Since talking with Sherry about these and finding that many of you winter your brug's in them, I gotta know exactly what they are.
Are they the "Bubbling buckets" with a soiless growing medium and an air tube that bubbles up the nutrient via a venturi style air/nute tube? Can anyone show me a link or a schematic of 1? I may already have 1 or atleast the makings of 1. What is the nutrient used or is it merely water? Is it just for cuttings or entire plants?
I'm going to take a bunch of brug cuttings asap and try rooting them in a very simple and effective aeroponic like containor. All it is is a rubbermade containor filled about 1/2 way full of water with a long airstone or wand in the water. Connect the airstone to a aquarium air pump and it creates a mist when the bubbles break the surface of the water. Take the lid of the containor and drill several holes in it and put your cuttings in the holes with the plants above the water level. When everything is right, you can pull off the lid and see the cuttings have been "misted" via the bubbles. It works like the aerocloner's that use mini misters or sprinkler's inside that do the same thing the bubbles do in this system. It keeps the oxygen level very high and doesn't waterlog the cuttings, you must keep the water temp. around 75F. too BTW.
I did this a couple years ago w/ a huge coleus and some other plants and had roots hanging down in 2 weeks. I had hairs and bumps in less than 1 week on some of the cuts.
I quit doing it that way since I began planning ahead more and used Oasis cubes or soil so trnsplanting them into pots was much easier. It is an very effective system and can be modified in endless ways with excellent results. I think I may try to do some Brugs this way if I have room this week. I'm not sure if my wife will go for it as we are so out of room already.
Anyhow, would you folks please clue me in on your bubbler's? I gotta know now;)
Thanks, JD
Bubbler's? Can some1 show me? A simple cloning/rooting gizmo
I'm using an old fish aquarium with rock on the bottom and a long air stone. Next time I set it up for doing multiple kinds of cuttings, I'll use jars of water inside the aquarium so they won't spill and individual air stones. Just water in mine.
JD, LindaSC is the person that encouraged me, I did just about exactly what she did. I will try to find the link or maybe someone else will read this and provide the link. We used cheap white plastic trash buckets, a $7 pump, tubing, a thingy that made the tubing split to go in two buckets, and bubbler stones, all from WalMart, less than $20 for everything. I put mine in the GH on Dec 15 and truly, without the bubbler which I didn't find until later, and without changing the water, I had white bumps on many of the cuttings almost immediately and roots starting before the first week. The water was not 75 degrees either, not even sure if it is now. Not sure what it was, but the GH was 40ish, never froze in the GH but we had many days of freezing after I started them. I haven't lost a single cutting, even some little ones that were mushy. Oh, yes, I followed LindaSC's lead and used toothpicks to keep them off the bottom of the bucket, and I put smooth river rocks in the boottom of my buckets so they wouldn't tip over so easily. I also left mine in the yard until the midnight hour (Dec 15 - first hard freeze here) as my neighbor gardners told me they would have a better chance if they were used to being in the cold. I'm off to try to find the thread for you....
JD, I failed to find the thread, I know it's there, but I did find one of LindaSC's photos, attached, and my system looks identical to hers. I have been just absolutely amazed with the results, I never dreamed 'I' would be able to winter brug cuttings in water, whew!! Of course, I plan to continue to root like this when I want to monitor a particular brugs progress. In fact, I'm planning to stick one in dirt and water the same day and see which one roots first. Good luck!!!
Here's my thread from a while back. I keep the water cool. I'm also doing it mainly to have 'instant' trees. I have started adding a bit of miracle grow now at home, but the ones at the office are doing just as well without.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/467661/
So your just putting a airstone in a bucket of water and blowing bubbles? Heck I have tons of that stuff just collecting dust. It looks like cooler water doesn't matter with brugs then, is that correct? Heck, thats just too easy! I'll get that going 1st thing tomorrow.
Thanks for the info guys, please keep it coming;)
Jeff
Oh how about lighting? Do you use/need any?
Man now if I only had more brugs to cut on!!! HINT HINT, wink wink
LOL Thanks again all
JD, my GH is on a wooden deck that is not covered but it gets very little sun, I've really never seen it get any sun, just 'light', so I don't think light is much of a factor - I have a large Rosamond covered in buds. The only thing I've put in the water was a single drop of SuperThrive, after they were all rooted. I have never changed the water, and when I broke my ankle, I went over two weeks without checking on them. All I do when I check is maybe add a little more water when it evaporates. I also keep my water level very low as I understand that roots should be grown close to the bottom. My water level is about 4 inches. The water is clear as a bell, no algae or gunk, just the cuttings and beautiful white roots. So easy, so cheap, I'm just amazed!!! I can't wait to see how it works for you. Doesn't seem like too many are trying it or at least talking too much about it, but I've yet to hear someone report that it didn't work for them...good luck!!!
JLD or anyone that catches him in forume please tell him to read his mail LOL
kareoke. I got your mail! Thanks to you and everyone else for their advice.
I have my air pump, hose, stone and buckets ready to go. Now I need to get some more plants to try out in there. I'm going to try many different plants.
This method is essentially the same thing I used to do when I ue my fish aquarium for rooting cuts except I had fish in there too. I'm not sure if the fish water was better or not but I do think it was too warm. I'm thinking the cooler temps are beneficial as it slows any decay that takes place when you get mushy stems and the like.
I must investigate this option as all of my green cuttings went "stinky".
JD, I think you are right about the cold water, IF it has a bubbler stone. When I first started mine and couldn't find the bubbler, some of the cuttings got mushy, but when I added the stone, the same cuttings rooted. Who knew??!! What other plants are you thinking of rooting in the bubbler, I'd love to try others but have no clue which ones might work. Also, I'd love to send you some cuttings, but everything I have is already in the bubbler, rooting. If I get some cuttings early, I will send you some. Since the brugs are poison, would they kill fish??
OK here I am with dumb question what is an Bubbler stone, I have an aquarium pump, and hose with several holes, now what?
Boy, Doris, I felt the exact same way, I had zero idea what they were. Now, all I can tell you is that they are in the aquarium section at WalMart and they are blue and look like sponge, I couldn't believe it when I touched them and they fell like stone. They cost like a buck each, I bought 4. Hook them up to your tubing and toss them in the water and, right before your eyes, you have instant and continuous bubbles, that keeps your rooting water as clear as a mountain stream, amazing, and the entire setup for about twenty bucks...(you will need a couple of T valves too, also in the same section and inexpensive)
Sherry
The extra oxygen added to the water via the airstone promotes the growth of aerbic bacteria which is the good stuff. With out the airstone, the stink you mentioned is caused by anerobic bacteria that thrive in stagnant/low oxygenated water. We are essentially doing the exact same thing in water that we were expiramenting with in soil by adding hydrogen peroxide to our water/fertilizer solutions. Promoting the conditions needed to excellerate the growth of all anerobic bacteria that we find in soil and in this water. Its all about the power of oxygen and how our plants benefit from it as a byproduct.
OH you asked about poisenous plants hurting my fish. Nope, not in the least. I have used my filterbox on my aquarium as a bubbling bucket like rooting gizmo for years. I have a very high saturated oxygen level in my water that I don't need an airstone. I get the same results via highly circulating water.
Sadly I've had to quit using my aquarium for rooting plants. I have such bright lighting that the algae grew like crazy so i recently started using an algacide to keep it under control and the same chemical that kills algae also kills ANY plants in the water. Now I have a beautiful and crystal clear aquarium but I can no longer use that water for any plants and I have to be careful not to let it get into my gardens when I do water changes. Oh well, I can handle 1 place in this house that isn't plant friendly, luckily plastic aquarium plants have come a long way and look nice.
JD, are you talking about adding H202 to your water/fertilizer? If so, how much do you add. I've got enough H202 to float a boat, but I'd like to hear from someone that has used it, and how much to use before I try it on my brugs. It is powerful, let me tell you, I tried some in a glass of yucky water and it cleared it right up...
another question, how do you know what strength the H202 is, I puchased a bottle from Wal-Mart but it has nothing on it indicating the strength
Doris, you probably already know this, and please forgive me if you do - H202 and over the counter hydrogen peroxide are different strengths. I cannot purchase H202 from WalMart or the drug stores in my area, or any place in my area. I can only order it online. H202 is much stronger, than the stuff I can buy over the counter. Maybe JD or someone who knows more than I do can clear this up for us. I really would like to know because I'd like to use it with my brugs, if it's appropriate...
well Sherry I was told that mine was most likely 1% strength but you can buy the higher one I am sure I read where Brugie got it at Wal-Mart, maybe I should hunt up that thread
Doris, my H202 is 35%, Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide. I checked every place in my little three state area and could not locate it, but we are very 'small town', even the cities. So, I ordered it from the site below:
http://www.dfwx.com/h2o2.htm
I get 3% at DS, Big lots, etc. It says "%" on the bottle. I put 1/2cup in 1gal jug, and fill with water. I root Brugs in it, spray any fungus with it and mist and water everything with it.
I was afraid the hard stuff would cook my babies.
Let me know if I missed the mark.
Sidney
sugar has the right idea, that dilution is approximatly what I do with 3.5% although I don't use it all the time. It wouldnt hurt, I just dont always have it around when watering. I use it in potted plants alot when indoors to ensure I dont overwater and get rootrot.
Sherry I can't believe walmart doesnt carry 3.5% hydrogen peroxide in the bandaid section or at the grocery store. I've never seen a store w/o it. Since you have 35%, you would have to use 10 times the amount of water as we're describing here to get the same dilution. That just oves the decimal point over 1 space. So if I put 1/2 cup of 3.5% per 1 gallon, you would have to add 1/2 cup of 35% to 35 gallons to get the same ratio. Or you could figure out what 1/10 of 1/2 cup is and add that much to 1 gallon of water or fert..
sugar does it pretty much exactly as I do and you can add it to any food you like or just water, same with seedsoaking.
I hope that helps. I can't type anymore or I'll wake up my wife. I'm up trying to figure out where to put my male dog to keep him away from my female thats in heat.GRRRRRRRRR The dog has lost his marbles and is just a drooling mess. I could kill him right now.
Now I have him tied to the front door and the female in a kennel in my room. This isn't working at all. I left him out in the kennel and he just howled and barked non stop. I even gave him 2 valium!!!It has done nothing. So I'm off to try something else...wish me luck
I dealt with that 2 weeks agoJDL. Tomorrow arrange for someone to keep one of the dogs until the female is over it. Ours are both naturaly not fertile, so I just sleep alone for a week, while Henry is "Lovesick" for Meggie.
I would say 2 teaspoons to 1 gallon of your 35% Hydrogen Peroxide would be about right.
I've also wondered about "Oxy-Clean", it's a dry hydrogen peroxide I think, but don't know what else is in it.
WalMart DOES carry 1% hydrogen peroxide and possible some other strengths, but it does not carry H202 35% Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide. I've been searching for the 35% for years, for use with my dogs, cats, etc, to clean their beds, grooming stuff, and to prepare their raw food. Never could find the food grade hydrogen peroxide then, or now and I've tried every WalMart/drug store in our area, have been told that there is no call for it and when they have it, it sits on the shelf, too expensive.
[HYPERLINK@www.dfwx.com]
This site gives the info below for use on plants and there is lots more info for usage on the site. What I really want to know is if anyone has used the food grade and what were the results. The food grade is expensive and if it doesn't do anything special, I'd rather use the 1%, and use the food grade were it does a great job.
This is one of the many ways the site says to mix the 35% food grade:
Dilution ration. Put 1/2 ounce 35% food grade per 1-gallon water for plant watering and for water to soak seeds for sprouting.
Sprouting needs: Add 1 ounce 3% hydrogen peroxide to one pint of water and soak the seeds overnight. Add the same amount of hydrogen peroxide each time you rinse the seeds.
OK I read the fine print on my bottle of H202 it is 3% guess I have not been adding enough LOL as I have only put two capfulls in a Gal. of water, at least now I know what the strength is, it pays to read the fine print *S*
JLD - aquarium thoughts - If your lights are that bright and you leave them on all the time... start replacing those plastic plants with real ones and you don't have to rely on a poor, mossy selection from the local petshop. All the cool stuff can now be had via mailorder. That and/or regular water changes to get the nitrates down and keep them down will take care of the algae and I'm assuming you don't have at least one pleco on duty? Of course real plants may not be an option depending on what kind of fish you're keeping. The first gourami I ever bred was a couple of new ones I put in the sick tank to isolate for a couple of days but never moved them. I had propped some pothos up in the back at one point which had rooted and filled the back third of the 10gal tank with roots.
I've currently got some monstrosa hanging in the back of my 55gal rooting... which has 25 fish and no algae. All my indoor watering is done from siphoning off the aquarium.
Hmmm, with all the extra aquarium hardware.
ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this is too hard for me. In the spring, most things root so easily. Almost worth it to just wait till then! LOL
1 pint (16 oz) of 3% hydrogen peroxide (at Freds) is 3 pints for: $1.00.
1 pint (16 oz) of H202 35% Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide is: $9.25, plus postage,
One other difference I know, other than price, is, when I drip a tiny drop of H202 on navy cotton cloth, it immediately bleached a small white spot on the cloth. The hydrogen peroxide I use, 3%, will not do that.
I wish there was someone reading this thread that could tell us more. I bought the H202, specifically to clean brushes, combs, towels, bowls, water buckets, etc, that I use for my dogs. I know it can be used for flowers too, so I guess I'll just bite the bullet and give a dose to some iffy brugs and see what it does. Whew!
8ftbed
Yessir I have everything going as you mentoined. I keep a very close eye on the nitrite levels and try to do 30% water changes atleast 1 per month. I got rid of all the live plants inside the tank and use plastic. Its the blue acitnic reef bulbs that make the algae thrive so hard. But the color it adds is so cool. We just rescaped the tank away from a natural look and I let my wife and daughter do it this time. We have huge chunks of various colored glass rocks and I put lights under them, like the LED laser spot lights and 2 sets of egglights you see in ponds. The result is the coolest colors I've ever seen and it looks so cool when I turn off the hood lights and just use the under water lights shooting through the glass and spotlighting other structure.
I just hate using chemicals to control anything but when using so much bright/ multi spectrum lighting, algae is gonna happen period w/o chems. Its all good, I just can't root plants in my overflow boxes anymore. Those are easily replaced with the bubblers so no worries. And I'll just use a diff fert. for indoor plants rather than fish water. I also filled a magnum 250 full of nitrozyme(I think thats what its called) and man the nitrates/trites are perfect and I don't need to do as many water changes. The fish are more colorful too oddly, I don't know why that is as I test my water like crazy for everything and its almost always perfect except for the occasional higher nitrite level and slight PH drop that goes hand in hand. But its all good now, thanks for the tips tho. There are so many others out there that don't think ahead as we do and just kill fish left and right or have stinky water. My tank is a 120 and I built my own trickle filter w/ enough bio capacity for a tank twice that size. Plus I'm running dual overflow boxes and pumping over 500gph through my filters. It keeps the water moving enough to where I dont get as much waste settling on the bottom and everyone is happy. I even have a painted turtle living in there!LOL Such diversity and it sure looks neat,
Thanks again.
JD
Since it's your thread, I guess I won't get smacked for sidetracking a bit. ;-)
This isn't saltwater, is it? I've had up to 35 tanks online at one time, but 55 is the largest I've ran. I haven't ran any water tests in 8 or 9 years. Kind of like gardening and cooking you just get to 'eyeballing' it. With the filtration you've got and the tank size, you shouldn't ever have a nitrite problem if it's completely cycled unless you've really got a heavy bioload. Nitrates can get to ridiculous levels before they affect the fish. I just replaced a 55 in December because it was 10years old, silicon was peeling out of the corners and red algae had got started. Completely cycled, crystal clear with plenty of fish. Daily 10-15% water change for the first 2 weeks then every couple days as I added fish. The only ones I lost were 2 that got sucked up a big Whisper (some goofball forgot to install the strainer on one of 2 units) and an 11 year old clown loach committed suicide by squeezing into a piece of tube he couldn't get out of before I hunted him down.
Your tank sounds cool.
Oh, my gosh, that is terrible about your clown loach, I'm so sorry for him and you too!! I brought my brother a leopard puffer, named Bubber, and we had him for at least three years and we were just heartsick when he died, from unknown causes. He loved to pedal up to the glass and look at us, we thought he was wonderful. I may have seen a clown loach, are they striped? With exception of Bubber, an only child, I was never good with the fish, some body always killed and ate the others and we never figured out who it was until there was only one fish left, or one time some kind of frog, maybe African...
Yep, the Clown Loach had broad orange/black vertical stripes. They are quite comical too. Only fish I know of that will just lay down or lay on their back like dog. I've come in and thought it was dead... nope - just taking a siesta. For awhile we kept ending up on the living room floor with some projects for a couple of months. Then we'd notice that clown laying on his back right up against the glass watching us. We didn't believe it at first but found that if we crowded towards one end of the tank or the other, that's where he'd take up station.
Just like our Bubber. I loved your story!
Me too.
What a bummer, I've seen many people loose fish just like that. I have a huge cloan loach and the biggest chineese algae eater I've ever seen. Its an easy 8 inches long now. I only have 3 tanks running now and the only time I test is if some1 looks sad or its winter. Sadly, unless you use an algae scrubber in your filter, the only way to get rid of nitrites is with water changes or lots of plants or both. I had an african cichlid in this crazy mixture of fish I have and they like ph of around 8 and when the nitrites rise, the ph will drop to 4 or so. I test out of curiosity more than anything else since I got a nice lab kit for free.
I've never been much on using any carbon or other similar products until I was given that nitrozyme that locks up nitrites. My water is always piloshed looking but when I put that stuff in the magnum, the water looked like I added a ton of that water clarifyer stuff. I figure I'll use it in the winter months when it isn't practicle to do as many water changes as I'd like too. I think its pretty neat stuff but not needed by anymeans. Just 1 more gizmo.
Don't worry about getting "off track in MY THREAD". I figure its our thread and I welcome any/all pertanent info. I love bouncing ideas and expiraments around as I always learn something new somehow. Lord knows I'v e gotten "off topic" more times than I can count on other threads on accident. I tend to ramble too much. I apologize for that but I guess its just my nature.
Thanks all! JD
JD! Glad I stuck my nose in here and met you. I've already decided I should be a lurker in most threads, not being much for protocols and staying on topic. Kind of like when a rare visitor shows up to look at the yarden. Anymore now I tell them to follow their eyes and ask questions when/if they have any. I'll just trail along behind and try and keep the mouth shut. Otherwise everything has it's own little history and leads to something else and next thing you know I'm dashing off to another corner ... "oooh, ooh, come check this out!!". Shoving noses into flowers or flowers and foliage into their mouths.
O.K., brugs, bubblers and cuttings - I think I've seen different thoughts on when you can take a cutting. Have you or anyone watching this thread started cuttings that weren't woody yet? I want to try this bubbler and some of the cuttings I have going have put up some suckers at or below the soil level. They're not woody yet but between a pencil and little finger in diameter.
Is is to soon to slice them off for a rooting experiment?
8ft, do you mean green cuttings? I have never tried them except in my bubbler and I only have a few, a couple or three being 4 1/2 or 5 feet long, and YES, they rooted, except it took my green cuttings way longer to root, than my woody cuttings. Also, the tops of the long greens withered - I have not cut the withered section off, I'm just waiting around to see what happens, since this is my first try with a bubbler...
I was just the opposite. I've been taking green top shoots and using a razor to make a very clean angles cut and placing it directly into soil and I had 5 out of 6 take! I always remove the leaves off the bottom 2-3 nodes and try to always leave 1 node below the soil/medium line. It turns out rooting green shoots is effortless. I don't loose any of the leaves and it remains 1 long stem that has it's original tip still going. I had never seen cuttings taken from woody "trunks" w/ no care taken to make a clean cut etc. until I found you bruggies.;) I've now rooted green tips as short as 4 inches 1 month ago and are now 1 1/2ft tall and almost as big as a cigar in dia. These babies are just too easy to root imo, the easiest plant by far. Well coleus will root when you dead head it and stick the tips back in the moist soil too.My nephew thats' 4 taught me that last fall. I was topping some plants and he was going along behind me and sticking the tops back in the soil. Later that week I noticed 99% of those suckers THRIVING!LOLOL My how we can over complicate stuff.
Now that I expiramented with all those green brug tips(I didnt plan on taking cuts so I put tips in other potted plants), I have to repot my ficus tree's, a couple palms and a few other plants b'cuzz they now all have brugs growing in there w/ them!LOL
My conclusion is if you want cuts and need them fast, use green tips in the pots you plan on growing them in. Take a lil extra time to make a clean angled cut and use a lil rooting hormone just for kicks if you wanna be 100% sure they will take.
OH BTW. If you don't want to loose the leaves on these tips w/ leaves, the plant's need light. The 1 cut that I lost(the reason I say it's 99% in my accidental test) was the only cut that didn't have light. It looked great for 3 weeks and slowly dropped its leaves and maybe dead. Its still green and I bet I could revive it but its growing in a 10ft tall ficus tree that only fits in the spot I have it positioned now. So unless I want to add a spotlight, I'll still be at 99% on rooting green tips. Good enuff for this kid;).
Goodnight all, JD
Good info, JD! I'll try your method - I can root greenies in the bubbler, but they do shrivel and drop leaves. Thanks!!
Replies were slow in coming and when repotting 3 nights ago I used a razor to slice off a little branch maybe pencil thick and about 4.5 " long. At first I stuck it in a jar of water with some pothos that are rooting. Then thought better since it was a succulent green stem. Took all the leafs off except the at the tip. I had a little pot that had a soda bottle on it but nothing had ever sprouted (may have forgot to put seeds in) for a month. I poked a hole, stuck the cutting, firmed it up and put the soda bottle back over it. No wilting after 3 days so I guess it'll do it's thing.
Goofy me - I meant to label it and now forget which one I took it off of. I'll have to look for fresh wounds on all those that got repotted. the other day. :)