Hi!
I have poked around in Dave's Garden for a long time. What a great resource! I finally got around to joining and now I have even more things to check out,lol.
I see a lot of familiar "faces" from MPG, hi guys!
I am trying my hand at starting some cuttings, but so far no rooting. I have had one cutting succumb to rot, the others just seem to be taking their sweet time. ; ) I have moved them to a better shelving unit, with much more light. With that and the heat mat, I am hoping for somebody to get busy, lol. I have patience though, and I know MI isn't the ideal plumie paradise.
Glad to be here!
Linda
New to this Forum
I'm pretty new myself, but welcome Linda!
Hi Linda, I occasionally view MPG threads, but there is a lot of misinformation there in my view. Are you trying to water-root your cuttings? That is something that I would never ever do unless it was the middle of summer and only if I didn't have time that day for potting them up. I have water-rooted plumerias, and I don't ever recommend anyone doing it. Plumerias store water in their stems and putting them in water is an easy way to get them to rot. As it is, this is not the ideal time to be rooting cuttings. For most people in cooler climates, spring and summer are the best time to root cuttings. If you have to root them during the fall and winter, a heating pad, good draining soil, and supplemental overhead lights are a must. The soil temperature should be at least 80 degrees, and higher is better. 'Singapore' in particular -- which I saw on MPG that you lost -- can be difficult to root even under the most ideal conditions. I had two 'Singapore' cuttings root this summer, but I had to graft the third 'Singapore' cutting that just wanted to rot instead. If someone advised you to water root them, you got some bad advice, I'm afraid. Here is my article on how I root cuttings: http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/45/
Edited to add: I forgot to say "Welcome to Dave's!" I surely hope you will be around for more than two months.
This message was edited Oct 24, 2007 3:47 PM
Hi Clare,
Ironically, I had just finished reading your article before coming back here. Lots of good info, there.
I do believe my biggest problem is heat. I have 4 48" fluorescents on my "plant shelf". I ramped that up from a single 24" and spot that I had to begin with.
ya, I sure picked the wrong time of year for this- I hope I can get these guys through the winter.
Hi Linda, if you have got well-draining soil on heat mats with your lights, you should do okay. As long as your cuttings aren't in water, you shouldn't see any more rot.
To go from water to soil, do they gave to be dried out first?
Yes, the ends should be dried and calloused.