Q.Growing Proteas In Pots And From Cuttings
Hi there, Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, I now live in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands chain. I have been trying to grow proteas for many years and have almost always failed. Recently I was able to get a few cuttings and have managed this far to keep them alive in pots. They have now reached the size you see in the attached photos. The soil is well-drained and I made a mix for these consisting of more or less equal parts: 1. Soil for orchids (PH 6.4) 2. Soil for carnivorous plants (PH 4.6) 3. Soil for Acid loving plants (PH 5.2) 4. Pícon (volcanic ash/stone pumice) The mix contains mostly Peat moss, Pine bark and coco fibre. I water them about once a week but the water quickly drains away. How long will they be able to stay in these pots? At what point will I need to move them to bigger pots? We don’t have slow release fertiliser for Proteas available here so do I need to give them some sort of kelp or blood meal at some point? And finally a second question: I received some cut protea flowers from a visiting friend and I was wondering if there is any way I could save these? By ’save’ I mean turn them into a cutting for planting? These have long stems and I noticed quite a few buds below the flowering head. I had a look online and there are many pages with advice on how to grow Proteas from cuttings but they are mostly about ’soft wood’ cuttings. Is there any possibility of prepping these cut flowers for planting? I’ve used cinnamon on cut stalks before with some success but never with Proteas. Regards, Paul
Certified GKH Gardening Expert
There are several things to address, here. That soil composition will not support potatoes, or many food crops for that matter, unfortunately. I would use a mix of compost and potting soil for the best, and easiest results.
Otherwise, you can mix well composted materials into your own native soils to achieve a well balanced soil.
For potatoes, these articles will help you:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/potato
As far as rooting a flower... Flowering hormone inhibits rooting hormone. With this being said, there is likely no rooting hormone present within the plant, and with flowering hormone present... It would not likely make a difference, since it would inhibit the affects of rooting hormone.
@BushDoctor I was asking about growing PROTEAS not POTATOES ;-).
BUT thanks for the info.
(I did upload some photos to my post but they obviously failed to load).
