The solstice; the shortest daylight of the year and the official beginning of three months of winter.
And I am already longing for spring.
My green thumb is itchy but it is too early to start garden seedlings. However, it is the perfect time to try to propagate blueberry cuttings.
We planted six blueberry plants in the spring of 2018. We'd love more but this year we also need to buy grapes and raspberries, strawberries and asparagus. The budget is not going to stretch far enough for everything I'd love to have so I'm going an alternative route.
Blueberries, according to the internet, can be multiplied by either softwood cutting (spring new growth) or hardwood cuttings from dormant plants.
My thermometer is reading 10 degrees and there is a foot of snow on the ground. Those blueberries are about as dormant as they're gonna get, so hardwood cuttings it is.
The procedure is simple. Cut a "whip" about a foot long or longer from last year's growth. Divide it into 3 or 4 sections, including at least one leaf bud (pick off any flower buds--larger buds found at the top of the cutting) and put in damp growing medium. Keep moist and cross your fingers that the cuttings root in a month or more.
The reality was a bit more complicated. Finding potting mix in late December in upstate NY took a bit of doing. I prefer organic mixes but had to settle for Miracle Gro and was lucky to find that.
Then I had to locate my pruning shears in the shed. I somehow managed to lose the shears I have had for years but did replace them last month and they were...shocked face here... exactly where they were supposed to be.
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| Wellies should be in everyone's top ten list of necessary garden tools. |
Tromped out to the blueberries, thanks to my wellies, and cut my whip.
Full and slightly embarrassing disclosure: I have no idea what variety I cut this from. I keep a garden diary with diagrams of plantings but, for some reason, didn't label the blueberries. They still have their tags around their trunks but we won't see those until spring.
Brought whip inside, cut it into 3 pieces, and plunged them into the prepared pots. Try to contain your envy of my free, reusable, just-the-right-size, growing pots housed in the gleaned-from-my-neighbor's-trashpile, handy, dandy dishpan.
Now it is waiting. For roots, for leaves, for spring. Happy Solstice, everyone!
