A typical carnation cutting of 10-15 cm long with 4-5 visible pair of leaves weighing about 10 gm should be planted at 5 cm spacing in rooting medium. The rooting medium consists of one part of peat moss and two part of perlite+ sufficient calcium carbonate to bring pH near 7.0. The stem cutting should be broken from stock mother plant to avoid spreading of disease through wound (as with knife). A rooting hormone e should also be used. The cuttings normally are fully rooted in 21 days at rooting temperature of 150C. Maintaining bottom heat at a constant 210C reduce the rooting time to 15 days. The cuttings are watered through intermittent mist on bright warm days at an interval of 10 seconds out of every 4-6 minutes. Full sunlight is preferred for carnation rooting with proper misting.
Sanitation is important in propagation and rooting medium should be steam pasteurized for every successive group of cuttings. The dipping of cuttings in fungicide solution should be avoided, since bacterial wilt disease can be spread with dips. The drenching of cutting over bench is idle for applying of fungicides. Usually applying of nutrients during rooting is not necessary if adequate nutrient status maintained in the stock plants. Foliar fertilization of cuttings can be done.
The propagation from their own plants from vegetative lateral shoots of the flowering plants should be avoided. Since the disease are easily perpetuated and declining plant vigour and productivity occurs. In order to produce disease free plants, stock plants should be grown on raised benches in pasteurized media. These plants should be kept in vigorous and vegetative conditions and maintained by drip irrigation to keep foliage dry. Plant should be sprayed frequently to prevent foliage disease and insect damage. Stock plants should be used only for one season of cutting production.
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