Franz Heymann wrote:

About a decade and a half ago there was a sudden burst if interest amongst
amateur gardeners in the rooting of cuttings in a gel. Then, quite
suddenly, it blew over and if you now talk about it in a garden centre, you
are confronted with an uncomprehending gaze from the attendant.

I experimented with it in a small way and was quite successful, achieving
something like 70% success rate in the cuttings I tried. It was a neat way
of avoiding having to see to the proper watering of the cuttings, and it
made it possible to see the development of the roots without having to upset
the cuttings in any way.

Why has the concept disappeared from the scene?

Rot.. Its just not widely available on the domestic market..

How do you think they flood the market with 'new' cultivars? esp slower
growers like roses.. They use micropropagation primarily which is
effectily what you're describing though using only a few cells. Then
they wean and grow on..

I spent a few days in a microprop lab at UCLANC where they carry out
commercial contracts a few years ago.. I still have the roses that I
grew from that part of the course module! 'Pink Perpetue'

What was the gel which was used?

Its ususally an agar gel base which you can buy in any health food store
or catering supplier.. Its a suitable vegetarian alternative to
gelatine. It comes from an algae/seaweed I believe.

I still ahve the notes and the 'Recipes' here.. We used V8 (again,
health food store, its basically carrot juice) as the nutrient supply..
Though we DID use synthesised plant hormones to encourage root cells.
Not all plants have enough from such tiny samples. Of course if you are
using normal size cuttings then it won't matter so much.

If you look up mocroprop there are plenty of sites with 'heath robinson'
type setups.. Orchid growers use it a fair bit I believe. Certainly
the supplies I obtainable.. A company called 'Wilder' in the US used to
do a full kit.

I've seen the ready prepared 'gel pots' for cuttings where you just
stick them through a foil lid quite recently!
//
Jim