first attempt at flower stalk cuttings

[schejuka]

I am making my first attempt at flower stalk cuttings with my D. dichotoma. I took cuttings about 1 ½ inches long and put them in baby food jars with distilled water in a south facing window. Three of them have developed starts that I have moved to a clamshell container from a restaurant filled with waterlogged peat. The little starts are about 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch now. and i have moved them to a shady outdoor site with the lid cracked open about an inch. One that I moved accidentally yesterday did not have any roots yet.


So am I doing anything to make the more experienced among you cringe?

Am I rushing them by putting them outside in the shade to soon or should I have them in full sun?

I guess I just wonder what next?

Any advice or suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks

 

[jimscott]

Not to be a pessimist, but I don't think you'll get anything from the flower stalk. You'd be better off taking leaf cuttings.

 

[JB in Utah]

I see the dews in the water, but is there anything else in the water - hormones, vitamins, etc? Also what kind of containers are those? I am intrigued by this setup.

 

[CPlantaholic]

Jim- Flower stalk cuttings produce plantlets with D. binata varieties that are generally 2x as quick (and as large) as typical leaf cuttings.
This picture is of a D. binata "T-form" flower stalk cutting after several months (sitting in a cup of water under lights).

And I'll let jim answer you jb, but generally only distilled water is used (tap water usually works too).

 

[jimscott]

I stand corrected! Thanks, Aaron. I'll try that.

Those are centrifuge tubes that my workplce was going to toss. I use purified water and sit them at a window sill, in "bright shade". ~3 weeks later they sprout.

 

[JB in Utah]

Sweet! Thanks Jim.

 

[jimscott]

Taking pictures of plants in water is challenging. This is the best of what I could get:

 

[schejuka]

Here is a shot of mine in the jars. How soon is it okay to try and pot them up?

---------- Post added at 02:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:28 PM ----------

http://cpforums.org/gallery/v/schejuka/SAM_0375.jpg.html

Let me try that image again.

 

[jimscott]

Now would be good. I would prepare a vessel with LFS and fill to the top. Place plantlets on top and allow the water level to evaporate while the plantlets nestle into the media. I'm going to do that today.

 

[schejuka]

UUUUURG!!! I hate squirrels!!!! They have left my potted plants alone all summer but I came home last night to find they had knocked over the pot with my new stalk cuttings which completely dried out. They were on a dry block of porous sandstone which wicked all the moisture away. On a lesser note they also dug into a pot I had put a few small D. adelaes into. 3 of the four are gone but I still have my original crowded mother pot so this one does not bother me as much.

New question. If I were to try leaf cuttings this late in the year would I have problems with dormancy issues since they would be so small when winter arrives?

 

[jimscott]

Don't worry about dormancy. Just get them in a pot by a window or under lights. Deal with dormancy next year.

 

[c.louis5]

Taking pictures of plants in water is challenging. This is the best of what I could get:

Are there any advantage to make it completely submerge? I didn't know they doesn't rot this way.

 

[schejuka]

Cool thanks jimscott I'll try it with the next new leaf.

 

[jimscott]

Are there any advantage to make it completely submerge? I didn't know they doesn't rot this way.

It seems to work better than laying the leaves out on media, covered, under lights.