Hi-Fresh natural rooting hormone tried

Whenever I would get leaves from the Velvet leaf i could see that the tips of the petioles of the leaves had been dipped in something..............they were starting to get almost calloused.
The short of of the story is that i ordered some and it works!!!!!!!!!!! Every sticking is going faster with this hormone.
All I know (I lost the sheet of paper) is that 2 tablespoons is 5.00 and 1 dollar postage. You can get as much as you wish but this 2 tablespoons will last for hundreds of leaves to be stuck.

This pictures shows a small av leaf started on July 13th and I have babies already................have to attribute something to this hormone. The directions said to feed with vitamin b and I didn't............just used watered down fish emulsion...........

PS>>>>>>>>>>>>I have no association with the Velvet leaf other than as a vendor I like.......

Wow Gail! You really put that down just a month ago? That great! I've had ears in 4 weeks a time or two, but those are full-blown babies! Great growing! Did you put any others down the same day that have babies? I'd be interested to know if it works that well on the majority of leaves. :o)

The majority of the leaves I stuck that day don't show babies yet.............and a few show an ear.............but this is amazing for me as these are stuck in vermiculite and perlite only........now I am using your recipe................your wicking and growing mix.

Am sticking several of each kind of Strep I have............today.....................
My plans changed and I don't know whether I will be going out of town or not.............that weather is hanging out in the gulf................we are supposed to get a lot of rain out of it.........tomorrow and Thursday...........but the sun has already gone away today...........thanks be to God!!!!!!!!!

Watch closely the ones you're wicking, Gail. Remember, I don't wick, so my mix might be a bit heavy for it...

Those are still some neat results! I wonder how it would work on other Gessie cuttings? Hmmm... Have you tried it on anything other than AV leaves?

It's horridly hot here still, and supposed to be 102 on Thursday!!! That's the temperature, NOT the heat index. I don't even wanna think about what the heat index will be. And of course, no rain in sight...

that is what we had yesterday Amy.............and today is cloudy getting ready for a lot of rain tomorrow and Thursday from that tropical storm sitting out in the Gulf...........

I don't wick my new leaves, Amy................but I am a little worried about these new plantlets I potted up on Saturday and did wick............right now, I know they are too wet so I have a fan blowing on them and circulating around the room

I think that I am going to remove the wet acrylic blanket material from the bottom until they dry up a little more..........

*********edited to say that lady from Alice came over, helped me and took a lot more than I kept........don't have room...........

This message was edited Aug 14, 2007 12:48 PM

These all need to be divided............I never catch up, but maybe that is part of the thrill of growing..............

Oh how nice those babies look! The good thing is you never run out of something to do, having as many plants as we do! LOL You're doing such a great job, Gail, especially to have so recently started with Gessies! :o)

i don't think I can even go out of town................I used to make fun of these old eccentric ladies who did nothing but grow all day.................that would be me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am still playing catchup on wicking everything I have...........almost there...............I am not afraid to be wicking with your mix as I was having to use 2 strings to a pot before...........the mix was too light..............

That's me with the plants and the dogs. I jhate leaving my plants, and I just know the dogs miss me as much as I do them! LOL I'd take the dogs wherever we go if I could, but I'm pretty sure the plants wouldn't enjoy that! LOL

Let me know how wicking with that mix goes. If it works for you, I might try it on just one to see how it works out. I'm liking the Texas method very, very well, though! :o)

I just remember that I used your mix when I divided the plantlets and I did put 1/3 perlite in the bottom of the wicked new plantlet.................we will see what happens...............

Gail,
That's pretty impressive. I have tried the rooting hormone you can get at any garden dept. and I ended up pulling the leaves out and rinsing it off - the leaves were wilting. After I got it off they picked up and now have babies. The stuff you have must be better.

Amy- I tried the Texas method also and the plants really like it. But I can't find any of the clear pots bigger than 9 oz. I didn't like the wicking method, I had a lot of trouble getting the wicks to draw and I don't like the soil I bought. It was composed of peat moss and small balls of styrofoam, I have never seen anything like it. It fills the pot up, but once its wet it packs down to half the size and you have to add more, and then again and again.

AND.................... guess what? I have blooms again. And on a Strep. I can't believe it. I haven't had blooms in my house since I started trashing violets and having water problems. I repotted all of the plants, some in the Texas method and a few wicked. Then I changed fertilizer from Miracle Gro to Monty's Joy Juice, 8-16-8. Then every time I water I add Prime a chemical that cleans up aquarium water and removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia. I am so excited about this. Most of the failing plants have picked up and started to grow again. I'll post a pic tomorrow.

Susan, I had my streps in my office on the west side of the house with 4 gro-light stands in the one room. I noticed my streps weren't blooming like they normally do. When I moved them to a bedroom on the east side of the house on a gro-light stand they are doing much better. Somewhere I had read the streps like the temps from 55 to 75 degrees................I am positive that in the afternoon this office was getting warmer than that. Now I have a big oscillating fan plus the overhead fan on in my office..................everything is doing better.

gessiegail,
I have never heard of this rooting hormone (Hi-Fresh) or seen it in any stores in my area. Can you tell me more about it? Where you bought it? Is it in a powder or liquid form?

Thanks for any information. I wonder how hoya cuttings would do dipped in it?

Shirley

I really think that it is more for soft leaves...............I don't know the contents as I lost the sheet of paper it came with..............all I know is that it is from Germany and has all natural components to it...............works great on all the gesneriad family and causes the petiole tip to callus quickly.

I would think you would be better off with the root tone or regular rooting hormone with hoyas....................but remember she dips them before she sends out...............so I have thought of dipping other things( harder cuttings) in them............putting them in a plastic bag and waiting a few days to stick...............make any sense to you??????????????

Yes, it makes sense. Thanks for the information.

you are welcome..............back to packing............

Gail the hi-fresh sure works fast! Look at all your healthy babies. Do you remember where you got it?

:) Donna

It comes from www.velvetleaf.com
They can send 2 tablespoons for 5.00 and 1.00 for shipping..................that is a lot of rooting powder although i bought more as I use it everyday...........

Do you use rooting powder on everything, Gail?

if I think about it, yes..............jannich has a good idea..........she takes a little brush and gets some rooting hormone and puts it on a little plate.................because you don't ever want to put used hormone left over back with the original hormone.................I always get too much so I use it for days for rooting.............can't stand to waste it................

Gail I click on the link and it didn't work. I also found a site called www.thevelvetleaf.com which sells violets but I couldn't find anything there about the Hi-Fresh.

:( Donna

Ok..............let me go to the gardenwatch dog and check myself................

1-530-637-9000
lynn@thevelvetleaf.com

Here is her email............lynn...........she is so nice.........just email her and tell her you would like some of the rooting hormone and what i said..........she will send it to you..............

Thanks, Gail. I just sent her an email.

she is sooooooooo nice and will be happy to help you................

Hi there!

I think the rooting hormore is wonderful! I tryed it on cuttings I got in a trade a few weeks ago and everthing is already rooted.

are you serious?????????? I love the stuff.................it works..................hi back to you , my friend...............

I want to give this rooting stuff a try, thanks for the e-mail address in order to make contact Gail.

I have a question, is fish emulsion the same as the seaweed fertilizer that is carried at The Violet Showcase or is there another name and source??

Thanks in advance! ~Brenda

Brenda, the seaweed fertilizer carried at the Violet showcase is much better and refined than regular fish emulsion................i bought some seaweed fertilizer and Snow told me to use it as a spray............it is amazing also.........................don't settle for the fish emulsion.......the other doesn't even have an odor to it.....................well worth the money for it!!!!!!! and it lasts forever used as a spray...........particularly on small babies coming up that don't have much color in them......................

Great, I'm just off the phone with The Violet Showcase with adding the Seaweed Fert to the order I had faxed in last night. Really nice people to talk to and work with and even gave me a couple of pointers on how to save some money on my order by switching a couple of things around! I really appreciate it when they do their best to help out the customer instead of their own pocketbook!

~Brenda

Brenda..................I have to tell you that this quick pic I took is blurry.........but you sent me several leaves of Oyster Glades (sp?).........I separated the babies on just one last night and only took 6 plants from the mother.......there were many more....but idon't have room..........the mother leaf was still in such good shape, I stuck her once again..............

here are the babies along with some other new babies..........Oyster glades are in front.......I had called it Brenda's noid but since then she has acquired this name.........am I right??????

Wow, Gail those babies look great, such a a good size! I had put a leaf down at the same time I sent this one to you and it has several babies up on it but they aren't as big as yours yet!

The name is Silverglade Oysters...

~Brenda

Thanks for the name..........I am using avery labels to put on each one as I always lose the names.........determined not to lose names this time...................

gessiegail, I just received 25 leaves from Lynn, 3 as gifts,thanks to you. We were talking about the hormone and I ordered it and couldn't resist the clicking and calling of beautiful leaves. They arrived yesterday and are in cups now. Thank you for sending me to her. You are always so helpful and I really appreciate it. Hope you have a good evening and a wonderful day tomorrow. Elaine

Isn't she delightful for a vendor? i just can't wait until I pot up all my leaves so i have a good excuse to go back and order more!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ye she is and I'm sure I will be back there before to long.

be sure and show us your leaves when the babies start to appear.................it is just too exciting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!