This June Kat Traill from Landcare Tasmania met with Ruth Mollison of Island Seeds who shared her expertise on collecting saltbush cuttings!
Ruth Mollison from Island Seeds demonstrates how to begin the process of growing saltbush from cuttings.
“Some natives are easier to grow from cuttings than seeds, saltbush is one of those.” says Ruth.
“You can actually use the tips and fry them up and eat them.”
Ruth shows us how to choose the best semi-hardwood cuttings with shoots, best for replanting.
To propagate, Ruth uses small punnets and fills them with a mix of potting mix with gravel.
“You can see that it’s a very free-draining mix which is best for cuttings”
“You can do 50% potting mix, 50% gravel – its propagation sand”
Ruth demonstrates the ‘heel cut-in’ and ‘haircut’ methods of trimming prior to planting.
“People always tend to do their cuttings too big”
When planting cuttings, they like to be next each other. Cuttings potted alone in a pot don’t do so well, says Ruth!
Ruth creates a mini greenhouse for propagating the saltbush cuttings. In about 8 weeks, the roots should be developing extensively. Ruth shows us the ideal thickness of the developed root stems before planting!
Many thanks to Island Seeds and Landcare Tasmania for this informative session with Ruth!
We are also excited to announce that Ruth will start seed training workshops for Landcare members in southern Tasmania later this year as part of our Community Training Events project funded by the Australian Government's Community Envirnonment Program that is supported by MP Julie Collins in Franklin.
You can register your interest in upcoming workshops here:
Keep your eyes on Landcare Tasmania's Facebook and Instagram for more practical videos on making cuttings for propogating, and setting up your own herbarium.
Photos and video by Kat Traill for Landcare Tasmania
