As a lot of newbies are taking cuttings to root about now I thought I might bring one of brugman's rooting tips back up. Sometimes cuttings have a tendency to rot in soil. He said to put some light soil in a pot, add a layer of perlite, dust the damp end of the cutting, especially the raw bottom, with perlite till it's coated then add the rest of the soil. Don't shove the cutting down into the soil below the layer of perlite. The perlite keeps the skin of the cutting away from the damp soil. It's one of the many tips that I'm grateful to him for. It works beautifully.
An Eric tip
Thank you, will be trying this.
hmmmm, wish I had remembered that tip a week ago.....when my tip cuttings were fresh:)
So, are you saying to put a layer of light soil in the bottom of the container, then a layer of perlite, and finally a layer of light soil on top of the perlite layer?? And then put the raw green bottom of the tip cutting down into the perlite layer? And then only water from the bottom? Trying to visualize this:) Guess I need pictures, for my feeble mind:)
This message was edited Friday, Oct 4th 11:03 PM
Pot, light soil, perlite, perlite on the cutting,hold the cutting level with the perlite layer, infill with soil. Water, light, don't water again until really dry.
thanks.....will take some green tip cuttings tomorrow and give it a few practice tries:)
Thanks for the info as I have just had several rot on me from cuttings I took during Isadore when the salt water started coming in my yard. Does anyone think it would kill them. Because I have seen many post about using epsom salts.
The ones that are rotting are the Peaches and Cream, Frosty Pink, Ecuadore Pink are are those especially hard to root. It is my first experience with them and they were given to me already rooted.
I dip both cutting ends in "Rodalon" (9.5 % benzalkoniumchlorid). It is both a bacteriacide and a fungicide. I must admit, that Poppy`side using peat moss, didn`t work for me, so I stick with (and in) coarse gravel. It keep the cuttings moist, but leave room for plenty air circulation.
Tip cuttings rot very easy for me though. I have rooted a few L`Amour cuttings from small stem growth this summer, but this was most luck and most of the luck I owe to this hybrid, that is an easy and fast rooter.
I am going to try wetting my green tip cuttings and then dusting with Captan. Have to get some perlite from the store before I can try this method Liz posted. I have terrible bad luck with those sent to me in the mail.....they rot if I just look at them:) LOL
Hopefully, this method will solve that problem.....will take the cuttings and then put them in a plastic bag with just a couple drops of water for about 3 days (to simulate them being mailed), and then try the above procedure with them:)
Plan on doing this with about a dozen different varieties, in case some are naturally more prone to rotting than others. Will post results here in DG in a couple of months....if not sooner:)
Owen
I've been having my best luck with the tip I got from Calla.I take the cutting ,dip it in "Shultz starter Plus" stick them in Damp vermiculite,and water with a diluted starter plus.Then I don't water again till they look a little droopy,works for me....and I'm rooting challenged!
And then there is the straight sand method. Or the straight perlite method. Or the straight vermiculite method.
This message was edited Saturday, Oct 5th 11:38 PM
I never walk a straight line....LOL