Dave, Most Penstemon root quite easily. I'm surprised that your September cuttings didn't take. I believe that Penstemon cutting do best in the fall when the weather starts to cool down. I only use course sand for striking their cuttings. They shouldn't dry up, but as Larry mentioned I wouldn't give up on them if the leaves fall off, although that isn't a good sign and are probly dead if the point starts to brown up. I'm not sure you should worry about what looks like powdery mildew (I can't imagine any on plants is Richland anyway!) nor would I cover them with anything to retain moisture. The sand/fine gravel should retain plenty of moisture until they develop roots. I do use Wood's hormone diluted 10:1, but not sure that is even necessary. No indole-3-butyric acid is needed! I take a fairly short cutting (3 or 4 inches depending on the size of the plant) remove most of the leaves and put them in the medium. I usually don't water in the cuttings until the next day so as to let the hormone sink in before that. Then place them in a shady place.
After saying that most Penstemon root easily, I must say that P. pinifolius is not one of them. I have resorted to cutting through adventurious stems in the spring and letting them alone until fall. Then I dig up the start and pot it up. If you have a stem of it that has already developed some root along it, you can put that in course sand WITHOUT any hormone and it should take off. Jay Lunn USDA Zone 8 Hillsboro, Oregon U.S.A. _______________________________________________ Alpine-l mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.science.uu.nl/mailman/listinfo/alpine-l
