I tried growlights in the past and found them of marginal use. If I
recollect the advice in the group went something like not to bother.

The Olearia cuttings I started in spring are still rooting
occasionally and rather than write the remaining thirty or so off, I
was thinking of dangling an LED growlight above a heated propogator.

I shipped all my gardening bits overseas, so I will have to buy a
suitable light. Does this sound like a worthwhile enteprise, or should
I just go for more cuttings in the spring?

Some of the Olearia were hit by a a fungus or aphids not to mention
myself using an old glyphophosphate sprayer that wasn't fully cleaned.
They seem to be coming around slowly, so perhaps they might benefit
also.

If LED bulbs will improve the growthrate, has anyone any
reccommendations?

The habitat for the winter will be a garden shed with very little
natural light.

AB


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On 03/11/2018 19:49, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Sat, 03 Nov 2018 15:17:12 +0000, Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp
wrote:

I tried growlights in the past and found them of marginal use. If I
recollect the advice in the group went something like not to bother.

The Olearia cuttings I started in spring are still rooting
occasionally and rather than write the remaining thirty or so off, I
was thinking of dangling an LED growlight above a heated propogator.

I shipped all my gardening bits overseas, so I will have to buy a
suitable light. Does this sound like a worthwhile enteprise, or should
I just go for more cuttings in the spring?

Some of the Olearia were hit by a a fungus or aphids not to mention
myself using an old glyphophosphate sprayer that wasn't fully cleaned.
They seem to be coming around slowly, so perhaps they might benefit
also.

If LED bulbs will improve the growthrate, has anyone any
reccommendations?

The habitat for the winter will be a garden shed with very little
natural light.

AB


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You say the cuttings are still rooting occasionally. I'm not sure what
you mean by that. Is it that you dig them all up from time to time to
inspect them and find some fresh ones have rooted since the last
inspection, and them pop the rest back in the soil? Or are they just
green on top, giving the impression that they're still alive, but
possibly the stems underground are dead and black (and will never
root).

I've never used grow lights, so much of what follows is just a
tummy-rumble on my part! Bottom heat would certainly help rooting,
which I see you have. IME and in general, provided there's enough sap
and goodness in the stems, which can mean if they're substantial
enough, cuttings will root without extra light. Many cuttings will
root over winter even without leaves, for example hardwood cuttings of
deciduous shrubs, where light will have no benefit as there are no
leaves to absorb the sunlight and manufacture the sugars necessary for
growth.

OTOH I can't see grow lights doing any harm provided they don't
overheat the cuttings or dry out the compost. From that POV, LED grow
lights would be preferable a they use less power, a factor if they're
on 24/7, and run cooler. Plenty on Amazon or Ebay, although I'm not
sure if the wattage they quote is the true wattage, in which case some
seem very high for LED's, or the wattage equivalent to the older
discharge lights. Remember that sunlight is remarkably strong compared
with e.g. indoor domestic lighting, so higher wattage may be better.

Stuff here https://tinyurl.com/yatpu23k and particularly
https://tinyurl.com/yde8qp8t Also https://tinyurl.com/y7kwam4s

If the cuttings were mine, I'd probably just stick them outside and
see what happened, and take fresh cuttings in the spring as necessary!
A bit of benign neglect is often a good thing.

I'd forget about grow lights.
I've always rooter Oleria from Autumn cuttings left to overwinter
outside, so they callus slowly then in the spring they will start to root.
Leave them till next autumnb by which time most should ge growing, a few
will have died, but easy to see which is which.

On Sat, 03 Nov 2018 19:49:01 +0000, Chris Hogg wrote:

On Sat, 03 Nov 2018 15:17:12 +0000, Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp
wrote:

I tried growlights in the past and found them of marginal use. If I
recollect the advice in the group went something like not to bother.

The Olearia cuttings I started in spring are still rooting
occasionally and rather than write the remaining thirty or so off, I
was thinking of dangling an LED growlight above a heated propogator.

I shipped all my gardening bits overseas, so I will have to buy a
suitable light. Does this sound like a worthwhile enteprise, or should
I just go for more cuttings in the spring?

Some of the Olearia were hit by a a fungus or aphids not to mention
myself using an old glyphophosphate sprayer that wasn't fully cleaned.
They seem to be coming around slowly, so perhaps they might benefit
also.

If LED bulbs will improve the growthrate, has anyone any
reccommendations?

The habitat for the winter will be a garden shed with very little
natural light.

AB


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You say the cuttings are still rooting occasionally. I'm not sure what
you mean by that. Is it that you dig them all up from time to time to
inspect them and find some fresh ones have rooted since the last
inspection, and them pop the rest back in the soil? Or are they just
green on top, giving the impression that they're still alive, but
possibly the stems underground are dead and black (and will never
root).

I've never used grow lights, so much of what follows is just a
tummy-rumble on my part! Bottom heat would certainly help rooting,
which I see you have. IME and in general, provided there's enough sap
and goodness in the stems, which can mean if they're substantial
enough, cuttings will root without extra light. Many cuttings will
root over winter even without leaves, for example hardwood cuttings of
deciduous shrubs, where light will have no benefit as there are no
leaves to absorb the sunlight and manufacture the sugars necessary for
growth.

OTOH I can't see grow lights doing any harm provided they don't
overheat the cuttings or dry out the compost. From that POV, LED grow
lights would be preferable a they use less power, a factor if they're
on 24/7, and run cooler. Plenty on Amazon or Ebay, although I'm not
sure if the wattage they quote is the true wattage, in which case some
seem very high for LED's, or the wattage equivalent to the older
discharge lights. Remember that sunlight is remarkably strong compared
with e.g. indoor domestic lighting, so higher wattage may be better.

Stuff here https://tinyurl.com/yatpu23k and particularly
https://tinyurl.com/yde8qp8t Also https://tinyurl.com/y7kwam4s

If the cuttings were mine, I'd probably just stick them outside and
see what happened, and take fresh cuttings in the spring as necessary!
A bit of benign neglect is often a good thing.

Thanks Chris.

I have them on the go outside and every two or three weeks give them a
tug to see if theres any resistance.

Oddly enough the root growth seems to go from zero to the appearance
of three or four roots of around 10mm. without an intermediate stage,
unless the small roots shear off when I tug them :-)

I gather a tug followed by potting of those showing resistance is the
usual approach.

I have found that some are as you describe incidentally, green &
healthy above ground, but dead below.

I have ordered a couple of smallish 50W LED growlights, I might start
off a few different plants. I did buy a large fan cooled unit but the
noise and no doubt energy useage was a bit off putting for something I
wasn't putting to serious use.

I did seem to have tremendous success with bringing on Marigolds last
winter, they shot up no doubt due to heat and the grow lamp.

I think two made it into the garden, the other few thousand died.

I will try a proper test this winter, a couple of heated propagators
and one lit with the LED growlights and one by the shed window.

I know little of the chemistry behind horticulture, but I get the
impression that root growth seems to be promoted when the humidity is
lower and the leaves are drawing moisture through the cutting. If this
is the case, then maybe a bit of light induced leaf growth may improve
rooting chances further?

I will plan the flower growing a little better also, unfortunately the
time I have available is very limited once the plants have outgrown
the propagator.

Once again thanks for your assistance Chris, I truly appreciate your
advice. I am increasingly concious that being clapped and aincient is
not too conducive to a lot of trial and error in the plant world. A
major incentive for a right first time approach, so your advice is
valued highly.

Regards

On Sat, 3 Nov 2018 21:29:32 +0000, David Hill
wrote:


I'd forget about grow lights.
I've always rooter Oleria from Autumn cuttings left to overwinter
outside, so they callus slowly then in the spring they will start to root.
Leave them till next autumnb by which time most should ge growing, a few
will have died, but easy to see which is which.

Thank you.

Yes I gather grow lights may be of limited use. I have a few cuttings
on the go though and I thought I might see if there is any slight
advantage. The cuttings I have here were taken around April, May.

The actual destination of the plants and source of the cuttings isn't
in the UK and I'm a bit of an infrequent visitor at the moment.

I will be heading out to the place next week and will load up with a
fresh batch of cuttings then, hopefully it wont be too late to start
them off. I will leave the new batch outside as you suggest although I
had around 25 Olearia in pots last year, they were around 0.5 to 1M
and were purchased from an Ebay dealer in September. None died, but a
number did have quite severe frost damage. I presume cuttings would be
at high risk?

I live in the Midlands, not exactly Olearia country, but the
destination although coastal and warmer has winds that flatten
everything without a good root system.

I have a large number of Aprils cuttings on the go there now, but I
usually arrive to find a shrivelled mess :-(


Many thanks.

AB










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