Roots Easily In Water II

Continued from http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/523734/#top

Thanks for the great info on the Gardenias, I will try that when I get some new growth on mine. I know one reason for cutting leaves in half is to stop their growth. You cut the top half of the leaf off.

Suzi, I would LOVE to be able to send you a cutting of Frosty Pink, but I don't have any either, mine croaked too. =^( I would also love some of that French Pussy Willow, I've been trying to get some for quite a while now, so let me see what I have around here that you may like and I'll d-mail you.

I also don't remember what links...LOL! I'll have to look back through the other thread and see what I was talking about. Sheesh!

Heather

Heather - what I meant was to put the link to this one there, and vice versa. You did it already!

Got your D-Mail and answered before found this had been started. We got the Fr PW at WM and planted it here in 03. Remember to keep it trimmed down, or they will be up too high to see! That is why I trimmed and had these starts.

~ Suzi :)

Gotcha. ;-)

Well I put it off long enough...I finally got my air pump, air stone, tubing and connectors this weekend. Won't get to hook them up until tonight, had company yesterday. The whole set up was less than $20 and I should be able to do a minimum of three buckets or a couple larger containers. Just need to pick up some hydrogen peroxide and cups and start gathering cuttings.

Heathrjoy......Question....Do you have to add more H2O2 periodically or just when you change water?

I don't actually change my water, I just top it off whenever it's low. The H2O2 seems to keep it clean. I just add some every now and then. I'd say don't add it more than once a week. If I remember correctly I think I read that it takes around 3 days for it to dissipate in sunlight. I keep my bubbler in the shade, since it's not a good idea to keep anything that's rooting in direct sun. I'm figuring that since the air stone is making the H2O2 possibly air off a bit faster...maybe breaking it down a bit faster...well, I really don't know how fast it would break down. So, I just figured that if I add it once a week I'm ok.

I read where someone said Rose of Sharon would root in water. I put 2 green cuttings in the bubbler just about 3 days ago and they are starting to show the tiniest bit of roots already. Now that is fast!! As soon as there is more room I'll be rooting dozens of cuttings. How easy is this? =^)

You def make it sound sooooo easy! Will have to start doing this too from the sound of it! ~ Suzi :)

I can't wait to get started. I root Rose of Sharon in soil and trailing Lantana, etc. Some luck, but mostly fade just when I think they are going to take. The Rosemary I have is a huge bush, I would love to get some of that going. I had some root in soil, then died. I think the H2O2 will help my ratio of sucess, can't hurt. I trimmed it this year and threw away enough to fill a big rubbermaid tub. :-((

Wonder what I am doing wrong??? Have the Propagation setup as outlined in previous postings. Umbrella plant which gets sprouts from the top of the leaf stem (in water upside down) had roots within a week or so. Have had Cats Claw, snail vine, creeping fig and trumpet vine in the water for at least 10 days and still nothing. Used the middle third of the cutting as described previously - no leaves below the surface of the water and total length of the cutting is about 6-8 inches. Also have hydrogen peroxide in the water as well. Am I being too impatient or is it something I am doing that is quite not right? Any input is greatly appreciated!!!!

Are they outside? Typically it's too hot this time of year. If they are outside, try moving them inside-
If they are already inside...did you you use superthrive?
rj

No ~ but thank you for the information on Superthrive - Will give that a try!

May I throw in a question on water rooting a passiflora cutting? Would it work, and is there anything that I would need to do, or add to the water? I have NEVER done this before, but I need to trim up the vine and would like to see if I can get some more plants from it.

Thanks in advance,
PiggyPoo :0)

PiggyPoo, I don't know, but ask away!! That's what we are doing...sharing info on what we've rooted in water...or tried and the results we've had. I've never had a Passiflora or I'm sure I would have tried it too. Hopefully someone will come along w/ some good info soon. Have you check the first thread that's linked to this one in the first post?

Has anyone tried rooting roses or other woody shrubs (besides Rose of Sharon) in the bubbler?

Greenjay, I don't know if this is the answer you're looking for...but....whenever I try rooting anything I always use cuttings that are new growth and green, nothing woody. The green, new growth seems more likely to root in water. If you give it a try please let us know how you make out.

I don't know if you would consider Lantana a shrub, it does get woody, and I know the green growth on it will root easily in the bubbler. The same was just reported for Gardenias.

Hope that helps.

That's true..same goes for clerodendrums.

I meant cane-bearing shrubs as opposed to hostas, for example. I always use new growth that has not yet matured to have "bark".

greenjay, I'd have to say most definately they will root in water and in a bubbler. Again, I'm not certain exactly which ones and I'm sorry I cannot give you a list. Most times I just keep my bubbler going and drop things in and check on them once or twice a week. Label them if you start to get a lot of cuttings, things can get confusing!

I'm rooting Rose of Sharon right now, and it seems to be rooting very quickly for me.

Someday when I have time...which probably won't be until this winter....I'd like to go through this thread and make an Excel sheet of all the things reported that do and do not root easily in water, even including the time it takes if folks can provide that. So, please keep us posted on any results that you have.

I've tried again rooting my Clematis in the bubbler w/ no success. It never seems to rot, it just does nothing. The end seems to seal up so that there couldn't be any root growth. Any suggestions anyone? I'm not very familiar with Clematis. This one even has a strange name that has numbers in it. I'll recheck the name tomorrow and post it.

Well my bubbler experience has just begun......
I have a little of everything in there!! Four air stones and I think about 25 cups. LOL!!

Has anyone ever rooted Asclepias curassavica or Bloodflower? I've heard that it roots easily, but don't know if that's in soil or water.

I have 'Silky Gold' and Mexican in my tub, will let you know. I have put a piece in water that broke off mowing and it roots showing in 1 week.

Sheila, explain to me what you did with your tub of plants. Did you cut the bottoms out of the cups. How much H2O2 are you putting in the water. Are the bubblers just at one end? Wishing you lotz of luck with this.

Yes..I was wondering on the cups too.

Re the clematis- I had same results on Rangoon creeper- I did however keep one of the cuttings to make sure nothing was going on and stuck it in a small pot- and it rooted...!

Well I am just taking direction fro Heathrjoy's post on the previous part 1 of this thread. I procrastinated for two months, and finally did it myself.

I am using a storage tub, and have added water about half way up on the 12 oz cups and 4 tblsp of the drugstore (3%)H2O2. I think I will add a bit more tomorrow to make sure the stems are covered well. The pump has tubing that is split with connectors and attached is four air stones. I have them located in the 4 different quadrants of the tub. The cups per heathrjoy's method, has open splits around the outside to allow circulation of the water and peroxide. I used aquatic soil in the bottoms of the cups to weigh down the cups, but pea gravel would work too. I got carried away and have way too many plants in it, may need a second tub!!
Check out the posts on the part 1 is real interesting, here is the link. It is about May 27th that her post has pictures you can see into the cups better.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/523734/#top

I don't have time right now, but maybe later this evening I can post more info if anyone has questions. I may be able to post better pics too. I'm in the middle of cleaning house for a boat load of company that's coming. DH is running the vacuum upstairs right now....better run or he'll sweep me up next!!

Sheila you're bubbler looks fantastic!! Great job!! Can't wait to hear & see all your results!

Ooooh, I have to find my old, abandon little aquarium. It's somewhere...

Thanks for the great idea. I definitely will try it this weekend. How I love to do new things.

Eliza

It may be cheating to add a little Sphagnum to the water,but it seems to work wonders. I am using clean healthy fresh killed, but want to try living Sphagnum. It stimulates the roots and has antibiotic and anti-algae benefits. Have a lot of Ebay stuff, few roots, no dirt and none of the necessary fungi. It saves? on shipping.
Larry

Cheating? whatdya mean? threres no such thing- I mix sphangum in everything including a bit in my potting soil- it really does work well in the propagation. I definately recommend it. I buy it by the bale.
Rj

Update on my bubbler....not good. I have very poor results with it the first time. I may try it again later outside, but it's been too hot lately so that is why I left it indoors. I think my DH kept the blinds closed most of the time and we don't have grow lights in the shop, so that may be what did me in. I had luck with the milkweed, and a couple mints. Other than that I was dissapointed. I figured I will try again outside in the shade.

Disappointed here in Phoenix, AZ as well! Too hot outside so had the setup on my kitchen counter - close to a window. Tried cuttings from snail vine, bower vine, cats claw, trumpet vine. Must have done something not quite right but will definitely try again early spring!!

I'm wondering if either of you have any insight on what went wrong. I also tried bubbling as my first attempt (but not on a very large scale) and haven't tried it since. I think I did almost everything wrong including:

1. Not changing the water frequent enough. I did use the H2O2 and changed the water every other day. I used about a capful to every cup of water, but maybe it should have been more.
2. I didn't really know where to make the cut on the stem and have since learned it is important to have the cut just below the leaf noid.
3. I didn't remove enough leaves and there were times the leaves got in the water.

What else could have gone wrong? I used T connections and made 4 small glass size bubblers. Maybe there just wasn't enough oxygen being introduced into the bubbler container. I also think light may have been an issue. I only used natural lighting that came in from an east window.

Obviously, people have been successful using this method, but I'm guessing those are the people who routinely have success rooting in water without a bubbler. I would appreciate hearing from those folks about what the basic rules are for rooting in water.

my try to root mint in water was a complete failure. :o(

I know some people use it all year around, but I only use mine in early spring, when there is low humidity and cool temps- just works better for me that way, but not sure exactly why. I suspect that higher temps promotes a faster rate of degradation of the cutting, which of course inhibits it's propagation abilities. But then I have a pocket full of theories!! lol.

Then I will be putting it up til Spring. Your experience is a valid therory for me.

At least in our hotter areas. This time of year I have better luck and mixing a dense soil up for the cuttings - I also mix a wee bit of sphangum moss in the soil. I think things like mint that don't have a strong stem are more challenging anyway.

Someone mentioned earlier that all sages root in water....I'm not being that lucky yet. My bubbler will have to go outside and it's just too hot for that,so I've been doing some indoors with water+h2o2. Salvia "Waverly" always roots readily in water, even before I tried h2o2. This last week have tried "Oceana Blue, rotting. "Raspberry Truffle" and "Tequila" rooted right away. "Phyllis' Fancy" is supposedly akin to "Waverly" but is not rooting yet,but not rotting either. "Wagneriana" not rooting. "Indigo Spires" not rooting, wilting right away. Since it roots soooo readily in peat/vermiculite I'm surprised, but perhaps put too many cuttings in one container. Will try again with "Indigo Spires". In the meantime rather than lose more time before winter, am taking cuttings the usual way also (peat/vermiculite)
Sherry

Someone mentioned earlier that all sages root in water....
Salvia was a genus well defined by flower peculiarities until DNA testing. Salvia are now two genera on opposite extremes of the mint family. Those native to Mexico (old and New) and California (Alta y Baja) and their scattered other relatives are difficult to propagate.
Larry

Yes, I have geranium cuttings in peat and vermiculate also. The 2 that I took in July rooted, so just last week I took a bunch of others. Also, last week I put cuttings in rooting gel. I have three different lantana, white and red double impatients, tango mango impations, dark blue wave petunias and some million bells. I put them under lights and I think that is helping the geraniums. I thought the ones in gel looked a little dry, so I'm misting those periodically. The gel packs came with a plastic propagator and the instructions said to keep the bottom covered in water, but I don't think that's enough. After a week, nothing has died, but I'm not seeing roots either. This reminds me of being a kid and waiting for Christmas.

BTW, the method I'm using on the geraniums is the 10 inch bulb pot with the 2.5 inch plugged clay pot in the middle filled with water. The hardest part is finding the small clay pots. I was only able to find 2 locally. The good thing about it, one 10 inch pot can take alot of cuttings. Think I'll add some lantana cuttings to this pot today and see what happens.

I saw a fungus gnat the other day, so I took an old 8.5 oz hairspray bottle, cleaned it up and mixed water and dishsoap. Two days later, I'm not seeing any gnats and the mist from the hairspray bottle is so much nicer than from the bottle that I have just plain water in. I have gone back to using the plain water again. This week I'm going to go in search of Chick grit, but I'm not aware that too many people in the Twin Cities area raise chickens.

Has anyone done Yesterday,today and tomorrow ?
I get flowers but either no seed or they are gone when I check . Never had volunteers from seed .
This is the big variety - 3 inch flowers .

I'm not familar with that plant. DO you have a picture? I'd give it a try and see what happens. You might get a big surprise.

Hi everyone,
Sorry for the absence, I had a back injury that I'm still recovering from. However, I lost my bubbler setup during the injury so I will have to set it up again and am hoping to do that this week and take pics for everyone. I will post the set up in my DG Diary and post here when it's done.


Someone mentioned adding Sphagnum to the water. Has anyone done this with success? I'm just wondering what the benefit would be?


For the folks who are having troubles with the bubbler set up I'd recommend setting it up and NOT using H2O2 at first. Maybe just water for the first week or two. Things still root faster in a bubbler than they do sitting in bucket or glass of water. It's still the idea of more oxygen from the air stone.

The amount of H2O2 to use is 1 Tablespoon per Quart (4 cups) of water. I've figured that it takes about a week for the H2O2 to dissipate or air off from the bubbler if it's in the shade...and this is a guess. If too much H2O2 is added it's bad, it will decompose organic material...in other words it will eat your plants that you're trying to root, it will rot them. If the H2O2 is kept at the right amount, the bubbler is kept in the shade and kept where debris will not fall into it, it should only need to be topped off and the water should not need to be changed....at least this has been the case with my set up.

I change my water maybe once a month, if that. When I change the water all it consists of is dumping the bucket and rinsing it.

I'm sorry that so many folks had such a bad time with their bubblers. I really don't understand what went wrong. I'd really like for everyone to be able to see how easy this really is. I'll get the pics of my set up done asap.