Rewilding My Lot

I have written before about how easy Frogfruit is to grow and propagate (see previous post: Frogfruit). However, much of what I know now has come from making earlier mistakes. Like these…

I moved to Seguin from Houston, where Frogfruit grew abundantly in my previous garden, both in beds and mixed in with the lawn. Just before taking ownership of the new house, I yanked up about 20 strands of Frogfruit in Houston, stuck them in a large pot of compost, and brought them to Seguin. Once here, I pushed strands in between panels of lawn sod with the compost, and gave them a good watering. After a couple of days, I had to return to Houston for a week before returning to Seguin. The transplanted Frogfruit strands did not thrive well, and in fact, only one is still alive six months later. This one.

So what could I have done better?

• Not been so impatient. The stems that I pulled up in Houston would probably have done better if I’d let them sit in their big pot with the compost in a shady place for the couple of weeks when I had to deal with the trips back and forth to Houston. Instead they were quickly stuck in the ground, watered for a couple of days, and then abandoned for a week.
• Encouraged root growth. Frogfruit stems will self-root if they have good contact with soil. All of the strands I pulled up did have some roots, but they were tiny. Roots will grow more quickly if they don’t have to support too much trauma above the ground (i.e., stems and leaves that are in transplant shock). I could have looked for places where root growth had started and cut the stems to about an inch on either side to plant just those small pieces. Even better would have been to do an intermediate step in small pots (or even egg carton compartments) to get the roots stronger before putting them in the ground.
• Watered more in the early days. Native and adapted plants are generally quite tolerant of low water conditions, but only after they are established. I should have taken better care of my Houston Frogfruit babies when they were young.

So, lessons have been learned. In six months here, my Frogfruit propagation success rate has increased from about 5% to 90%. Now I just need to keep that one Houston survivor alive!