Monday, August 24, 2015

New method for rooting cuttings - The Tunnel Method

I noticed that my Oreo cookie method was still retaining a bit more water than I would like. The soil layer would rot the cutting where it made contact on some of the cuttings.

So I thought about it and came up with doing a tunneling method instead. In this method, you would have the cutting in the center, then a layer of perlite, then a layer of soil on the outer ring. This way would ensure that only the perlite would make contact with the wood cutting. It would create an airy moist layer for the cutting to root through. As the roots sprout it will eventually reach the soil layer to feed from.

I took a 20 oz cup pre drilled with holes and used a pvc pipe to create the cavity for the perlite and cutting. 

With the pipe in place I moistened the soil so that it would not crumble into the hole I made once the pipe was removed.

Add the cutting to the center of the hole. Be sure that there's a gap between the cutting and the soil. User perlite to fill in between the gap until it reaches the top.
Mist and place into your humidity bin. Don't forget to mark the variety and date. 

8/24/15 Gene's Vashon Cutting.

Update 10/08/15
The cutting eventually died. Probably my own fault from over watering. Cross this off your list of rooting methods. 

{This Experiment failed}


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3 comments:

  1. Hi, may I know what's the outcome so far? Do you soak the perlite before filling up the gap?
    Thanks & regards,
    James

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  2. I usually spray the whole thing with a bottle mister after the perlite has been added. I'll post an update on this soon.

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