26/03/13

Weather:
Light variable winds 2-11kph
0.0mm rain
high 18C low 12C

Practical work:
 Today I undertook to propagate, from cuttings, fifty satinwood Phebalium squameum 'Illumination'.
  This species is:

• evergreen
•  fast growing
• Australian.
• requires free draining soils.
•  very hardy.
•  wind tolerant.
•  great for shelter.

I removed 50+ branchlets, pruning to the remaining node, from a stock shrub within L-block.
I took them to the potting shed where I had prepared a tray containing a 50/50 mix of sharp sand and peat.
I trimmed each to approx 7cm in length, removed 50% of the foliage and trimmed the lower half of remaining foliage to reduce transpiration.
I placed them in pre-made, evenly spaced holes in the medium ensuring each cutting has room to breathe. Then I "firmed" them in to ensure stability and good contact between the medium and the cutting.
Now they will be left to "root" on the heated misting bed in the tunnel house.