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- To: s*@eskimo.com
- Subject: cuttings in water
- From: F* M* <i*@rhizo.nl>
- Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 16:04:14 -0700
- Old-Date: Sat, 30 May 1998 00:10:02 +0100
Dear Mark You are right that cuttings in water can be more succesful than assumed generally But I think you overgeneralise . Soils for rooting cuttings have low mineral saltcontent and are quite acid . Soils with peat are quite acid and function as an ionexchanger , absorbing minerals in added tap water . So part of their function is to keep pH and salt content low in the soil solution I had success with large cuttings of Buxus sempervivens , 20- 25 cm long in demineralised water kept at pH 4 with additions of Nitric acid after checking pH with a pH meter . A parallel experiment with the same cuttings in tap water , 100 microsiemens , 1 meq salt , pH =7,5 lost most leaves and had a lower success rate . The high pH treatment also had bad smell and visible bacterial growth [caused by fallen leaves?] , the low pH water was clear . Both were aerated with a aquarium pump , water was not renewed ,only added . What is the quality of your water , do you renew it regularly , do you aerate , do you use Rhizopon , what material do you use as a container , do you clean them with ... , do you add something else intentionally or unintentionally ? I think that low salt water is essential for succes with slowly rooting plants and less important for easely rooting cuttings . Cuttings without roots absorb water but they cannot regulate the uptake of ions /salt , as plants with intact roots can . The not needed but nevertheless absorbed salt has to be stored somewhere .The storage of salt will impair functioning of the cutting and reduce the possiblities of the cutting to send the sugars etc to the cut end,needed for the production of new roots . Hormones are important too , but will have the same influence in soil and water I am interested in an exchange of experiences with you and the list members FRITS MEIJBOOM / info@rhizo.nl Rhizosphere Research Products Equipment for Soil , Rhizosphere and Root Research Dolderstraat 62 NL-6706 JG Wageningen fax + answering machine : +31-317-422415 Tel : 13.00-17.00 GMT : +31-317-410961 Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 14:48:21 -0700 (PDT) From: Chroni Apolloni <chroniapolloni@yahoo.com> To: seeds-list@eskimo.com Hello. Cuttings in water is one of my favorite topics, because I somehow simply do not have the ability to root cuttings in soil, never, not once, no way no how, but even I can do cuttings in water for those plants which will. So in addition to those I've previously posted about, the coleuses (including Cuban oregano and variegated cuban oregano), mints (genus Mentha), basils (almost all except camphor basil), Plectranthuses, Salvias elegans and involucrata, Ajugas, scullcaps (Scuttelaria lateriflora and some others), dead nettles (Lamium), Lamiastrums, lion's ear, ground ivies (Glechoma hederacea and " " variegata, and the many morning glories, and probably some others... This year so far I've rooted Ipomea batatas "Blackie" (hence the sweet potato vine is but another morning glory after all), Ajuga lobata, and rather surprisingly to me, "Vietnamese coriander", a Polygonum sp., which seems to do this Very vigorously and reliably and is unlike some of the things which are particular about recieving more light while they are rooting (the fuzzier mints for example seem to require bright places). I think the biggest surprise of all was Yerba Buena, Satureja douglasii, I had all but given up on the Saturejas. Have I missed any? Good gardening, Robert Carl chroniapolloni@yahoo.co --
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