If your garden neighbor admires the olive herb and asks you for a plantlet, you can easily fulfill his request. Because anyone who knows how effortlessly the Mediterranean plant can be propagated will not shy away from the promise. We will tell you possible methods. Choose for yourself which one suits you!

Olive herb can be easily propagated by cuttings

Four promising propagation methods

A young olive herb awaits at the end of many paths. Because its propagation is possible through:

  • cuttings
  • division
  • seed
  • lowering

Propagation by cuttings

In spring, the olive herb can be propagated by slightly woody cuttings that have not yet bloomed:

  • Cut 15 to 20 cm long shoots from the mother plant
  • remove the leaves from the lower half
  • Get seed pots (€16.68) with drainage holes
  • fill with nutrient-poor soil, add some sand
  • Insert 3-4 shoots into each growing pot
  • keep warm and bright
  • after approx. 14 days prick rooted young plants into their own pots

A young olive herb must hibernate warm in the house until next spring. Meanwhile, its substrate is constantly kept slightly moist, but not fertilized. On a frost-free day in spring you can plant the olive herb in the bed.

Division of the hardy shrub

If the olive herb has received a sunny location as desired and the modest care, it will increase in size. This gives us the simplest way of propagation: division.

  • Dig up mother plant in spring
  • share with a spade
  • at least one shoot must remain on each part
  • remove damaged roots
  • Sprinkle wood ash on sore spots
  • Plant and water in a new location

tips

When planting, keep a distance of at least 30 cm from new plants. After rooting, the plant will quickly grow back in width. A compost gift at the start of the new existence has proven its worth.

Sow purchased or collected seeds

Santolina viridis, as the botanical name is, forms seeds after flowering. Once dry, store them until February when sowing starts. The trade also offers seeds of this herb.

  • Place seeds in a bag filled with sand
  • Stratify at 5 to 7 °C for about 4 weeks
  • either in the fridge or outside
  • then sow in potting soil
  • do not cover with soil, just press down lightly
  • prick young seedlings
  • Plant out as soon as the plants are strong enough

Lowering as a fourth alternative

Holy herb, also a common name for olive herb, can be propagated as follows if flexible shoots are present.

  • Score the shoot with a knife
  • then bend flat to the floor
  • cover with soil, tip should stick out
  • If necessary, fix the shoot with stones
  • wait until rooting has taken place
  • Separate the young plant from the mother plant and transplant

Category:

Vegetable garden