Best medium for rooting a cutting

hruten 5/18/2012, 6:07 am

Hi All, my kids (2, 4, and 6 yr old) gave me some flowers for mothers day from some of the church ladies. In the bouquets were sticks of bleeding hearts and azaleas. I looked online, and I can start plants from the sticks (BONUS) cheers

...... Now comes the question

What is the best medium for rooting a cutting? I dusted the stems with rooting hormone and then put some in vermiculite, and some in MM with V on top and some in MM. I would like to do some more, but I'd rather lean on other's experience. Which is the best rooting medium to use? According to websites these take a rather long time to root, so I need an extended solution.

Thanks in advance!

**rowena___.** 5/18/2012, 11:44 am

i nearly always root my cuttings in plain water in a jar. the only ones i've ever put in a growing medium are the rose cuttings, but even those start better for me in water.

malefacter 5/18/2012, 4:41 pm

add an air-stone and aquarium pump to aerate the water if you just want to use water

perlight with wicks sucking up from a lower container works well also

another thing dont set them in bright light

TN_GARDENER 5/18/2012, 4:59 pm

The hydroponic folks all seem to use some spray jet system whereby they spray oxygenated water on the cut end. There are water soluble root nutrients.

Me, I don't clone too much, but my wife has had decent success with just putting em in a cup of water.

Best medium for rooting a cutting Images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTjyGCTR5j0dfpWAfhIPEMfLCNpx-RrbOIMt9aFuqau_oCePnFX

Best medium for rooting a cutting Images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTjyGCTR5j0dfpWAfhIPEMfLCNpx-RrbOIMt9aFuqau_oCePnFX

Best medium for rooting a cutting Images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQrw1KmtOqlh5hJH2B8IAGY-9VTY03_H6EqpyvJzzkN7GsB1YhvZg

hruten 5/18/2012, 5:20 pm

Ok, so do I dip the stem in rooting hormone first? Do I change the water regularly? Sorry I'm a newby at this.

Also, tell me more about this aeration method. I've got several old bubble stones and pumps from 10 gal+ aquariums.

**rowena___.** 5/18/2012, 8:14 pm

i don't use rooting hormone, just plain tap water, in a mason jar, sitting on my window in the winter, or in front of our child's buddha when it is warm enough outside.

Best medium for rooting a cutting Buddha10

Best medium for rooting a cutting Buddha10

plantoid 5/18/2012, 8:56 pm

hruten wrote:Hi All, my kids (2, 4, and 6 yr old) gave me some flowers for mothers day from some of the church ladies. In the bouquets were sticks of bleeding hearts and azaleas. I looked online, and I can start plants from the sticks (BONUS) ...... Now comes the question

What is the best medium for rooting a cutting? I dusted the stems with rooting hormone and then put some in vermiculite, and some in MM with V on top and some in MM. I would like to do some more, but I'd rather lean on other's experience. Which is the best rooting medium to use? According to websites these take a rather long time to root, so I need an extended solution.

Thanks in advance!

Try this site it is a world leader in such matters cuttings .

Use the top right search box for soft , semi hard or hard wood cuttings . Also check out air layering or " Marcotting " as it is technically known , if you have live growing plants , shrubs or trees etc , it can be done on most plants that have a woody stem .

TN_GARDENER 5/19/2012, 7:27 am

hruten wrote:
Also, tell me more about this aeration method. I've got several old bubble stones and pumps from 10 gal+ aquariums.

Depends on how large of a system you want to build.

A single cutting only requires an air pump (yes, you can get an air pump to pump water).

A more complex system is to build some sort of sprinkler or drip system.

Best medium for rooting a cutting Thumbnail

And then you can simply stick it in the water along with an air stone (change the water every few days, and I'd stay away from tap water because of the chemicals)

hruten 5/19/2012, 8:48 am

WOW! That looks really cool, but a little complicated for a mom of 3 young ones to tackle right now. Smile

I think I may have to stick with a more straight forward method for a while. Thanks for the great info!

Daniel9999 5/19/2012, 11:02 am

hruten wrote:WOW! That looks really cool, but a little complicated for a mom of 3 young ones to tackle right now.

I think I may have to stick with a more straight forward method for a while. Thanks for the great info!

You can just buy a clone machine instead of attempting to build one yourself....that would be way easier....they can be kinda of pricey... but if you shop around a bit you can find some good deals.

Amazon has a 21 site propagator for only $55

http://www.amazon.com/PowerGrow-Cloner-Cloning-Machine-Propagator/dp/B005FYO1L0/ref=pd_sim_sbs_lg_1

Cloning machines are real easy to use and are fairly uncomplicated....just add water and turn it on....no need for rooting hormones, solutions, or anything like that....it will work just fine with plain filtered water.

That's if you want to go with a fancy "professional" propagation method.

The simple method rowena uses works too.

malefacter 5/20/2012, 7:47 am

well basically what you need is moisture and air so if you stick them in water change the water every day to aerate it a homemade airocloner is simple to make just get a rubbermade tub say 6 inches tall drill holes in the lid say 3/4 inch each and stick a bubble wand on the bottom when the bubbles break it splashes up onto the stems that hang above iv done this with small throw away containers and an airstone

also as soon as you take the cutting dip it in tap water the chlorine will sanitise the open wound

root hormone is unnecessary but if you want to use it get the jell type if you can

TN_GARDENER 5/21/2012, 12:11 pm

hruten wrote:WOW! That looks really cool, but a little complicated for a mom of 3 young ones to tackle right now.

I think I may have to stick with a more straight forward method for a while. Thanks for the great info!

You can also simply drop in the aquarium pump air stone in the jar of water.

hruten 5/21/2012, 3:47 pm

Now that sounds more my speed cyclops

, but those reviews on the amazon.com set-up are awful tempting....

hruten 5/23/2012, 8:54 am

I thought you might like to know the results of all your input here. Below is a picture of my "free" propagator that I made this morning. I'm excited to see if we get results. It has 2 bleeding hearts and 2 azaleas in it. One note on the bubbler machine... do I need to make the plants stand upright or is it ok for them to hang awry? By the way it is made of 2 containers that kiwi came in (already had holes in the bottom). I put 2 ziploc bags in the bottom to hold the water in. I inserted a 6" bubble stone and attached one of the pumps to it.

Best medium for rooting a cutting 100_0218

I also have some outside like Rowena suggested. The azaleas outside are doing well, but the bleeding hearts are having a rough go of it.

I'll post again when I have roots! Thanks for everyone's input. Just like that management book says... "The answers are in the room!" Best medium for rooting a cutting 109486

Best medium for rooting a cutting 109486

TN_GARDENER 5/23/2012, 9:04 am

That homemade setup looks great.

Half the fun of gardening (for me) is trying to get creative and experimenting with stuff. Don't get me wrong, I have spent plenty of money on stuff, but its always fun to try to McGyver something.

hruten 5/23/2012, 9:23 am

Thanks TN Gardener! I'm getting ready to visit your neck of the woods in a couple of weeks. My husband has a couple weeks training in Chattanooga. We already have passes to the aquarium and children's museum. We'll also visit rock city, the art museum, zoo, and carousel. It's one of my favorite places.

I love it when I can rig something, besides my hubby asked that I not spend anything more on gardening this year. I made a new box out of a 30" crate from the trash transfer station a few weeks ago and plan to do it again soon with a few design changes. I'm definitely for McGyver, but I have a bit of Tim the Tool Man thrown in! geek

hruten 6/12/2012, 7:41 am

I opened my aerator this morning to change the water.... and found these!!! cheers

Best medium for rooting a cutting 100_0312

The one on the right even has a new heart!! The azaleas are still healthy, but have not formed any roots. I scarred one to see if that will help. Patience has never been my strong point, "sigh"

TN_GARDENER 6/12/2012, 8:38 am

hruten wrote:
I love it when I can rig something, besides my hubby asked that I not spend anything more on gardening this year. I made a new box out of a 30" crate from the trash transfer station a few weeks ago and plan to do it again soon with a few design changes. I'm definitely for McGyver, but I have a bit of Tim the Tool Man thrown in!

Cool news on the roots.

As far as McGyver goes, gardeners n farmers are the patron saint and inspiration for McGyver.

One thing I'm having nice results with this year: I have 3 of those recycle grocery bags that I'm using as grow bags for some peppers. They are working great. About all I did was poke a few drainage holes in the bottom with my pocket knife. They are holding up nicely.

Best medium for rooting a cutting Images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRu56VfJABmmlcR8JU3KnbOf1s61YeufWw3AlAgqZDcD0ZW5sWNrw

Best medium for rooting a cutting Images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRu56VfJABmmlcR8JU3KnbOf1s61YeufWw3AlAgqZDcD0ZW5sWNrw

hruten 6/12/2012, 9:00 am

Very cool!

I ended up using 40lb bird sunflower seed bags for potatoes this year. They seem to be working nicely and since I buy the bird seed anyway it was easy on the old pocketbook. I also used a bucket we had. I'm done building until fall or perhaps spring. I want to solidify my plans for next year before getting "caught up" again Razz

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I'm glad I found this forum... nothing like kindred souls Best medium for rooting a cutting 3170584802

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plain water?

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Results of everyone's help

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IT WORKED!!

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