I have had some pieces of Fittonia Red Anne in my bubbler for a little while now and I thought I would check to see if they were ready to pot and boy what a surprise. They all had great root systems and were ready for potting. Here a photo showing how well their roots have grown.
Jesse
Here you can get an even closer look at their roots.
Jesse
Here is something that I've never heard of doing before but I just thought I would give it a try. I took a plain leaf with no stem attached to it and put it down in the bubbler. And believe it or not, the plain leaf grew roots. Here is a photo of that.
Jesse
And here they are, all potted up and ready to grow.
Jesse
And they look great! You did a fantastic job! I'm curious- do you keep a heater on your bubbler?
CJ, I do not keep a heater on my bubbler. I keep it in my greenhouse and I keep that above 65F. I was wondering if I needed a heater on it but so far things are doing so well that I don't think I need one.
Jesse
I just finished emptying my bubbler of all the things that have grown roots. I potted up 3 Caricature plants, 1 more Fittonia, and 2 "Silver" Philodendrons. I have found that the "Silver" Philodendrons are very hard to root which is really odd since philodendrons usually root pretty easily. I still have a couple in the bubbler that do not have roots on them yet.
Jesse
Hey Y'all .... don't mean to sound like a novice, but I guess I am (even though I have a gazillion houseplants! I've been rooting stuff in glasses of water for years, but what is a bubbler? I've never seen one or heard of it before, and I'm not THAT old (58)!! LOL
Anyhow, sounds like this bubbler thing might be something worth investing in! I'm real interested in hearing about it!
Lin
Hi Lin
I haven't tried it either. They are taking old acquiams (sp) or large plastic tubs with bubblers & sometime heaters and using different supports to hold the cuttings up and they root faster than just sitting in water. It has more oxygen in the water. I can't decide if I want to try or not. Still listening to everybody else.
They have 1 already put together for $150.00 that I'm drooling over. But if you already have the materials they say it's not much to put together.
This message was edited Dec 2, 2006 9:16 PM
Jeri: $150!?!!?? Too steep for my pocketbook! I will just settle with sticking things in a glass of water! LOL.
Lin
I know. Me too. It's for the more serious growers. The ones shown on DG cost alot less. You have d-mail.
The one I made costs me less than $10. I bought the plastic bin and plastic tubing from Walmart, the pump was given to me but can be purchased from Walmart for less than $10, and I had some of the grid left over. What I love so much about it is that the water stays so much cleaner. When I put stuff in a cup to root I usually forget about it and it usually dries up or gets really yucky. The water in the bubbler is always moving so it does not get so gross. I have found that some things will root in the bubbler that will not root in just a glass of water. The Fittonia leaves rooted in the bubbler but will not root in a glass of water, not for me anyway. I have actually never had anything to root just from a leaf but leaves root great in the bubbler. Plus the water is always moving and it helps keep the humidity up in the greenhouse. I have nothing put positive things to say about my little bubbler.
Jesse
Neat growing Jesse !
I might have to try making one with salvageable parts and things. My husband has a 150 salt water aquarium and always has tubing and stuff .... I might be able to find some of the things I need right here at home for a home made bubbler! I'll have to think on that!
Lin
I think it is well worth the time and effort to make one, especially if you want to root a lot of things. I am going to have a lot of things to plant when the spring gets here. I think right now I have about a dozen Caricature plants, which are almost impossible to find in my area. I think I'm going to make another terrarium to put all of the Fittonias in since they require a lot of humidity. Plus, I will have plenty of things to trade come this spring which is really exciting to me because I was so new to gardening last spring that I had nothing to trade. I wanted a "real" cloning machine but they cost about $200. I think they work faster but all I've got right now is time since I'm not doing any major gardening. Here is a photo of my bubbler. The pump I am using is a $20 pump from Walmart. At first I was using a little pump that I bought from Walmart but a friend gave this nicer one to me.
Jesse
Here is a close-up of the cuttings that are in my bubbler. I love using the grid because it makes things stay in place and not fall down in the water. I used 4 pieces of PVC pipe that I cut to sit the grid on.
Jesse
Edited to say that you can see a little bit of the grid hanging on the wall in this photo.
This message was edited Dec 3, 2006 4:32 PM
Jesse, Where did you get the grid?
Lin
I had looked for your post to give to Lin but couldn't find it. What is the blue thing in the bottom?
I got the grid from Home Depot. I comes in a sheet that is 2' by 4'. It is in the lighting section. What it is used for is to cover light fixtures in drop down ceilings. It is about $11 per sheet but it will last forever because there are so many uses for it. I have used it in all kinds of things in my greenhouse. I had some left over from a previous product and I even hang it on the wall in my greenhouse to hold different small gardening tools but hanging 'S' hooks in it. I clip one end of the 'S' hook into the grid and the other end into the handles of my small gardening tools. There are so many other uses for it so it is worth the money I think.
Jesse
I edited the post above to say that you could see a little bit of the grid hanging on the wall in the last photo I posted.
The blue things on the bottom are bubble stones that you connect to the tubing. That is what makes it make all the bubbles.
Jesse
Good thing I asked. I thought you just stuck the air hose into the water.
Go to www.seventhstreetcottage.com and see the cloner that Tom Ganey has made. He is very successful with his and always willing to share information on how it works and other tips.
Thanks for the link but I can't get it to work. There was an error message saying they couldn't find the server.
So just an aquarium air pump and the blue bubble stones? That sounds interesting. I may have to try that some time (after "The Holidays").
What kind of plants have you rooted using that. I am wondering about hibiscus and abutilon and some other so-so rooting plants. And begonia leaves, and... Well, just give a general list if you don't mind. Thank you.
Well Holy Cow!! Who would've thunk it? I am so going to build myself a BUBBLER. It can't cost that much if you DIY!!
Thanks for the info.
Jesse, How long were the cuttings in the bubbler before you checked them and was surprised by the awesome growth?
