Re: Propagation

Well, Claire, I've done it both ways with assorted plants.  I think
the key to getting a decent plant from one rooted in water is to pot
it up as soon as you see roots - about half an inch long - instead of
waiting until it has a lot of roots.  Reason for this is that  when
you remove a cutting with a lot of roots from a glass of water, they
all clump together and it's virtually impossible to spread them out
in a pot of soil mix....so the plant has to work to move the roots
out of the wad they end up in.  If you pot as soon as you see roots,
what you've done is sort of given the plant a head start....it
probably would have rooted in soil mix, but it *has* started the
rooting process in water and you've seen it, so it will continue in
soil mix.

The problem with just adding soil to a container of water is that it
can become a muddy anaerobic mess if you take too much time doing it.
 When plants are grown in soil, most of them (bog and pond plants
excepted) need oxygen as well as water and air spaces for the
exchange of gasses...they don't get those in a container of sludge.  

Agree that I have not heard of water rooting being done commercially,
but from what I can gather, home gardener methods and commercial
methods are not always the same for many reasons not all having to do
with whether a method actually works or not.  The goals and problems
of commercial propagation are somewhat different than those of plain
dirt gardeners:-)

Agree, too that Impatiens are not best propagated in water for some
reason...I have the same problem with Coleus (but tend to kill
cuttings of those no matter how I do it), but I will tell you the
easiest way to propagate Brugmansia cuttings is in water...just pot
on as soon as the roots reach an inch in length.  I've only ever lost
about 2 out of many doing this and think it was because the
greenhouse was too cold for those two, who were the weakest of the
lot anyway.  

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@hort.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
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----------
> From: ECPep@aol.com
> To: perennials@hort.net
> Subject: Re: Propagation
> Date: Sunday, August 25, 2002 11:55 AM
> 
> In a message dated 8/25/02 11:08:19 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
> flowers@simplegiftsfarm.com writes:
> 
> << Having contributed this bit of unwarranted wisdom, I can tell
you from 
> long 
>  practical experience that you can simply take any rooted cutting
from a 
>  water glass and pot it immediately into soil if there are adequate
numbers 
>  of roots present to support the top growth.  There is no need for
long term 
>  muddification or any other precaution. >>
> 
> I have not found this to be true.  A good example of plant that
roots easily 
> in water is impatiens.  A water rooted impatiens and on one rooted
in sterile 
> mix will not grow at the same rate. The water rooted plant requires
some time 
> for recovery while the solid mix rooted plant can be transferred
root ball 
> intact into the next container with no need to readapt to
surrounding.  The 
> water rooted impatiens will need much longer to recover and in my
experience 
> makes a poorer and weaker plant.
> 
> This question is constantly be debated, particulary with house
plant growers 
> who do not usually have the material at hand to root cuttings in a
solid mix. 
>  For many years folk put "slips" into water and hoped for the best.
 
> Sometimes various tropicals will grow for years in plain water.  A
whole 
> bunch of perennials will root from stem cuttings but having to do
this in in 
> the right season and using the best known procedure for each
particular plant 
> gives the best new plants.   If you can get a plant to live from
water grown 
> roots then you have some measure of success but I do not think you
get a 
> stocky healthy plant with this method.
> 
> If you want to actually propagate a plant, you will find the best
season to 
> do it and follow the best procedures gained from the experiences of
others.  
> Sticking cut stems, "slips", cuttings into water often produces
some root 
> much to your surprise.
> A plant rooted in a solid mix will not have the growth disturbed
when potting 
> as the root ball will be intact.   
> 
> The biology of this is debated quite a lot.  I think that I said
before that 
> professional propagators do not use water grown cutting.  There may
an 
> exception to that in some hydroponic growers but I don't think it
translates 
> into what a home gardener can accomplish.
> 
> Near to me is nursery that grows huge amounts of seasonal plants. 
There are 
> a number of very large houses and they sell both retail and
wholesale.  It is 
> intresting to walk through in the early spring and see what is
coming on for 
> the spring sales.  I have asked them several times about
propagation.  For 
> several season they were experimenting with a water retaining
material called 
> Oasis.  That comes in small wedges and gave a fully rooted plant
(they buy 
> cutttings) when "finished" went into a pot of probably some kind of
promix.   
> Since the Oasis never dries out, or seems like it never does, the
geraniums 
> grown this way will occasionally die from inability to drain as
pelargoniums 
> require.  
> 
> I thought Bill's solution sort of innovative.  He would end with a
root ball 
> to tansplant that would continue growing without being disturbed. 
Overtime, 
> my experience is that one does not have the success with water that
you do 
> with a solid rooting mix.  Also, if the rooting process is a
lengthy one, you 
> will have rotted cuttings long before you have roots.  In a mix a
year or 
> more can pass and you can still get a rooted cutting.
> 
> Having said all of this, there will always be someone who roots a
maple tree 
> and says it is succesful but the odds are you get a better plant in
a solid 
> rooting mix and using rooting hormones on a great many of them.
> 
> Claire Peplowski
> NYS z4
> 
>
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