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formontcalamus · 12-24-2007, 10:54 PM

O.K. You guys . . . Everyone seams to have a different method for rooting. There are lots of plant species that are so easy that you can make all the wrong moves and they will root anyway, so long as they have water and soil. However . . .

there are basic necessities required in rooting. First: use clean pots and soil without active organic materials. Many commercial potting soils contain mulched bark that begins to decompose as soon as wet causing regeneration of fungus. "No good" Cypress mulch contains bark but is resistant to decomposing at least untill long after your cuttings are rooted.

Something overlooked in my previous posts . . Suculents, Cactus, some Euphorbias and Plumerias all need to dry off (heel) for a couple days before sticking into rooting medium.

"Aeration is very important" The rooting medium should drain very quickly to show that air is entering the medium. Rooting cuttings is somewhat like a religious experience. Once you find a way that works (if it works, dont fix it), you will tend to stay with it and "believe in it" and you will be resistant to change the methods, but if you are loosing cuttings to root-rot, you must keep trying other methods . . .

I challenge all to try the mix I discribed in my post: 1/3 Pearlite and 2/3 rough Canadian Spagnum Moss. CSM is "anti-fungus, the most important asset that no soil mix has !! You do not have to fool around with hormones and in small pots large cuttings can be rooted. The roots develope "fast" and fill the pot with a solid rootball. The Spagnum binds all the roots in a ball so that when you plant into regular soil, the root ball does not fall apart damaging roots, etc.

This past month I rooted over a hundred PLUMARIA cuttings, 2 cuttings per 6" pot and lost 2 (because the cat sat on them). The cuttings took only three weeks to root and are now full of little buds !!

In my nursery business I root hundreds of cuttings every day without a mist system, in the open air without shade cloth cover. The plants are watered with a sprinkler system that wets them only three times per day for three minutes.

12-24-2007, 10:54 PM	#17 (permalink)
formontcalamus Wholistic Naturalist Location: South Central Puerto Rico Zone: 11 Name: Logos (French/Greek) Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 58 BananaBucks : 58,972 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 4 Times Was Thanked 26 Times in 13 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 0 Times	Re: Rooting plants from cuttings . . . O.K. You guys . . . Everyone seams to have a different method for rooting. There are lots of plant species that are so easy that you can make all the wrong moves and they will root anyway, so long as they have water and soil. However . . . there are basic necessities required in rooting. First: use clean pots and soil without active organic materials. Many commercial potting soils contain mulched bark that begins to decompose as soon as wet causing regeneration of fungus. "No good" Cypress mulch contains bark but is resistant to decomposing at least untill long after your cuttings are rooted. Something overlooked in my previous posts . . Suculents, Cactus, some Euphorbias and Plumerias all need to dry off (heel) for a couple days before sticking into rooting medium. "Aeration is very important" The rooting medium should drain very quickly to show that air is entering the medium. Rooting cuttings is somewhat like a religious experience. Once you find a way that works (if it works, dont fix it), you will tend to stay with it and "believe in it" and you will be resistant to change the methods, but if you are loosing cuttings to root-rot, you must keep trying other methods . . . I challenge all to try the mix I discribed in my post: 1/3 Pearlite and 2/3 rough Canadian Spagnum Moss. CSM is "anti-fungus, the most important asset that no soil mix has !! You do not have to fool around with hormones and in small pots large cuttings can be rooted. The roots develope "fast" and fill the pot with a solid rootball. The Spagnum binds all the roots in a ball so that when you plant into regular soil, the root ball does not fall apart damaging roots, etc. This past month I rooted over a hundred PLUMARIA cuttings, 2 cuttings per 6" pot and lost 2 (because the cat sat on them). The cuttings took only three weeks to root and are now full of little buds !! In my nursery business I root hundreds of cuttings every day without a mist system, in the open air without shade cloth cover. The plants are watered with a sprinkler system that wets them only three times per day for three minutes. __________________ Love the Earth, Logos / Wholistic Naturalist / Married / Father of ten Cats / Sexual preference: Anything that moves / French-Greek ancestry / Special interests: Codiaeum (Crotons), Evolutionary behavior / Look to the examples of Nature to understand Humanity.