Rooting cuttings

I'm going to try to root some cuttings from Cigar Plant, Bat Face Cuphea, Angel Trumpet, salvias and Confederate Rose. I've rooted the Confederate Rose before in water and it was easy, but it wasn't this time of year. Anyone have any ideas on how to best root these this time of year???? I'm assuming well draining sand/potting soil mix and dip cutting in rooting hormone and place in the shade. Will that likely do it? Any input from someone who's had better luck with another method will be much appreciated.

not including, brugsmansia, Confederate Roses, I always do small cuttings this way.....1/2 perlite to 1/2 soil-less mix and root them under light year around....Here are a couple of trays I got in a trade last week....I use Bio Domes under gro-lights...
good luck

It takes such a short time in a more controlled environment in the house..

Crowelli - I've had luck with the cupheas (various varieties), shrimp plant, turks cap, mexican flame and passion flower vines, and some various roses by taking a cutting right below a node (on new growth), removing all but the top two leaves, dipping in root hormone and putting in a mix of the perlite and soil as mentioned above. Protect from hot afternoon sun until rooted. I'm told that hibiscus works well in just perlite and I'm trying that now. Time will tell. Oh, and I know someone who has rooted the yellow and the orange esperanzas like this. I'm trying that too. So far, it looks like my almond verbena will take. I'm just trying a whole bunch of stuff out.

I rooted brug cuttings in a bubbler with great success. I think that thick stalks of hibiscus would do well in a bubbler, too.

What is a bubbler?

It's an aquarium that you fill, provide a pump and a bubbling stone, fill with water and cover with chicken wire. Put your cuttings that you are trying to root in through the chicken wire to hold them up and the extra oxygen from the bubbling stone encourages a faster root. You have to check the pH of the water frequently. Let me see if I can find one of my old pictures and I'll post it here.


edited for spelling errors.....I try to go too fast!

This message was edited May 22, 2007 10:37 PM

Here's a good thread on the bubbler:

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/658552/

I like this bubbler idea....

I have started salvias and others with 'square' stems ... kind of like ya'll with the cutting below the node and stripping most of the leaves... although i let them sit in my waterfall for a couple days, then stick em in a wet peat pot full of compost... I then set the peat pot in a plastic lid (with about an inch of water in it) because its soo hot here sometimes. I put them in filtered light (under the sweetgum tree). With salvias and other 'square' stemmed plants, leave em in there if the leaves look wilted. Sometimes they'll look sort of sad for a week then it'll rain and then you'll think ...now are they ready yet? Then about 2 more days and they'll perk up , like they were born there. Hope this helps... rooting hormones couldn't hurt either, you can always mix them in water and water the babies with it too. Sometimes I do this for a treat, I don't want them to be hooked on it though...

Manic - yup, that's about the story of cuttings. They look very sad the first few weeks but if they stay green, I usually know we've got a keeper.

I also have a worm compost bin. I use the worm 'by-product' to make a tea. I use it like you would use Superthrive...a little goes a long way. A tsp. of compost per gallon of water and feed the plants. I feed the worms every two weeks on strawberries and banana peels, provide moist newspaper for their bedding and they do their own thing. I keep them in a dark closet. I know it sounds gross but it's really not. There is no odor, no mildew, nothing. The worms take care of everything naturally and eat nothing but organics.

I can bring about 2 cups of the compost to divide up amongst everyone. This was a science experiement in my daughter's middle school class and she was able to bring it home so I've just kept them going. Good stuff! The plants love it.

Thanks for the info on the bubbler. Sounds like a great idea.

Thanks for all the info. I'll try to find a spot in the house for them. I rooted some copper plant cutting last year in water, each in it's own jar of water. The jar was filled with roots, but as soon as they were potted, they died. Don't know what's up with that.

I have an enclosed sun room and I've set up a shelf in there to root my cuttings and seedlings. They don't get too much sun since it faces south. It's also nice and warm in there. I'm rooting a couple of things in there right now, as a matter of fact!

I saw a thread on here a while back about using a clear plastic tote as a mini greenhouse. I will try to find it again. I wanted to try that but haven't yet.

This message was edited May 23, 2007 2:35 PM

Here you go. You can see it from the first tow pictures and it talks about using a soda bottle also, which I have done. I rooted some trailing wave blue petunias in a 2 liter bottle and that worked well. I think I am going to try rooting fuchsia now the same way.

Edited to say: link would be helpful! :)

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/650938/

This message was edited May 23, 2007 9:57 AM

This message was edited May 23, 2007 2:35 PM

Keyring uses the opaque containers that are deep from The Container Store to root all her things.....she posted the size and pictures under the African Violet forum...?????

Crowelli ~ plants rooted in water have more fragile roots than those in soil and I'm not a plant wizard but it has something to do with these fragile roots not being able to process what they need from soil. Too much shock. Plants rooted in a peat or soil base have sturdier root systems. Unfortunately, I am one of those that wants instant gratification. I want to see roots. I am not patient like Knolan

I found a clear plastic tote at Wa-Mart yesterday for $4.98. It's not that big but it will work for now. Can't really beat it for 5 bucks! I have some plants rooting in there now for the Houston swap. :-)

Has anyone rooted cutting from using peat pots? DH threw away my extra small pots that I had because they were in 'his' garage. :( It seems all I can find right not are peat pots or peat pellets.

You will not like them, shortstuff.......they easily rot on you and they don't even decompose when you plant the plant.....when I do use them I have to cut the bottom off the peat pot or the roots can't even get through.....I think our soil is just not good for peat pots...

Thanks, Gessie. I don't know why, but I had a feeling they wold rot too easily.

i use peat pots..then when you drop them into a bigger pot or into the ground, you just sort of rip the pot up a bit, so the plant can bust out of it....they are great because you can put them in a plastic thing with water in it and it helps the roots grow i think,

I was at HD and Wal-Mart today and was looking at the seed starting kits and stuff. Peat pots do seem pretty inexpensive. I might try a few and see how I like it and maybe buy one of the little greenhouse thingys. I had one and it got moldy so I threw it away in frustration now I wish I would have kept the tray and only thrown out the moldy pellets...

good luck....I see ManicReality likes them......

You know, I've bought plants in peat pots before from the nursery and I always take them out before planting anyway because I wasn't sure if it would really decompose or not. All I can do is try. I like asking questions and getting responses because it psyches me out to ACTUALLY do it. I have to run to Wal-mart and get goat milk for the puppies so I think I will pick up a pack and see how it goes.

I planted a bunch of morning glory seeds in those little peat pots and then planted them directly in the ground a few weeks later. They're getting really big now.

I hope these work because I just bought a bunch from Lowe's to root my cuttings in. They are having a sale on all the left over seed and seed starter kits, so I grabbed 48 three inch peat pots for under four bucks. Heads up to anyone who wants some of them, there weren't that many left. (Lowe's Royal Oaks location).

(still occasionally lurking in this forum, LOL)

I've used 5/6 oz. paper cups instead of peat pots (cheaper and easier to find)... easy to poke drainage holes in a whole stack of them with a kebab skewer. They're only good for about 8 weeks of moist conditions before they start breaking down, and I do tear the bottoms off when I plant out. Oh, and don't write on the sides of the cups to label the plants -- between the wet and the (otherwise harmless) mildew, your labels will disappear!

Plastic cups, yogurt containers, cut off plastic soda bottles... all these make great containers also if you're having trouble finding "normal" pots or if you just want to recycle/reuse. An old soldering iron or a metal kebab skewer heated on the stove makes it easy to poke holes in these, but be sure to do it where you have good ventilation.

Check out the propagation forum... in addition to the threads about bubblers, there are a couple of "roots easily in water" threads. Also, I copied out some tips on rooting cuttings from Tom DeBaggio here, http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/597232/

Critterologist, thanks for the suggestions. I like to reuse/recycle wherever I can. I bet the individual water bottles that everyone uses now would be a perfect size for this too.

Those are excellent suggestions.

Ah, that does sound like a good idea, crowelli! I have a fuchsia rooting in a 2 liter bottle now. Hoping it takes. I also planted some four o'clock seeds in clear plastic cups lefover from a BBQ. I do have to watch them that they don't get too moist, but it seems to be working. Using a skewer to poke holes sounds like a good idea to me.

When using plastic, you want to avoid ones that have any sort of constriction in their shape, or you'll be trying to slice off the whole bottle in order to free the rootball... you want containers that flare outward as they get taller or at least have straight side...

I like clear plastic cups because I can keep an eye on root development, and it's also easy to see what the moisture level looks like (you can see condensation along the sides of the cup if the potting mix is moist).

Do NOT use the yogurt cups that get narrower toward the top! You'll never pull the developed rootbal through it! Also, collect the heavy duty aluminum pans that the restaurants deliver all those company party lunches in. They make great drip/watering trays for the cups.

I went to the dollar store and bought some 9 oz clear plastic cups this year for my seeds. I then asked DH to drill holes in the bottom for drainage. He used a 1/4" bit and made 2 holes in the bottoms. He divided the cups into 4 stacks and drilled through each stack all at the same time. Took about 2 minutes! LOL

I like the water bottle idea!

Stephanie

cheers for recycling stuff also,

Clear cups work well here. I am a "want to see the roots" kind of seed starter.

I have to admit, the clear plastic has helped my anxiousness to tug too hard to see if things have taken. I like to see the roots too. I went ahead and picked up a pack of 22 jiffy pots for $1.96. Not bad, so if I don't like them, I havent' really wasted a lot of money.