Day 9: plant love

Plant propagation is the process of creating new plants. Every plant reproduces in 2 ways: sexually and asexuality. Here's the deal:

Sexual Propagation	Asexual/Vegetative Propagation
Reproduction through seeds, which allows for 2 things: genetic diversity plants to adapt/evolve to particular climate Most fruits and flowers reproduce sexually	Reproduction without seeds, creating plant exactly like the parent plant Also referred to as Vegetative Propagation, because vegetables produce in this way Different types of vegetative propagation, including grafting, budding, cuttings, and many more

We learned about all the different ways vegetative propagation occurs, including cuttings, grafting, and budding. Cutting involves cutting a part of the parent plant, then planting it in soil. When the severed piece of the parent plant is planted in soil, it sprouts roots from the nodes, the part of the stem from which leaves, branches, and/or flowers normally grow. Once planted, the plant regenerates itself, forming a whole new plant.

Cutting sweet potato stems. It's ideal to use clippers or a knife, as this reduces damage to the plant.

Rule of Thumb: cut at every 6 nodes, which is about the length of the starter pots.

Planting cut sweet potatoes in starter pots. Yay for propagation!

I also want to share a wonderful sentence spoken by a participant of the Green Apprenticeship program when talking about permaculture. Along with sustainability and permaculture, I think it applies to just about any endeavor in life: "It's not an intellectual process, it's an experimental process."