Growing/Propagating Cephalotus non-traditional methods - Lets get a list together.

[RSS]

I went and picked up some of the wet floral stuff last week and was playing around with it today. This stuff seems like it would compress too much over time to be a good long term medium so I gave it to my kid to play with. Just basic handling to get it home and ready for the leaf pull was compressing the outside 1/8-1/4" dents, long term I don't think it would do well.

 

[RSS]

I packed up one of the seed starting sponge Cephs this morning and there were no visible roots on this one, 3 of 4 so far have had visible roots. The TDS from the water these rafts are floating in was 380s today, likely from the MG test pots leaching into the "water tray". So it would seem high fert TDS is fine for leaf pulls. There are a few bad things growing on the tops of the sponges due to the lack of any airflow.

Photos from the original block from this morning, the empty cells are all in the hands of TF members to help provide feedback.

DSC_0372 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

Older leaf pulls.

DSC_0373 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

Younger leaf pulls

DSC_0374 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

 

[Jcal]

I'm all in!
Ugh! I woke up to my squat flower stalk being snapped off. Not sure exactly what happened but that sent me into a blind angry leaf pulling spree. Given the results Randell has had I didn't try any traditional plantings. Planted all of the Squat, double ribbed and HG leaves into this sponge material.

Let me know if I have it right Randell.

 

[RSS]

Looks right to me, I have allowed the water trays to just dry out then refilled them, so mine are not always floating. It will be interesting to see if you can reproduce my results, different growing conditions and all.

Sorry to hear about the flower stalks, I still think the Squat has the best shot at producing a nice clone.

 

[ellisonk001]

Great thread! Thanks for sharing you propagation ideas. I wonder how the larger sized plugs you mentioned would work for nepenthes Sounds like it would save a lot of space. Looks like I need to do some research......

 

[RSS]

Here is my test Nep. maxima clone, it is in a flood/drain system that is getting ferts and thus some mineral buildup, I'm still working on finding the "right" fert mix for this setup. From the mineral buildup clearly my first few mixes were too strong. I've noticed nothing but a normal slowing of growth when I replanted it but its back on track and is similar size to the rest of the seedling from the same batch. Its been in that plug for about a month I'd guess.

DSC_0590 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

U. 'Jitki' in a plug, a normal tray watering method for this one. I'd say its growing very well for Jitka so far.

DSC_0588 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

 

[RSS]

Seems about the right time for some updates.

I currently have 50+ Ceph leaf pulls in these sponges and I'm learning a few things. Any of the "weaker" Ceph clones, (German Giant for instance), is still a huge pain to get the leaves to strike. I might be getting slightly higher rates with the weaker clones but its really too early to say.

I still believe the strike rates are higher than any other medium I've used besides live sphagnum moss or the driftwood method in the beginning of this thread, both of which are just a pain.

I had my first "strike" with a 1/2" pitcher die without cause, I probably lose 1-2% of my Cephs a year without a cause I can find and with the # of strikes I have it could just be normal for me.

Original Emu Point Boat, empty slot are mailed off to other TF members in their hands for testing. Should be doing another giveaway from this tray in the Fall to help gather info!

DSC_0619 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

DSC_0618 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

Here is the Big Boy tray, a different type of seed starting sponge and this batch is doing better.

DSC_0621 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

DSC_0622 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

Czech Giant tray, usually this clone is a lower strike one for me, but this 6 pull test is looking good.

DSC_0620 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

I've also transplanted some small plantlets into larger seed starting sponges to see how they fair over the years, so far so good.

Two of the 4 Miracle Grow junk garden soil Cephs are still doing fine and have been moved out of the leaf pull setups and are in transition toward the LEDs. Still a 50% strike rate for this medium is much higher than I would have thought.

 

[pmatil]

Like the styrofoam pots. I have a few too, it's the one I received my Big Boy in. I'm planning to take some leaf pullings from my Bog Boy soon. Hummer's Giant is still too young but maybe some typical forms too.

 

[RSS]

Here is an update on some of the random stuff I've been doing with the seed starting sponges. Just an FYI I did try a run of 4 leaf pulls in "normal" sponges and it was a complete and quick total loss. I could not find the Czech Giant tray to get an updated photo, a sure sign you have a Ceph problem .

Nep from above, considering it was transplanted it is growing just as fast if not faster than the rest of the seedlings.
DSC_0750 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

Transplanted Ceph seedling into a larger sponge. Its been in there long enough for all the transplanting "damage" to have finished and is starting new growth.
DSC_0751 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

Utriculara DO NOT like these sponges, this baffles me....The Utric from above, I've killed off 2 other Utric trails and have 1 other that might be working.
DSC_0752 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

New volunteer, a small Heli, I was worried for a while it was not going to make it due to the quick transplanting die back but its looking good now and new growth is starting up.
DSC_0753 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

More Cephs 4 good 1 bad.
DSC_0754 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

And more Cephs 4 good 1 bad, 1 maybe
DSC_0755 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

Keep in mind I've had better strike rates with these sponges but the harder to strike Ceph clones are still harder to strike but I'm getting more strikes. Think German Giant, Czech Giant and the like.

 

[madmacks420]

Where do you get those Styrofoam cells from? I put mine in a clear plastic container to keep them from drying out.I like your idea better.

 

[madmacks420]

Here is experiment I did with the sponges. I transplanted a VFT and a tiny 1/8 in. leaf fell off,I almost just threw it out,it was soooooo small,then I remembered I have sponges,I just stuck it in,no special treatment and did'nt expect anything to come of it..5 weeks later and look,Babies.. The only problem I see is leaf pulls of VFT give you many plants. I just don't know how I would ever separate them out of these sponges.

<a href="http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/madmacks12/media/leafpull_zps241b58dd.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj516/madmacks12/leafpull_zps241b58dd.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo leafpull_zps241b58dd.jpg"/></a>

 

[RSS]

Where do you get those Styrofoam cells from? I put mine in a clear plastic container to keep them from drying out.I like your idea better.

They came from Park Seed, although there are alot of other variations within the Hydroponics marketplace.

 

[Jcal]

The sponge material ceases to amaze! Some of my pullings failed pretty early. I had an abundance of seed this season so I tossed a few seeds on the sponge to be long forgotten.
I was getting ready to pack up the last pullings for a friend and notice a leaf poking out of the moss. I weeded back the moss to find that the ceph seed took root! I'm glad it caught my eye. Else I would have lossed a few seed grown cephs.

 

[Carnivoregon]

What an excellent thread. I'm surely going to try this once I have some more leaves. I just put the Emu Point leaves in LFS before reading this