A friend in Thailand sent this to me....he collects hoyas and dischidia and just about everything else in Thailand.
http://forum.petpitcher.com/showthread.php?t=1136
Carol
New (to me) rooting idea
Carol, check out this thread. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/575527/ It was started for Brugs but I also put some Hoya cuttings in the moss and had pretty good success except with H. magnifica - it croaked. I just wish I could get some of those tubes. Talk about mass production!!
I didn't try to separate the moss from the roots either - just potted the whole thing up and never had a problem with "wet feet" on the Hoyas.
Barb
Wow! What a great idea, I wonder why I haven't thought of that? I root Episcia stolons in straight moist LFS.
Charlie's Greenhouse Supplies sells these: http://www.charleysgreenhouse.com/index.cfm?page=_a2&sr=33&cid1=224&cid2=414 which might work as well. May have to poke/drill a couple of additional holes for drainage but I do that all the time with plastic pots.
edited to correct spelling.
This message was edited Sep 10, 2008 5:26 PM
I would check with a forestry supply house. They are called forestry tubes...I use them to grow hydroponic lettuce....
Now, this fellow lives in a very humid area...and has good luck with this method... It is contrary to what I have believed which is that the roots like air...but I reckon it is similar to rooting in water. Have used molded seedling trays, and start cuttings in the small pockets with spagnum and just keep the trays on a tray of water.....
I had some small rooted plants arrive recently from a Thai seller. They were in small plastic pots packed with Sphagnum, and the root system was the same..A lot of root, and very white root, similar to Hoyas rooted in water. I have found that when you water them, the sphagnum has stayed sodden for a good period of time, and 1 rotted off quite quickly altho it had a lot of healthy root when I received it. I am now watering them, and tapping the whole root ball out and letting them air dry until I deem them dry enough to pop back in their pots. Im a bit nervous of them all rotting, and as yet, I havent seen what happens when they are potted on into a different mix ( 50/50 Orchid/Perlite ) and how the roots cope, because my feeling, I may be wrong, is that they are always going to be sodden around the base when watered, whereas the surrounding mix will have dried out. We shall see
My atmosphere isnt nearly as humid as Thailand, which is maybe why I have had a problem since they arrived
Dominic
Dominic...that has been my experience as well... But I have had some limited success. Shawn in Thailand has had GREAT success and my question is...WHY??
Not sure. The plants had been in the post for 3 weeks......When they finally arrived they were bone dry, including a H lasiantha...yet, after a good soak, they all plumped up, including the lasiantha. I tipped them out of their pots when they arrived to soak them, which is when I first noticed the great root system which was still intact and white. However, after the good soak, they just didnt dry out, so I had to tip them out to dry quicker..same thing second watering, and then one rotted off, an affin engleriana which is now in a baggie, tho I dont hold out much hope for that one as the growth was very young. Ive potted the lasiantha on now into my own mix as it has started new growth, and Ill do the same with the others next week. My hope is that with a very loose mix around the sphagnum, they will breath better than crammed into a plastic pot. Yet, the grower in Thailand obviously was having good results with his method
Maybe its like drying clothes..In a very humid atmosphere they never really dry and thus maybe the original plant source, or rather its growing medium, never really dries out in between waterings in very humid countries, so they are more accustomed to constant wet roots.
I myself like to root in the final medium, so maybe Im seeing too much into this, and the one that rotted off was just bad luck..dunno, but my medium is very chunky, and the roots adhere to the bark and are different to the roots in the sphagnum..we shall see. Roots formed in water dont get air around them, yet they survive. But, whereas these looked like water roots, they did dry out in between waterings ( eventually)
Do you know what he pots them into after they have rooted? Is it Sphagnum, or does he then pot on into a different medium?
Hmmmm will have to ask him. I root very much the opposite....in perlite/cinder/hydroton keeping it barely moist and misting the plants. Go figger!