Ideal Humidity for cuttings

[Charlie]

The gels cost a lot more and though they seem a good idea I never had any better results using them. Dip N Gro is a standard that always works well. Any of them that contain IBA promote rooting. Some "natural" formulations that do not contain IBA may not do any harm but don't promote faster rooting with more root mass the way IBA does.

Charlie

[hibbyjean]

Hi Charlie,

We bought a cloning machine and now have several cuttings that have rooted. My question is when should the cuttings be potted up? I don't want to take them out too soon, but then I'm afraid they're not getting enough nutrients from the water. One Pride of Hankins cutting has many roots growing so I'll pot that up this weekend. But two others - a Hot Wired and a Electric Orange - each has only one root about 1 inch long. I'm afraid to pot them now because what if the one root accidentally breaks off while I'm potting it? Thanks...

[Nievesgirl]

The gels cost a lot more and though they seem a good idea I never had any better results using them. Dip N Gro is a standard that always works well. Any of them that contain IBA promote rooting. Some "natural" formulations that do not contain IBA may not do any harm but don't promote faster rooting with more root mass the way IBA does.

Charlie

This may be a crazy question but what do you think would happen if you put one drop of dip in grow in the container of water you are using to get roots ?

[Charlie]

Hibbyjean, you put your finger right on the drawback to rooting in water - transplanting safely. I agree that one short root makes for a risky transplant and would wait for more roots to grow. Kerry is right that you can add a tiny amount of rooting hormone to the water. This can stimulate a lot more root growth. When you do decide to go ahead with transplanting don't shove the end of the cutting into the potting mix. Instead fill the pot up only part way with potting mix and then hold the cutting with the roots dangling into the pot while gently filling in around the roots and end of the cutting with lightly moist potting mix. It's at a very delicate state at that point. Far better is to pot up a cutting with lots of already well branched roots but that is not always possible. BTW, a healthy cutting has enough stored nutrients for 6 weeks without being fed more. After that point you can add a very small dose of fertilizer and/or spray a light nutrient solution onto the leaves. All very, very dilute at first.

Charlie

[hibbyjean]

Hi Charlie, Thank you very much for such an informative and right-on response! I potted up the POH on Saturday, and with your suggestion was waiting patiently for the other two to grow more roots, which in fact, they are doing now! Rooting in water was necessary for me because I'm sooo impatient, so being able to see the progress is important. And now that I have the solution to the major drawback I'm really good to go! Thank you so much!!!

[Charlie]

I'm glad it's working so far! Rooting in water is a lot of fun because you can watch the progress. You can see callous form and tiny roots emerge, etc. You can also see the difference that rooting hormone makes if you do some side by side with no rooting hormone. It's a big difference in the beginning.

Charlie