The Forsyth Garden

Enlarge Image Image Gallery 1. Gather 10"" and 6"" terra cotta pots and clean sand. 2. Put 6"" pot (holes plugged with glue) in 10"" pot. 3. Place cuttings in sand. Water seeps through 6"" pot 4. This size pot will hold eight to ten cuttings. 5. Remove rooted cuttings and plant.

Got a few stem cuttings you want to root - and you're planning a trip away from home? Do you have cuttings that are picky about moisture and subject to damping off? Make your own version of a Forsyth pot. (We don't know why it is called a Forsyth pot. Probably named for the person who first used it.)

You'll need two terra cotta pots, one about six inches in diameter and a larger one ten to 12 inches in diameter. Plug the drainage hole in the smaller pot (a hot glue gun works well). Place the small pot inside the larger pot and fill the space between the two pots with moist sand (see above). Fill the smaller pot with water and plant the cuttings in the sand. While you're away, water will percolate slowly through the walls of the small pot, providing continuous moisture to the cuttings. The pot should hold eight or ten cuttings. Remember to give them shade.

The Forsyth Pot

MARSHA AND DARRYL HERREN
Haddock, Georgia