Anyone have any opinions on what seems to be the best temperature and humidity level for rooting cuttings? Also, is air movement good/bad/indifferent when it comes to rooting? I just made a "rooting chamber" - just shelving encased in plastic, along with a heat mat, lighting and water for humidity, as well as a fan. The temperature is fluctuating between 77 and 82 and the humididty level is staying in the 80's.
Side note: the seed pods on my dischidia vidalii burst open on Friday as I was preparing for company...got 'em scattered in a pot and am keeping my fingers crossed!
Thanks!
Kelly
Best Temperature and Humidity Level for Rooting
The best success I ever had was rooting cuttings in my terrarium. Very humid. I was so impressed...they had roots all along the stems. Unfortunately, they weren't so happy when I took them out and potted them up...I lost a couple in the transition.
I get my new cuttings tomorrow and I still haven't decided what method I'm going to use. I might just get a chunky mix going and root them right in the pots that will be their permanent homes...
I used a chunky mix in shallow bulb pots with bottom heat and bright light. It was this past winter indoors so humidity was not great but I kept them hydrated. 100% success and amazingly quickly. They are still in those shallow bulb pots and putting on tons of new growth.
Thanks podster! I do believe that is how i will root them this year. I found some orchid bark (finally) and had DH cut it into smaller pieces...I'll add in some perlite and a few cups of hydroton and that should be plenty chunky enough you think?
Depending on the size of the cuttings, I have put smaller hoyas in pots with my normal potting media ( 1/3 cactus mix, 1/3 perilite, 1/3 orchid mix ) in a aquarium with no lid and river rock on the bottom. My bigger hoya cuttings went into the same soil mix in 4 inch hanging pots. I live in North Dakota. I had 2 dozen pots of cuttings sprawled all over the house. Areas with good light ( south and west windows with overhangs ), areas with low light ( north window and to the back wall of the the living room). As long as I did not let them get too dry in the soil and misted everyday they rooted. As a matter of fact I unpotted all these cuttings Saturday to check on their progress. 2 weeks post chopping, rooting hormone and potting. This time a year I don't think it makes a huge difference on how you do it. The plants just know it's the growing season. Out of all of them I only lost one plant. they have all had roots small to big. All are being treated like regular plants now. Keep in mind I have only rooted 2 small cuttings, last summer, ever. This was my first box of mass cutting I recieved in the mail. I personally would not try to root under a terrerium condition. It makes it very difficult to get the plant to adjust to what would be their normal growing conditions in your home.
Also the temps. in my house range from 64° at night to 70° during the day right now. Only humididty I use is through misting.
This message was edited Jun 8, 2009 11:37 AM
I have rooted under terrarium conditions and had no problems acclimating them. I just gradually removed the cover of the terrarium to let them slowly adjust to less humidity. I did leave the top a bit open during the rooting period and had an aquarium heater in a mason jar filled with water in the terrarium to provide heat and humidity. It worked like a charm!
I am rooting now in semi hydro clay pellets in a small terrarium type container with bottom heat. Worked well with the bella cutting I practiced on...hopefully it will work with the cuttings I got in the swap.
Sue
Sorry I should have been clearer. I used a chunky mix which is about half orchid mix and half normal potting soil. HTH ~pod
edited to add... I think as long as the consistency is right, the ingredients will work. I am a bit new at rooting Hoya cuttings and felt there was a fine line between dry and too moist.
This message was edited Jun 8, 2009 1:56 PM
I think the message here is that you should slowly aclimatize your plants from rooting care to regular care, no matter what rooting method you use. I have mine loosely covered with clear plastic bags for the first week. Then I let regular air in a bit at a time, but keep the humidity up by putting the plant in the bag (opening at the top instead) but leaving the bag open slightly at first and then a little bit more every couple of days. The whole process takes about a month. And I never check to see if it has roots, I just assume after a month that it does.
Christine
It's so warm here and we have high humidity year round, so the baggie method doesn't work for me. I've tried rooting in water and it does work but sometimes I have trouble with the transfer from water to potting medium causing stress, so I root in the mix they are going to stay in for hopefully a long while.
I have stuck some cuttings into my 10gal aquarium/terrarium to root and that works well. The Terrarium has a lid with light and sometimes it's gets so moist in there I have to open the lid for a few hours. The light stays on probably fifteen hours a day or more and there have been a few times where it's stayed on continuously for a few days. There's a carnosa Tricolor (Krimson Queen) in there right now as well as another cutting I got in trade and I can't remember who it came from or what the name is. A year or so ago I rec'd a cutting of serpens in trade, put it in the terrarium and it did real well for a long time, such a cute hoya. I read that it was one that didn't like heat but it was doing so well I left it and forgot about it .. must have died in there though cause it's gone ... probably should have taken it out when I first heard it liked cooler conditions!