Shouldn't Bacopa be easy?

I've tried rooting Bacopa a couple of times now with no success - they stay nice and green for about a week and then turn a horrid black, blek. I've been trying to root them in a fairly well drained peat mix, both covered and not.

Any success out there?

From ECKE.com:



Propagation
Bacopa can be propagated in various tray sizes including 84’s and 105’s. Stick two cuttings per cell.

Media

•Choose a well-drained aerated propagation media•Avoid media containing peat moss which will hold too much water•Choose a blended media with other components or inorganic media such as Oasis® or Rockwool®Bottom Heat

•Bottom heat will promote healthy root development.•Maintain bottom heat at 70-75°F/21-24°C.•Mist will cool the media temperature. Monitor media temperature closely and frequently.Rooting Hormones
•Bacopa roots easily without the use of rooting hormone.However, time to root and uniformity in rooting may be improved with use of a hormone.•Either liquid or powder formulations work equally well. Choose a product with up to 2500 ppm IBA or up to 500 ppm NAA. Misting
•Average days with mist vary from 6-8 days depending on environmental conditions in the greenhouse.•Mist cuttings so they remain turgid but avoid over misting that results in saturated media. •Over misting will result in slow rooting and possible problems with root rot and botrytis.Fungicide Applications
•Within 48 hours after sticking apply a fungicide spray for prevention of botrytis.Growth Regulators
•Growth regulators should not be necessary.Pinching
•Begin feeding as roots are visible. Begin with 75 ppm nitrogen then increase to 150 ppm. Choose
a fertilizer with low levels of ammonium based nitrogen and avoid overhead feeding with fertilizer containing phosphorus. Fertility
•Pinching or sheer cuttings in week 2 of propagation.•Maintain pH at 5.6-5.9•Maintain EC at 0.75-0.80 mS/cm (SME)Propagation Cycle: 3 weeks

The instructions go against how I propagate Bacopa. Bacopa is a water plant in my garden. I grow them in no-drain pots in shallow water. I pinch off pieces and just stick them in rich dirt and fill with water. I have them in full sun. Within a couple of weeks they have rooted and start growing. Before long the pot will be filled with Bacopa. I occassionally fertilize them after they have roots with slow release fertilizer.

Here is a pot of Bacopa that I started from about 10 pinched pieces. It's completely full now. I keep water filled in it.

And here it is growing in my water pond container with waterlilies.

I grow it because it is a host plant of the White Peacock Butterfly. Since I garden for Butterflies and Hummingbirds, it is a must have in my garden. :-) This is the butterfly whose caterpillars eat bacopa. :-)

This message was edited Jul 11, 2009 4:15 PM

I beg to apologize. The name of my plant is "Lemon" Bacopa. Not Bacopa. LOL! Sorry to barge in on this discussion. My bad.

LOL - no problem, Becky, thanks anyway.

Okay, looks like this might be a root-in-sand sort of plant, with the heat mats. Thanks, Kaye - now I gotta go look at that site....

It's a fairly woody plant pc. Are you taking tip cuttings,? If not I would think you would almost need a part of the root. I have never tried to start it. Let us know how you do.

Jeanette

Didn't have any luck with it and then it died, ah well! Actually, I'm having very poor luck with most plants this summer. I'm thinking that the big diff is the bottom heat that I used to bring things on last winter/ spring. I'm going to have to get on it as there's a number of tender herbs that I want for next year - pineapple sage, a couple of oregano plants, rosemary and lemon verbena.