Can you grow sweet alyssum from cuttings?
These flowers are incredibly vigorous and flourish throughout the whole growing season. Unfortunately, this type of Sweet alyssum is not drought-tolerant. Plus, its flowers are sterile and can't produce seeds. The only way to grow them is from cuttings.
Propagating Sweet Alyssum
It proliferates from seed. You can start the seeds indoors before the last frost and transplant them outdoors after the threat of frost has passed. Alyssum is somewhat frost-tolerant once established, but tender transplants are not hardy enough for frost.
Plants may reseed, but will likely revert to white flowered types on less compact plants than coming back similar to the cultivar planted. This low, spreading plant looks nice spilling out along a walkway. Alyssum is used as a bedding plant in annual or mixed borders and in containers.
Will alyssum come back? The answer is yes in most garden zones. Once the tiny flowers are spent, they will release seeds right back in to the ground. The easiest way to assure they reseed themselves is to do nothing when they die back.
Can you grow sweet alyssum in a container? You bet you can. In fact, sweet alyssum's trailing, creeping habit makes it perfect for growing in a container, hanging basket, or window box.
To overwinter alyssum, either cut it down in winter, cover it with frost cloth, or take containers inside. For those non-heat resistant varieties, provide a shade cloth in summer.
Both alyssum and creeping phlox are low-growing, flowering plants. The common name, “alyssum,” however, can refer to more than one kind of plant. Sweet alyssum, usually grown as an annual, has the botanical name Lobularia maritimum. It belongs to the Brassicaceae plant family.
- Select young, vigorous pencil thick roots, about the thickness of a pencil, and cut them off close to the crown with a sharp knife or secateurs.
- Remove no more than one-third of the root system from the parent plant, and replant the parent plant as soon as possible.
Deadhead the plants to encourage growth.
Deadheading the spent flowers will help the plant continue to bloom. The plant can re-seed and self-sow quickly, so while it may look like sweet alyssum is constantly blooming, it's likely new growth flowering.
Lobularia maritima (Sweet Alyssum) is listed in the Invasive Plant Atlas of the United States. According to the U.S Forest Service, Invasive species have contributed to the decline of 42% of U.S. endangered and threatened species, and for 18% of U.S. endangered or threatened species.
Will sweet alyssum survive winter?
Protecting Alyssum in Winter
Annual-grown Alyssum does not require any winter protection. The plants will die back with the first frost of the fall. They can then be composted or thrown away. The cooler fall weather will spur the plants into another flush of vigorous growth in the zones where Alyssum is perennial.
Alyssum plants do not require deadheading but can benefit from cutting them back to about half after the first flowering. This will produce a fuller plant as the season's progress. You may want to leave some flowers intact to go to seed because alyssum will self-sow and produce more plants.
Alyssum will grow leggy if it's given inadequate sunlight, or if you don't cut it back. Photo by Allison Sidhu. It prefers to be placed in an area with well-draining soil, but only needs extra watering the hottest and most dry periods of the summer.
In cold-winter areas, plant after all danger of frost has passed in the spring. Most varieties will bloom through fall. In mild winter areas, plant during the fall and winter for blooms until it gets hot in the summer.
The need for good air circulation makes sweet alyssum perfect for growing in hanging baskets and large, upright containers. It doesn't love being crowded in a garden bed with other plants. Wind dries out plants growing in containers fairly quickly, so check your plants often to make sure they aren't drying out.
Alyssum is non-toxic to dogs and non-toxic to cats.
Alyssum can tolerate temperatures as low as 28 degrees Fahrenheit, and the plants will do well in a temperature range of 50–60 degrees Fahrenheit.
Alyssum is not a plant that takes to dividing well. The best way to propagate it is to allow the plants to self-seed or save the seed so that the plant can be started indoors for the following spring. Alyssum will seed heavily in most growing zones.
Alyssum is easy to grow and is often still in bloom, well through the fall months—plants are usually among the last to remain in bloom! Once it's established in the garden, sweet alyssum is a hardy annual that will tolerate the first light frosts of fall. It's often one of the last plants blooming in my garden.
This enjoyable bloom boasts a fragrant scent and a serene, spiritual energy, which is said to provide an emotional balance in the home or office. Asides from symbolising beauty, the Sweet Alyssum is said to protect an individual from heated encounters.
How do you grow alyssum indoors?
If starting indoors, use a sterilized seed starting mix and maintain a soil temperature of 12-21°F (55-70°F) under bright lights. The seeds require light to germinate, so do not cover them. They should sprout in 5-14 days. Transplant 20-30cm (8-12″) apart once all risk of frost has passed.
Extremely heat tolerant, it is noted for its spreading, mounding and cascading habit.
Alyssum flowers can be planted right along with chards and kale. The roots of these leafy crops dig deep into the soil, while Alyssum roots are shallow and fibrous. This means the two crops can share soil space without competing for nutrients.
You can put cuttings straight into soil as long as you have prepared them correctly. 'Cut under a node at the bottom and above a node at the top,' says Chick-Seward. You must also remove the lower leaves, leaving only two or three at the top.
Some plants will root in water, but cuttings will develop a better root system when rooted in a soil-less potting mix. Sand or perlite can also be used, especially for cuttings that need good drainage and may rot if kept too wet.
Stem cuttings can be taken from both herbaceous plants (e.g., garden flowers and houseplants) and woody trees and shrubs. Because the new growth of trees and shrubs hardens as the summer progresses, cuttings taken at different times of the year vary in their ability to form roots.
You should always cut just above a node, as this prevents 'die back' and therefore disease. Also, by cutting above a node you can manipulate new stems, leaves or flowers to form in a desired direction, as nodes form on different sides of a stem.
Add a Pothos! I'd heard of using willow as a natural rooting hormone, but didn't know Pothos has this 'super power' too. Just pop a Pothos cutting in with the water with your slow-to-grow cuttings and it helps speed up root development.
Be sure to add fresh water as needed until the cuttings are fully rooted. Rooting will generally occur in 3-4 weeks but some plants will take longer. When the roots are 1-2 inches long or longer the cutting is ready to be potted up.
Cut back the top of the plants by one-half of their height, using small shears. Beneath the leggy stems lusher, greener foliage grows. Pruning back to the green foliage encourages more flowering.
Does sweet alyssum like sun or shade?
Sweet alyssum flowers best with at least six hours of full sun, but can tolerate partial shade. In warmer climates, plants perform best with protection from hot afternoon sun.
Sweet alyssum flowers attract beneficial insects which then move on to other plants in the vicinity. Having sweet alyssum as a food source could help to enlarge beneficial insect populations, providing more opportunity for these beneficial insects to attack pests. A classic example is aphid management using ladybugs.
This flowering annual or short-lived perennial adds some bright colors to the garden, and most importantly, it attracts beneficial insects such as ladybugs and hoverfly. These insects are beneficial to plants because they feed on pests, especially aphids.
This invasive stink bug is now established throughout Southern California, and if alyssum is growing in your yard, there is a good chance the bug has infested it. The Bagrada bug, also called painted bug, is a small, colorful insect.
Where to grow alyssum. As long as the ground is free-draining and doesn't remain damp, alyssum will grow in any reasonable garden soil. Full sun gives the best flowers although light shade still gives good results. Grow at border edges, in pots and window boxes, on banks, rockeries, or at the edges of vegetable beds.
Alyssum - Your plants will die with the first hard frost. You can leave them out all winter or remove them to the compost pile. But keep the beds mulched right through the winter, ready for next year's plants.
Fragrant and ground hugging, alyssum is one of those deer-resistant annuals that you can use just about anywhere, including in containers, foundation plantings, vegetable gardens, flower borders, and hanging baskets.
Plant sweet alyssum alongside bushy crops like potatoes, or let it spread to form a living ground cover under arching plants like broccoli. Bonus: The alyssum's sweet fragrance will scent your garden all summe longr.
Panicled Hydrangeas: like to be left alone for the coming winter, and cleaned up in the early spring. Lilacs: prune after they're past flower, but before the fourth of July. Evergreens: can be pruned in mid-spring after the plants have begun to flush lush new growth.
Cold, wet weather – Cold, wet weather can induce fungal disease and subsequent root and crown rot. Poor Irrigation before establishment – Newly planted annuals need even moisture and good care while they are becoming established. If they are not properly watered from the start, they can dry out and die quickly.
Why does alyssum stop blooming?
Because alyssum is a cool-season annual, plants will generally stop blooming to conserve energy in the summer.
Growing alyssum from cuttings
Remove the bottom two thirds of leaves and dip the bottom in rooting hormone. Place in a propagator or pot covered with half of a clear 2 litre bottle, and position in partial shade. In around 6–8 weeks the cuttings should have taken root.
Propagating Sweet Alyssum
It is best to grow this fast-growing plant in the early spring. It proliferates from seed. You can start the seeds indoors before the last frost and transplant them outdoors after the threat of frost has passed.
Although it may reseed, it is best to transplant starts in spring for the best flower display (especially in short growing seasons). It is very easy to grow from seed, either sown directly in the garden or indoors several weeks before the average last frost. Barely cover the seed, as it needs light to germinate.
Sow alyssum from early spring to early summer, and in autumn where winters are mild.
Alyssum is not a plant that takes to dividing well. The best way to propagate it is to allow the plants to self-seed or save the seed so that the plant can be started indoors for the following spring.
They may not look like much as seedlings, but sweet alyssum plants can really spread. They take about nine to 10 weeks to flower from the time you sow the seeds. Don't be alarmed if plants go dormant in the heat of summer. They'll perk back up again when temperatures cool closer to fall.
It is essential to keep seeds dry and cool so that they will remain viable until the next spring. Ideally, they should be stored in tightly sealed glass containers. Individual varieties or different types of seeds can be placed inside of paper packets and then packed together inside of a larger glass container.
