Rooting cuttings question.

I was taking cuttings this morning from my coleus and had a thought, I was wondering if anyone has tried to root cuttings in the polymer crystals that you put in pots to help keep them from drying out. I have placed a few cuttings in the crystals and will be watching them closely.

taj

Interesting. I never thought of it. Keep us posted.

Just FYI, I tried this I had some cuttings that I had placed in potting soil and about 20 that I placed in the crystals soaked with water. After 12 hours the cuttings in the crystals were wilting and falling over, the cuttings placed in potting soil had wilted some but not as much. I quickly placed cutting from crytals into a bucket of water and planted them the next day.I might have not had enough water on crytals as they seemed to be taking the water from the cuttings. If I try again I think I will use less of the crystals and more water.

taj

All cuttings wilt at first.Give your experiment a few days to see if they perk up.
After 2 weeks if they are still wilted , you'll know which works.

Since I need to do cuttings anyhow I'll give the crystals a try.

ge, when I looked at cuttings the next morning they were wilted alot. I kinda panicked and threw them in water and then transplanted in potting mix later. I really think, looking back I might no have had enough water on the crystals. I am going to try again and use just a few and I am going to soak crystals overnight so they are as plump as can be. I think they might have been taking water from cuttings..

Please, pirl if you try this can you let me know how it turned out.

taj

I took 33 cuttings, stripped them down and have them in a large coffee mug with the reconstituted crystals. I'll keep tabs on them.

this is fun

not good for long term use... some of these did not make it into soil last year ... from my NC farms order... it was good for keeping them up right and hydrated for a few days.. you would have to keep adding water every day or so when the little that didn't get soaked up evaporated .. some did sprout roots though.. the moisture from the crystals was not enough or can't get packed tight enough around the stems and most of them died

You have an ambitious seed starting rooting and cutting situation there.
I had no idea.

oh that's nothing last year I think it was 1600 cuttings from NC farms.. took me 3 days straight to get most of them in.. and Michele came and helped one day.. start at the bottom and go back up

http://davesgarden.com/community/blogs/t/onewish1/11249/

What do you do with all of that plant life.?

Michele and I more or less split the order... and I gave some away Holly's swap and to the NJ crew when we met up at fairweather... it took me two trips to deliver hers in my truck.. I wouldn't do the petunias again or the calibrachoa.. they didn't turn out so good.. but I can say the whole thing was worth doing even though I was crippled for a few days.. my back was messed up after doing all that

I "only" did the 187 Dale sent and thought my back would break! Had to do them all again when they got too big for the cell packs. I think that's my limit for new cuttings but I did do all of my own as well (and didn't count).

oh yeah.. only... LOL.. I have started taking new ones already.. but moving slower than I wanted to be

Onewish1, I keep wondering what might have happened if the pan was mostly covered with plastic, to keep in moisture?

And if the tray had 1/4 inch of water in the bottom? with a little Superthrive? And bottom heat?

I guess that sounds like it would work better.. but at that point.. just stick it in water .. just seems like a lot of extra steps.. cut a piece stick it in some sort of medium and it grows .. I don't want too much fussing .. but that's just me

Really. Coleus are so easy.

if it's not broke

:)

amen

So far they have remained quite perky in the water crystals.

it might go better because I am sure you are using a larger cutting than I received from NC farms... the ones I had in the pan were hard to keep from falling in if I added water.. sometimes they just got sucked under and I had to pull them back up.. but good to hear they are doing well

True. Mine are about 4" so they should survive and thrive.

yeah I would think that would go better

HI :)
My two eggs ( I know that not the right name) that my girlfriend and I foolishly left out in the cold has started to root in the water. They didn`t grow in the small jiffy pot despite the grow lights and bottom heat.

The roots are about 1/2 inch long . I am thinking are the polymer crystals myself.

Don`t laugh. I never started coleus in water before. Is it an easy transition when the roots are big enough to put them in dirt ? Or should I buy the crystals ?

Thanks , loveyard

I put them in soil real quick once they show roots. Then cover the plant with a plastic bag to conserve moisture, rather than overwater.

Am I right thinking that water roots are different from soil roots?

Thanks for replying.

I don`t know , I am new to this. I am in zone 10 . All we normally do is take cuttings ,strip the leaves and stick them in a pot in the shade and they grow.

But this plant was forgotten and left out in the cold. Even the root ball isn`t showing signs of life. And to make it bad , my girlfriend and I have never seen it offered on the web. Now it may be because we grow it in stronger light than the ones pictured by the sellers.
And It was a hand me down and she doesn't remember who she got it from.

I know I have seen pictures in decorating mags with bottles on shelves growing coleuses. I would like to be able to post a picture and have one of you guys ID it for me.


All I can do is try , right? :)

Loveyard

Sure - give it a try.

I've always been led to believe water roots are not the same as the roots they develop in soil but I don't know the technical/botanical differences. The cuttings I took in a mad rush and put in water did not perform as well as the stripped cuttings, leaving only two top leaves, and put directly into planting mix, never garden soil.

Dale the Gardener once commented that he thought it better to start right out in soil.

Hello All! I am brand new to Dave's, and I am so impressed with everyone's coleus! I was sad I just missed the special deal from RD.

It is my understanding water roots ARE quite different from soil roots. I start mine in water and quick put them in soil when I see a little root growth or just in soil. (depending how lazy I am) However I don't have the vast amount of cuttings you guys exhibit! I don't know what kinds of roots the gel produces. I have seen a "gel" cutting starter at stores- never tried it.

So pleased to meet you all...

when I have seen that gel... it was expensive .. so I haven't tried it either

hope Pirls experiment works

How long do they take to root in water?

I'm still a novice at this, haven't started nearly the volume that some of you have done. I've only rooted them directly in potting mix and it has worked well. Most seem to root in 1-2 weeks that way.

Karen

I dont root in water,just potting mix and when the cuttings are new I make dure they are kept wet for the first week,than water when they droop badly.

I would say it's about the same time... but I prefer rooting in soil.. when I am lazy I use water.. some of my fall cuttings are still in water and I just take new cuttings off those.. not for keeping... they are a good back up for when I forget to water the stuff and don't loose everything

I root in potting soil also and put a plastic dome or baggie over them for the first week or so and gradually take it off. Using this method I have a very high success rate.

I've had some really enthusiastic cuttings begin roots overnight!

Warmth helps

Melissa

Here are the cuttings I put into the gel crystals on February 3rd - 13 days ago. The very tiniest of roots are present on TWO of the cuttings but I didn't lose any of them.

I wouldnt say gels are a good rooting medium then.
Good experiment tho

Agreed!