Protea is a classifiable flora with strong , blockheaded stems and shiny , glum light-green leaves and a few prominent , colorful flowers in colors ranging from ivory to brilliant red . Most protea will bring out 10 or few flower each season , but occasionally a plant will send out up to 40 blooms . Protea thrives in misfortunate soil and is often the first plant to emerge after a fire . fill stem cutting from protea can be challenge because of the thickness of the prow , but it ’s the practiced direction to distribute this unusual plant .
Step 1
Fill a planting container with good - calibre commercial-grade potting dirt , or a mixture of half sand and half peat moss . If you ’re planting one or two cut , a 2- to 3 - inch commode is big enough , but if you plan to take root several slip , you ’ll need a larger pot . Any case pot with good drainage will do .
Step 2
Locate a healthy shoot growing from the protea ’s independent stem , and snip off a piece of stem about 3 to 4 inches long . Make the cut below a leaf lymph node , which is a bump where a newfangled leaf will come out from the stalk . Remove the stem from the low-toned half of the cutting .
Step 3
Make a half - column inch wound on the side of the cut destruction of the stem by peeling off a thin layer of the outer skin . This is where the new ontogenesis will come . Dip the end of the stem in root hormone and hold it there for about four moment .
Step 4
Create a jam in the potting soil with a pencil , and plant the cutting up to the base of the rest leaves . Do n’t have the leave rival the territory , and do n’t rub off too much of the root internal secretion as you plant .
Step 5
Mist the soil with a atomiser bottle until the filth is damp cleared through . Put the press cutting in a fictile bag , and put a few post in the soil to hold the plastic away from the cutting . Seal the moldable bag and put the container in smart luminosity , where the temperature stays always around 75 academic degree . Avoid set the container in a windowpane , because the magnified sun will burn the cutting .
Step 6
Loosen the plastic and spray the soil whenever it seems to be dry out out . Although humidity is important , do n’t overdo , because overwatering can do rot and disease .
Step 7
Check the bottom of the container for the appearance of roots after about a month . If root have n’t appear , jibe the container every two weeks . It can take several week for a protea to root .
Step 8
Remove the protea from the plastic bag once it has roots at least an column inch long . The modulation from a humid environs to a drier one should be made step by step . The first few day , just start the bag slightly , then gradually open it up more . After at least a week of gradual acclimation , dispatch the container from the bag .
Step 9
go along to keep the grease damp until the undermentioned spring , when it will be ready to plant outside . Repot the industrial plant in a larger container if the roots get too crowded or the plant outgrows its raft .
