 12 hours a day. This frequency is required to deal with the high rate of transpiration of water from the new cuttings. After the cuttings have developed good root systems the misting is reduced to 6 seconds every 30 minutes. Later, the timing is reduced to 6 seconds every hour. The propagating medium that I use consists of 50% peat moss and 50% Perlite. This mixture is used in peat pots measuring about 2 sq. in. (5 cm2). I put 50 cuttings in a standard 10 in. (25 × 51 cm) tray. I apply Hormodin #3 on all cuttings.
If you haven’t tried propagating you should—it is great fun.
“The photo on the left was taken in 1956 when I was 15 years old.
The photo on the right was taken just recently in my greenhouse.
You might notice that I have a little more gray hair, a little bigger
waistline, and the saddle shoes are gone.”
Photos from Carmen Gianforte.
Download Propagation Results For 2013
