I did my own rooting experiment with the cuttings I received from David. I tried rooting some in perlite/vertmiculate, soil and spagh moss. Well I must admit the ones in moss rooted the fastest. I know some people don't like to use moss because it sticks to the roots, but I find if you wet the moss really well before you start to remove it, it's much easier. The cutting pictured rooted in about 7 - 10 days.
Blessings,
Awanda
Good work!!!
So the moss must add the element of water retention - keeping the soil moist - but without having a soppy mess. Good to know. I think I'll try that on the next go around.
By the way, Awanda, do you keep your cuttings in a super-humid environment? Or, do you have them rooting in more open air?
Good Job!
Ann
Nice job, Awanda - do you use any type of bottom heat - heating mat, or whatever?
Karen
GREAT root system on that stem. Now my questions are:
What type of container did you put the moss in (pot, baggy, flat, etc.?)
Was it the loose leaf moss or the ground type, and did you pack it tightly around the stems or just let it loose around them?
Did you have them in the greenhouse or in any special humid place?
Whatever you did...you did it right!
Marcy
Opps I guess I left out the important info. Attached is a picture of my rooting set-up. There are heat mats under the plant trays/humidity domes. The little black tray the moss is in, is from where else, but Biglots:-). I pack the moss in fairly tight. I have tried putting moss in a plastic cup, but it seems to take longer to root that way.
Blessings,
Awanda
This message was edited Apr 25, 2007 9:48 AM
Here are the Biglots black trays, oh and they have holes in the bottom. I do keep the moss wet, it can dry out sometimes.
Blessings,
Awanda
That is a great system, Awanda! How nice to have everything all kitted out and professional looking!! You grow!!!
Thanks Carol! After they are rooted, I pot them up, but keep them in a humidity dome for 1 more week to make sure everything is okay and they are healthy & hardy enough to move into the greenhouse.
Blessings,
Awanda
Awanda,
Thanks for sharing your experiment. Those are SOME roots! Now, I have pretty much all that's required to do that (except for the heat mat...I hope I can do without that). But I have the tray and the dome and the spagh moss. My question is, I have both regular spagh moss (like the one in your pic) and also milled spagh moss. Should I use one over the other?
Thanks (and nice job!),
Gabi
Gabi I have only used the long spagh moss, so I'm not sure how the milled would work.
Blessings,
Awanda
Thanks Awanda. I guess I'll try the long one. But it just seems so much easier to use the milled one because it's so finely shredded. Does anyone else have an opinion? Maybe I'll do a little Spagh Moss experiment!
Gabi
Hi Awanda,
Hope you're feeling ok. I hope you're at least feeling better with your "happy pills" :P
I tried rooting some cuttings in the long spagh last night, so I'll see how they do. Hopefully I get similar results. Question for ya...did you do anything after the initial potting and watering, or did you just let the tray sit closed for the full 7-10 days. I'm wondering if/when I should open the plastic cover to give the cuttings air, and if/when I should water the moss again.
Thanks so much,
Gabi
Gabi I check on my hoya cuttings every couple of days. I punched holes in the tops of the humidity dome, but I also take it off on occasion for a few mintues. As far as watering the moss, it depends on how long it take for it to dry out. HTH!! The happy pills are working some:-).
Blessings,
Awanda
Thanks Awanda...very helpful tips!
I'm glad you're getting some pain relief. I deal with chronic pain (daily headaches), so I know what it's like. I also know what it's like to be VERY dependent on the pills, so just be careful. After 15 years of dealing with chronic pain and taking pain medicine, I know quite a bit about "rebound" pain (brought on my the meds), so please feel free to Dmail me if you want to talk about it or if you have any questions.
Take care of yourself,
Gabi
Gabi I did forget to mention that when I mist the cuttings, I put a bit of Eleanor's in the water (senior moment). Thanks for the invite to talk:-).
Blessings,
Awanda
Oh good...that's what I did. I sprayed with Eleanor's water as well!
Thanks,
Gabi
Great set-up Awanda, the roots look so nice and healthy. You are such a little rooting queen. Where did you get those cozy little humidity domes?
thanks sooooo much for this little tidbit on rooting, awanda. I managed to get roots on all my cuttings from the swap (except the dischidia(sp?)). I'm currently potting them all into their new homes. I'm going to keep everyone with a baggie or some kind of dome to keep the humidity high till they get a little better rooted
I did the damp sphag technique. = )
Gaiadisciple,
Did you use a heat mat? I've been trying to root cuttings using the same exact technique (minus the heat mat...I don't have one of those), but I haven't seen any roots yet. I've even had cuttings rooting in there before the swap, and NOTHING on them yet. So I'm wondering if the heat mat is what's missing.
Thanks,
Gabi
I didn't use a heat mat perse, but I had two tupperware containers on my cable box (much to my cat's dismay) and I had another two in a fairly warm room.
maybe it's the species?
Hmmm....not sure. I have a bunch of species in the humidity tray (kentiana, carnosa, heuschkeliana, picta, bella) and none have rooted yet. Maybe it's the "warmth factor" that is missing....it's not in a very warm room, nor is it in a very cold room (maybe around 70 degrees), and it's not ON anything warm. The whole heating mat thing scares me though...I'm afraid to leave it on when I'm at work all day (especially with my dog in the house). Am I being too paranoid?
definitely too paranoid unless you have rickity old wiring
Definite paranoia there!!!
HAHA I used to use a human hot pad (wet and dry) under a cookie sheet in a very dry environment (out of the rain) before I got heat mats.
Heat mats are totally insullated.
Gabi, you are NOT too paranoid......unless I am too. I won't even leave a crock pot on when I am not home, let alone a heating pad, or the oven, not to mention the clothes drier! HA! All my life growing up, my dad was a fireman, and not only did I get lectures, and first hand eye-view's if I happened to be in his truck when the pager went off, re: the perils of open flame, but plugged in heating units as well. Of course with him being an EMT, I also got to see first hand the benefits of seatbelts!! My friends think I am an obsessive compulsive disorder/seatbelt- nazi, as I am always circling back to make sure the iron, coffe pot, curling iron, drier etc, etc, are off when I leave the house, but also am yelling "seat belts on?" Ha.
Sara
Thanks everyone. Sara- I'm glad you chimed in. Nice to know I'm not the only once with a touch of OCD :-)
I think I'll stay away from the heating pad....it just freaks me out to leave a heat pad on when I'm not home, and it would either be sitting on the carpet or on wood....NO NO NO!!
I'd love to use one, because I'm sure it would help with rooting, but I'd only use it when I'm home, and that wouldn't be enough time. Oh well, I'll just have to hope they root without the heat...I have a feeling they will, but it will take a little more patience on my end.
P.S. EVERYONE should be wearing seat belts, even in the back seat! PLEASE!! I was in a car accident in February and my SUV was hit on my side and it flipped over THREE FULL TIMES, and then landed on my side. My 88-year-old grandmother and I are not only ALIVE, but we actually WALKED out of the car (well, after being pulled out of the windows!). We would be dead if we weren't wearing our seatbelts. So Sara, keep up with your seatbelt nagging!!
Of course, Sara...you ARE right.
LOL Carol, and Gabi,
I am usually 90% wrong......Ha! Please don't feel obligated to agree with me, I will probably be the one whose house burns down, even though it is brick and stucco, and I am obsessive.....while the all wood, crazy wired house down the street, with a thousand plugs in one outlet, and all the wild Christmas lights remains standing forever!!
I was too paranoid to use a heating pad on my D.L. cuttings last fall, even at night, so after 6 months, am just now seeing new growth on my cuttings from October. ( I am a stay at home mom, but VERY absentminded - I have had to leave a movie clear across town, because I was sure that I had left a candle burning.....yep, it was lit) I am now banned by DH from using open flames, or even incense.
S
I think moss is a great medium, even for growing plants in. I have a little schefflera growing in a 4" ceramic pot that it came in, planted in nothing but moss. It has been over a year, the plant is very healthy and has grown quite a lot. I thought I would have to repot, that the moss would get sour or moldy, but it has no odor and the plant seems very happy. I would imagine there is alot of air circulating down in the roots, which is great. I'd like to try growing more plants this way, it seems more natural, especially for epiphytic types.
Gabi, read the info on these heat mats. This is what they are made for. I have 3 on 24/7 and am looking to buy at least 3 more.
Sara, your dad would have a cow if he saw the mess of plugs and wires in my green area :~) I do have them (all but the lights which are on a timer) plugged into a GFI plug so I sleep just fine zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..... (I also have smoke detectors in every room of the house :~) God bless, -joanne
Sara, I do the same compulsive checking ! I'll be half way down the block and have to turn around thinking did I turn off the coffeepot? did I unplug the hairdryer? did I put the bird back in his cage? and most importantly, did I leave my vibrator out where my landlord will see it?? ....oops, too much information...just joking guys. (I just joined this forum and I'll probably get thrown off for obscenity..but I do and did wear a seatbelt for years before it even became a law in my state. I feel naked without one.
Anyway, those heat mats are safe, they are very low voltage or whatever you call it. But I don't think I would put them just anywhere indoors, maybe on a porch or in a garage to be on the safe side. They do make a big difference for rooting and seed sowing, really speed things up.
They also have a thermostat so they turn off when it warms up....I LOVE them.
make sure you insulate the heat mat from the surface that it sits upon. otherwise, you'll end up heating it instead of the plants on top.
LOL you guys are toooo funny!! Carol, I am SOOOO obsessive, that I don't even trust the auto-shut off feature! My coffee pot, iron, curling iron all have them, and the clothes drier too, but I still turn back. The kids can yell in stereo: "mom, the coffee pot is off!"
Bhavana, I doubt you will be thrown off for obscenity - I don't get the impression that anyone is overly sensitive here........I hope.
Joanne, I can totally picture your over-loaded outlets! We had a friend run the iditarod last year, whose computer surge protector sparked and caught the carpet on fire, resulting in a total loss, while they were in Alaska. Just ask me how hard it is to go on va-ca with all of my aquarium do-dads plugged in!
Sara...you are wise!!! We actually work the same way here...NOTHING runs/works/burns unless we are in the house. My heat pads run 24/7 in the greenhouse and it rains so much around here if the plastic started burning (the roof of the house) it would be extinguished soon. Especially with elec. $$ at 31cents a kilowatt hour - nothing is left on!!!
I have a heat mat also, that I bought when I got a whole load of cuttings from Paul Shirley and was paranoid that I would kill them all off without some help! (I lost two in the end, not too bad). I've been keeping it on ever since, as been rooting cuttings, and now my lauterbachii lives on there, staying warm (it's been particularly chilly at night recently, and I'm too much of a miser to put the heating back on when I can cope by curling myself up in my duvet - !! I took it off to clean the windowsill it lives on (plastic) and found a rather lovely yellow stain - ooooops! Hope my landlady won't notice...
I'm with you all on the leaving things on. I'm particularly paranoid about leaving the door unlocked when I leave, always check it before I go. I have, however, left the gas oven on a couple of times - wake up with a nasty smell in the house and think, ooops, then have to freeze gently while all the windows are open!
