Rooting Tip CuttingsThey are getting smaller....

I have been playing with rooting green tip cuttings. I started out with bigger ones and now have gotten down to much smaller tip cuttings. This one is a meadow princess in a 2 TBSP medicine cup (like for cough syrup measurement). Using mostly humidity to root and just a few drops of water in the bottom seems to keep them from rotting. They must also be covered with plastic and make sure there are always a few drops of water in the bottom of container. They are kept under lights.

Benefits: I am finding that some of the harder/slower to root varieties root much faster this way than with traditional cuttings. Of course you could get more cuttings out of the plants this way. The first ones I started with easy to root varieties like rosamond and I. Pink..those grow fast and catch up to regular cuttings quickly.

I am waiting to see how long it takes for these type of cuttings to flower.. I imagine some will have to do with whether the tip cutting comes off of a Y/or above or off a sucker.

In the medicine cup..

Too cool. I love doin stuff like that! I've had several tiny cuttings survive.. several different ways too.. it's fun! Congrats!

That is interesting and fun ...I root all my side bits (I train mine to umbrella shapes) from tiny to a few inches in washed river sand (my climate is a warmish one ...and it is Summer) I have never lost any ...I leave the bits in water overnight and then plant.
Good luck with your experiment :)

You have to watch out for bugs though because a tiny piece can be chewed off overnight ...I go check every night and pick anything off. Even bits 1/2 inch long grow :)

I can just see now - how many I can start and give away. I have so many people here that want to try them.
Thank You for the info.
I would be interested on how fast they grow also
Marie

I had very good luck with useing pearlite for the last group of cuttings I had. Wany be I was just lucky, too. I used a clear cup so I could see the root development
Mickey

Congrats Lenette. I had also tried doing it, unfortunately not bearing hopeful results. Perhaps it's because I didn't cover them.

I've tried it with plastic wrap, that creates humidity to aid the young plant from wilting while it putting out roots. It worked. Neat idea to share this with everyone, Angel!
Kim

I think rooting the cuttings in warm temps gives a 99.9% success rate ...I have never tried to root things in the cold. I think COLD is the enemy of easy root cuttings unless of course you are rooting the deciduous things. I never cover anything but grow tips so that they get the morning sun and arvo shade.

Thanks. Yes, covering them helps to keep the humidity levels up. Lights help alot too. These are in room temperature in the house (not a basement or garage) . I tried using bottom heat (heat mat) once and some of them went to mush so just keeping the room warm seems to be good enough for them.

I agree about rooting when it's warm, I believe it's the season, not the temperature that makes the difference.
I have cuttings in water outside that have been in the vase with no water changes since September! They are doing fine, even when we have dropped to 30* several times..
When I try to bring a cutting in the house where it's warm.. mush.. LOL

Here is a tiny tip cutting of Maya last year. I love those lil 9 oz plastic cups.. they are great lil greenhouses.

Cool thing! Joice, what are those little balls in the cup? coated with antifungal ground cinnamon?

ZZ that little guy looks great! I hear Maya is a harder one to root. Are those the clay ball/pellet thingys?

The little sundae/yogurt cups with the lids from McDonalds work great too. I will plant a plant into anything LOL! We should start a thread on what wierd things we plant our plants into :)