Tropicals & Tender Perennials: starting brug in water, 1 by kenboy

kenboy wrote:
I usually root in soil. It depends on the cuttings I have and the Brug. Some Bruges root easier than others. I can drop a KBS cutting on the ground and it will root.The main reason I use soil is because I can get more plants from a cutting. If I have a cutting that is 12 inches long and 1 inch in diameter, I can get 6 to 8 plants from it, if I log it, ( cut short and laid on it side ). If a plant is harder to root, then I cut into 3 or 4 inch pieces and plant vertically. If a plant is really hard to root then I cut into 6 inch peaces and plant vertically.

Everyone's method of rooting is different. I am sure ZZ's method works very good for her and it will save space, I am going for production. I am working on a lot of trades for this next Spring and everyone wants the new doubles. If you have extra cutting to work with I would suggest that you try different methods and see what works for you. I know some people who root large cutting in a bucket of water with a fish tank aerator.

One thing to keep in mind. Roots that develop in water, develop different than ones developed in soil. If you root in water and allow the roots to get extremely long and then transplant to soil, most of the roots will die back, ( not all ) and then start rooting again. I would suggest that if you root in water, that you plant the cuttings in soil before the roots get much over an inch long.

This message was edited Dec 10, 2007 6:57 AM