On Tuesday, August 5, 2014 10:09:04 AM UTC-4, mkr5000 wrote:
On Saturday, August 2, 2014 7:49:03 PM UTC-4, David E. Ross wrote:

On 8/2/2014 8:52 AM, Higgs Boson wrote:



On Friday, August 1, 2014 5:26:50 PM UTC-7, David E. Ross wrote:



On 8/1/2014 1:13 AM, Jeff Layman wrote:







On 31/07/2014 16:00, David E. Ross wrote:















Plants rooted in water often fail to do well when moved to pots. The







root hairs are severely damaged when suddenly packed into soil. Certain







plants will survive and even thrive if left growing in water;















Your reply make me think about this. You are quite right about failure







to move from a liquid to a solid growth medium. I wondered if it was







possible to have the best of both worlds - effectively root the plant in







waterlogged compost, and once rooted, allow the water to drain away..







Little if any root disturbance takes place, and the gentle transition







from wet to normal compost might allow the plant to adapt. Have you ever







tried anything like this?























The cutting is likely to rot if the medium is waterlogged. A 50%-50%







mix of coarse sand and peat moss drains very well and will remain quite







moist without becoming soggy. The moisture will remain available to the







cutting until the mix is almost bone dry. In the meantime, air can







enter the mix; and roots -- new or old -- do need air in the soil.















I never add any nutrients to the rooting mix because they can promote







mold and other forms of rot.







Very interesting. Based on actual experience? Replicated?







HB











No, not based on experience. Based on gardening books, including



several editions of Sunset's "Western Garden Book".







--



David E. Ross



Climate: California Mediterranean, see



http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html



Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary



I'll have to read up on "callous" -- never heard of that. I really just want to get some coleus going to keep inside over the winter for now. I have mixed results when I try to root coleus in water. Maybe 1/3rd do well and the rest just wilt (some almost immediately). I always take the fresh top parts, pull off the bottom leaves. Some of the varieties stay pretty robust and root well, yet some almost immediately go limp (especially the deep red ones).



Another question -- is the "quick start" rooting liquid of any value? I know you use the powder when trying to root in pots.

That "quick start" I mentioned -- I wonder if adding a bit of that to the water would help? (And I know keeping the water changed is important.