Corkscrew vine cuttings... best way to root? - October 13th, 2006 at 11:39 PM
(transplanted and expanded post from Softwood Cuttings above, realized might not get any response up there.)
I just got in the mail a box of vigna caracalla cuttings from Colorado. They look pretty healthy except the blooms had all fallen off and in the bottom of the bag, and I'm not sure they qualify as softwood... the stems are all green, not woody - what's the definition of softwood? At any rate, I am going to give this a try since I had a fresh bag of potting soil to use and I had read on davesgarden that somebody else in a cold zone takes cuttings every fall and keeps their vine "going" that way.
I gave each cutting a fresh angled cut just below a leaf node, dipped it in honey (didn't have rooting powder, and read somebody else's comment somewhere on the net that honey worked just as well for them), and put in clean pots with fresh potting soil... got 11 of those going. One of them had a green pod on it, and I'm *really* hoping it will last long enough at least to turn brown and give me the seeds, but I'm not holding my breath.
A few cuttings were gangly enough I just put them in clean water with a smidge of hydrogen peroxide, just to see what would happen.
They're all in an east-facing room in the house that gets morning sunlight (not tons but some) where I've closed the heater vent (to reduce drying out the air more than anything).
Any suggestions to improve their chances?
I just got in the mail a box of vigna caracalla cuttings from Colorado. They look pretty healthy except the blooms had all fallen off and in the bottom of the bag, and I'm not sure they qualify as softwood... the stems are all green, not woody - what's the definition of softwood? At any rate, I am going to give this a try since I had a fresh bag of potting soil to use and I had read on davesgarden that somebody else in a cold zone takes cuttings every fall and keeps their vine "going" that way.
I gave each cutting a fresh angled cut just below a leaf node, dipped it in honey (didn't have rooting powder, and read somebody else's comment somewhere on the net that honey worked just as well for them), and put in clean pots with fresh potting soil... got 11 of those going. One of them had a green pod on it, and I'm *really* hoping it will last long enough at least to turn brown and give me the seeds, but I'm not holding my breath.
A few cuttings were gangly enough I just put them in clean water with a smidge of hydrogen peroxide, just to see what would happen.
They're all in an east-facing room in the house that gets morning sunlight (not tons but some) where I've closed the heater vent (to reduce drying out the air more than anything).
Any suggestions to improve their chances?