We begin rooting our cuttings in early July when the new growth from spring on the parent plants has hardened off. As can be seen from the picture below, the cuttings are placed in a pint plastic cup which is approximately 3 in. deep. This plant has been in the cup for a year and has filled out well. The white hair roots, barely seen at the bottom, are evidence of a healthy plant. Dark brown or black roots result from over-watering.
A tray which holds 15 of the plastic cups can be seen in the photo below. These trays are molded to hold the cups in a 3 x 5 pattern.
The trays themselves are placed in beds approximately 5 ft. wide with an aisle between them. The beds shown below contain 1500 - 2000 plants. Because of the close proximity of the plants to each other, they cannot stay in these beds more than a year or so before they have to be moved or potted up into larger pots.
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