Hi,
I have some leaves that i am trying to root. The cuttings are about 2 weeks old.
They are planted in perlite and compost (half and half).
All the pots are kept inside a big transparent plastic container with the lid on but I keep a bit of a gap for air to circulate.
Some of the leaves, smaller and more delicate, are wilting. I don't think water is the problem as they are kept humid.
They are kept on top of a plant heating mat.
what should i do?
Thank you for any help.:o)
need help with wilting leaf cuttings
Hiya Spider,
Check and see if maybe it's too hot & dry?
I've always used long fiber spaghnum moss & perlite for my tiny leaves.Your compost may have had a fungus or virus in it that could be the problem.
You could try soaking them in a warm solution of Superthrive & water.
MsC
I have heard of leaves wilting from too much moisture too. How does the stem look? Is it firm or soft? I know I've had trouble before with too much moisture when rooting and the stems end up soft and mushy.
Thank you Mrs Critterkeeper,
The compost i use has fungicide in it. It is humid, not too dry or too wet.
I think i will switch the heating mat off and see what happens.
Now...where do i keep the superthrive???
hi Plantladylin,
They are streps and i am rooting just leaf cuttings. I don't have the stems to check. It doesn't feel wet, just humid but I can feel that the soil is warm. Maybe it is too warm?
I have never used heat mats so I have no clue about those. I learned from somebody on this site about cutting the mid vein (I think it's called) center of the leaf, to form a stem for rooting. I tried rooting from just cutting the leaves and sticking them in the soil but it never worked for me. I can't even keep a mature strep alive much less the leaves, LOL! I have rooted Chirita leaves by cutting to make a stem.
I hope you are able to save your little ones to get babies from them. Keep us posted.
Hi Spider..I am not an expert..lol..far from it but if I were you I do think I would remove them from the heating mat and maybe crack the lid open for a day and see if that might help them perk up.Sinse they are strep leaves I think you are maybe right about them being too warm..Good luck!
Well, I'm sure Gail will know, but til she comes around try cooling them down since they're strep leaves. Someone said you could put them in the fridge for a bit.
MsC
Oh goodness.....no heating pad. I tried that, learned the hard way....no heating pad. Streps really need to be as cool as you can possibly make them right now. I don't know what to recommend other than that though. If you had JUST put them down, I would recommend taking them out of the mix and soaking them in cold water with a drop of superthrive but since they have been down 2 weeks, it's too late to do that. Do you have anyplace nice and cool that you could put them?
Hope they perk up for you Spider :)
Kim
Hi girls,
Kim, just switched the heating mat off and opened the lid.
Thank you everyone for your help.:o)
I have 16 leaf cuttings that I hope are rooting.
Most of them recovered when I took the heating mat off but 3 still look wilted. The soil is not too dry or too wet and the others are doing well.
I just don't know what to do anymore. Do they root even when they look like they are wilting?
Thank you:o)
Spider..never give up hope..a few weeks ago I noticed one of my leaves from silvia I had put down was totally brown..thought it was dead so I took it out of the dome..well I forgot to throw it away and the other day when I went down to check leaves I noticed a baby coming up in my dead silvia leaf pot..lol..go figure :o you gotta squint to see it but its a baby..must be a fighter..lol
Thank you Cedarnest.
That is a cute little thing.:o)
I never never give up on a strep leaf making a baby! Sometimes, the mother leaf is completely dead like Cedarnest said.....and then up pops a baby!
Here is Shanika-come-lately- new to propagating strep leaves and experiencing similar problems. A couple of the leaf cuttings are turning brown and mushy at the very top. I cut the brown mushy part off and ventilated the trays by poking tiny holes at various places in the lid. I also took the lid off to get some of the moisture out. I hope this does the trick! The leaves have been down for about 1 week. Did I do the right thing by cutting off the mushy part at the top? Am I doing the right things?
You may have the mix too wet..............because you only want it just barely damp...........then you want to keep the lid on tight.............take off every couple of days...........but they need the humidity............be very careful that your mix is not wet.........just barely damp...........
If you need to, take all of them out and place on layers of paper towels or newspapers the rest of the day..............it will drain the excess water out of the pots you have them in..............