| Encanto Farms Nursery > Categories > Rooting cutting for 1st time |
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Blackfoot
Registered: Posts: 112 |
OK. Never did this before. Here I go. Got the cuttings. One is green. This is the one I started with. 10% bleach solution for 30 seconds. Air dry for 20 minutes or so. I took a clear 12 ounce plastic drink cup. Drilled 4 holes in the bottom. Got some large size perlite and mixed in 10% potting soil. So its 9 parts large particle perlite and 1 part potting soil. The perlite and the potting soil were both dry. I then added 50 Grams of water. The cup, medium, cutting and water weight are 144.3 Grams. Score the base of the cutting, sprinkle dry rooting hormone, put in the medium. This may seem to be a lot, but no water came out the bottom and it seemed very light to me. Now I take the cutting and put it in a clear sterilite container with a black lid. I wish it were a clear lid but no such lid at the store I bought it from. This goes on top of a heat tile with a rheostat and temp control. Temp fluctuates between 75F and 77F. Humidity 95 to 99%. Oh, and I put some water in the perlite container to bring the humidity up. But the cup is up on a porous carborundum stone so it’s not touching the water. I started this Sunday. As of today the whole thing lost 4 grams of weight. Not sure whether that’s from the medium or the cutting. What do you think? Is the humidity to high? Any other ideas? |
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cdeguida4
Registered: Posts: 77 |
the cutting looks a bit on the large side, seems like you could easily do a second with it if you cut it in half |
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DaveL
Registered: Posts: 247 |
Brett, your method seems to be spot on. Lots of different mediums are used. I found a 70/30 coco coir/ perlite mix worked for me. Others have used different mixes with good success. Use the search feature and try a few different ones and use the one best for you. Experimentation is part of the the fun. Same goes with different hormones but your methodology is right on. Good luck. |
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figpig_66
Registered: Posts: 2,678 |
I think your method is very professional strong work. |
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Blackfoot
Registered: Posts: 112 |
Well, thank you all for the encouragement. I did read a bunch of posts on here about it before I started. You don't think I came up with all this on my own do you? LOL. As far as the amount of moisture in the growing medium,,,I really have no idea if it is too much or too little. I guess if I have rot I will try another one with somewhat less . That is why I weighed and recorded everything. So I have a point of reference. I'll let you know how it works out. Thank you. |
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FigTrees2013
Registered: Posts: 66 |
I admire your precision and technique and am sure it will pay off; you'll experiment and find what works for you. I've found over the past several years of rooting cuttings however, that when you can get the cuttings in relative abundance, it's often much less stressful and far less expensive to simply stick the scion in some seedling mix or soft garden soil mixture (compost and sand is my mix even and wait for it to begin to grow. Call me old fashioned, but that's how the old gardeners I learned from showed me! You'd be surprised at the success rate -- upwards of 75%. I've found that giving the cuttings time to grow on their own allows for trees to become more viable -- roots and shoots develop together. It might take an extra season for your trees to produce fruit, but strong scions will survive and become excellent trees. I don't mean to diminish your technique at all, just wanted to add my two cents! |
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ChrisK
Registered: Posts: 937 |
Yes all of the above. Great work Brett. |
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figpig_66
Registered: Posts: 2,678 |
Update on this first cutting if you can remember lol |
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arachyd
Registered: Posts: 116 |
I'd like to know how this turned out. |
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TorontoJoe
Registered: Posts: 259 |
Bretton, I'd also like to know how this turns out. Keep us posted. I know this can be a very intimidating process. Until recently I'd never done it...I mean...Grow a living tree from a twig. There's a lot of wisdom on this forum, and everyone is genuine. A really good membership. |
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