Introduction

1. Introduction • Ornamental Herbs are important in retail nurseries as they can attract large number of customers. • Ornamental plants are small in size and can be planted in pots and indoors. • Ornamental herbs are mostly used in landscape garden as hedges, edges, cover crops, flower beds etc. • Ornamental herbs are propagated by different methods like Seeds, cuttings, runners, bulbs, corms, suckers as main methods of mass production in herbs.

2. Propagation of Ornamental Herbs • Suckers Gerbera • Crowns Ornamental Pineapple • Bulbs Tuberose • Corms Gladiolus • Tuber Begonia. • Rhizomes Canna, Ferns • Runners Sweet Violet • Stolons Chlorophytum sp. • Cuttings Hibiscus, Duranta • Seeds Petunia, Marigold

3. Suckers: • Suckers are lateral branches developing from underground parts of the stem or roots in the soil. • Gerbera produces numerous suckers, which can be split into many individual plants. • While separating the sucker plant, care must be taken to allow each sucker with some roots attached to it. Separation of Gerbera Suckers

4. Crowns: • ‘Crown’ is basal part of the plant stem below soil surface. • Crowns can produce new plantlets with independent shoot and root systems. • Division of crown is a important method of propagation in herbs like ornamental pineapples. Crown of Pineapple

5. Bulbs: • Bulb is a specialized underground organ consisting a short, fleshy, apical growing point, enclosed by thick fleshy scales. • outer scales of bulb are fleshy & contain reserve food materials. e.g. Tuberose, Bulbous Iris. • Bulbs are produced by monocotyledonous ornamental plants. Bulbs of Tuberose Single Bulb of Tuberose

6. Corms: • Corm is the swollen basal part of a stem whose axis is enclosed by dry and scale like leaves. E.g. Gladiolus • Corm is solid stem structure with nodes & internodes. Corm consist of food reserves. Gladiolus Corms

7. Begonia Tubers Tubers: • Tuber is the short terminal portion of underground stem. Food accumulates in tubers which causes thickening of the stem. • Tubers produce buds which grow into new plant under favorable conditions. • Begonia is an Ornamental herb propagated by Tubers Begonia Plant

8. Rhizomes: • Rhizome is horizontal stem growing under or sub soil surface showing nodes and internodes like aerial stems. • Rhizome is main axis of the plant, producing roots on its lower surface whereas leaves & flowering shoots above the ground. • Canna is an ornamental herb propagated by rhizomes Canna sp. Rhizome of Canna

9. Runners: • Runner is a specialized stem which develops from the axial of a leaf at the crown. • Runners grow horizontally along the ground & forms a new plant at each nodes. • Ornamental plants Violets (Violasp) propagated by runners. Plant Propagating by Runners.

10. Stolons: • Stolon is horizontally growing stems which produce adventitious roots when they come in contact with the soil / growing medium. • Chlorophytum is an important ornamental herb which can be propagated by stolons. Chlorophytum propagation using Stolon

11. Cutting: • Stem cuttings with few buds can be propagated by placing them under favorable conditions to develop a plant which resemble the parent. • Propagation by Cutting method is commonly used in hard wood plants, which cost effective, quick and cheaper. • The plants like Hibiscus, Rose, Duranta, Acalypha are commercially propagated by cuttings.

12. Cutting: Propagation of Hibiscus by Cutting

13. Seeds: Seed is sexual method of plant propagation. Direct Seeding: Seeds are planted directly into soil for germination. e. g. : Gomphrena Indirect Seeding: Seeds sown under protected conditions, allowed to germinate and then transplanted outdoors into permanent location. e.g. Petunia Petunia Plant Grown by Seeds