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Nep cuttings

jimscott

Tropical Fish Enthusiast
Does anybody attempt to cultivate Nep cutings in distilled / rain / RO / Deionized water first, and then wait for roots, before putting them in a soil media?
 
Uh....you can, but algae and rot is a big problem I find there. Fast rooting species like N. gracilis, N. ventricosa, etc would be OK if you want to try those, but other species, stick to rooting hormone and a nice airy damp media.
 
What is the rooting hormone to look for anyway? I know keiki paste makes offshoots form, but i cant keep my cuttings alive. I could trade a lot more plants if i could root my cuttings...
 
Actually in my experience I sucessfully rooted alot of nep cuttings in water. I've had mixed sucess with lfs but again, I'm no expert compared to others on this forum.
 
I tried to root a N. ventrata cutting in distilled water and it was a success; however, it took longer than putting the cutting in lfs.  I think it will a lot faster if the rooting hormones r to be put in the water.
 
Can anyone tell me the NAME of the rooting hormone? Please?
 
Doesn't matter, go to any meijers or other store and look for rooting hormone powder in the garden section or ask for the sales asst. they should have it.
 
Rootone works for us. Use gloves. It causes cancer, don't get messy with the stuff.
How we take cuttings:
Use a sterile razor blade.
Cut three leaves worth of stem or more.
Trim the leaves off to about an inch. The top leaf can be a few inches to allow photosynthesis.
Take the razor and cut a few tiny slashes (length wise) in the bottom inch of stem. Only go deep enough to break the "skin".
We sometimes make a paste with the Rootone, othertimes we just dip the cutting directly into the powder. With N. ventrata, N. Coccinea, and some others, don't bother wasting your expensive rooting hormone, just throw the cutting in some mix and it will take.
Take the cutting and place it in a moist wad of LFS. Put in a shady, humid, very stable spot. Do not disturb until you see at least one pitcher - but on the tip cutting, wait for a few pitchers to form before repotting and treating like a regular plant.
This time of year is good for taking cuttings. The days are starting to get longer now. Ultra lowland species may not work until mid summer.

Never had a good time rooting in water - but that's how we do Coleus!

If you all want to see a pic of our cutting chambers - and an established cutting, we'll take a few pics later and post them.
 
Dip'N Grow also yields favorable results for me in my observations. I also use the cheap stuff Greenlight Rooting Hormone, just a powder, but it can be mixed in with water to make a paste, I believe it also has fungicide mixed in with it, so that always helps.
 
  • #10
I tried rooting a 3" N. ventricosa cutting in distilled water with rooting hormone powder on the end of the cutting. Seemed to take forever. Have another cutting that was smaller than a dime when I cut it and I stuck it in LFS and it did just as well as the water cutting without messing with rooting hormone and water changes.
 
  • #11
Maybe I should have requested a formal poll for this can of worms! It was suggested to me to root cuttings as one would put a rose cutting into a vase. Keep the experiences coming!
 
  • #12
Thanks for the info people, i bought some rooting hormone, along with a grocery store "throwaway plant" that was about 6" of climbing stem, i'll give it a shot now, and maybe trade off the plants that work.
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EDIT: Okay, i'm done with the cuttings, i'll wait a few months and tell you how they are, or until i get some good growth. Along with the 3 N. ventricosas i 'mauled' i also did 2 D. capensis.
 
  • #13
Thank you all for the advice!
 
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