Propagating Pink Heather

Seed

• If you’re seeking a plant identical to the parent plant, propagation by seed is a bit of a gamble. You may end up with a plant that doesn’t resemble the parent in any way or one that is quite similar. Fire or smoke helps break the pink heather seed’s dormancy so, short of lighting the planting pot on fire, using liquid smoke flavoring is the easiest way to accomplish this. Use 1 part of smoke flavoring to 9 parts of water to make a soaking solution and allow the pink heather seeds to sit in the solution until they swell. Plant the seeds in a pot of sterile seed starting mix, barely covering them with the mix and allow them to germinate in a shady area. Keep the mix moist at all times and the seeds will germinate within six months.

Layering

• Layering the pink heather and taking cuttings will allow you to clone the plant, giving you an offspring identical to the parent. Choose a branch or stem from the outside of the pink heather and dig a 4-inch hole in the soil directly beneath it. Carefully bend the stem down and into the hole and bring the tip back up to the surface, so that 6 inches of the stem is exposed. The stem portion in the hole should be bent in a “U” shape and pinned to the bottom of the hole with a 6 inch long wire hook. Fill the hole with a mixture of peat moss and sand and pack it well with your hands. Water the area slowly to ensure the buried stem makes contact with the soil.

Cuttings

• Choose a non-flowering pink heather stem that is firm and just beginning to turn woody – typically found in late summer. Pull the stem outward and down sharply, so that a small piece of bark comes with the stem. This is known as a heel cutting. Stick the cutting in a pot filled with a mixture of three parts of sphagnum moss peat moss and one part of horticultural perlite, moistened. Slide the potted cutting into a plastic bag, seal it and place it in light shade. Ensure that the pot won’t be in direct sun at any point during the day. The cutting may take several months to root, so check it periodically to ensure that there is condensation on the inside of the plastic bag and watering the planting medium if there isn’t.

Considerations

• After the cuttings root, open the bag for one hour but leave the pot inside. Seal it back up and repeat the process over the course of one week, adding one additional hour each day. This allows the pink heather cutting to gradually acclimate to dryer air. Keep the soil slightly moist at all times, but wait until early spring to plant cuttings and seedlings into the landscape.