Oleander Dropping Roots in Wet Greenhouse

Our greenhouse is a bubble over a heated pool --100% humidity, constant dripping of condensation from the ceiling.

Most tropical plants inluding hibiscus, banana, asparagus fern, colocasia, spider plant, areca palm, cycad, doing very well, though some such as croton and alocasia amozonica hate it.

Oleander seems to do especially well --to the point of dropping roots from its branching points.

Has anyone seen this?

First shot is the oleander.

This message was edited Jan 5, 2009 6:22 AM

If you looked carefully in the center of the previous pic, you'd see this...

I know oleander is highly drought tolerant, a favorite for road medians and other parched settings. I'm fascinated by its behavior in the opposite environment, a rainforest.



This message was edited Jan 4, 2009 10:33 PM

Cool. Never seen this, but I have never grown Oleander outside of California (dry, Mediterranean climate). I've seen it in France and Italy as well, but these are also generally dry climates. I don't recall seeing it in The Mexican tropics at all, but then I was looking at things that were unusual to me! :)

Interesting. It means, I think...that Oleander might root in water. Hmmmmm......


In fact....it might LIVE in water...

(Can you feel an experiment in the making...?)

This message was edited Jan 6, 2009 4:36 PM

As a matter of fact, 2 summers ago when we had the rainiest summer on record, the oleanders and some other plants dropped roots.
rj

Oleanders will definitely root in water. My grandmother used to do it all the time. She was a teetotaler but she would get a brown beer bottle from a neighbor and root them in that. Something about the dark glass according to her. This was in the 40's and 50's and there were no rooting hormones. Just plain tap water. I had forgotten. May just have to root a few myself.

that is pretty cool about the roots. I've never seen that. I have always rooted cuttings in water.

I'm considering some air grafting --wrapping a clump of soil mix in aluminum foil around the emerging roots --where I might be inclined to prune the plants prior to next season. Just not sure what I'd do with all those new oleanders...

In Virginia Beach, VA we often have oleanders in medians, as do a lot of other states. I think California does, too. Following this thread, I see that it is already confirmed that they root in water.

On the other hand...now that I know that it works...this summer I can keep an eye on the street median plants, and when I see a particularly good-looking one....heh, heh, heh....

Yet another reason to always carry some clippers with you in the car.

Don't leave home without 'em.