Take Root

Today's article is going to be a little off the beaten path for me. I don't usually recommend products here, other than some of the stuff put out by Espoma (i.e. Citrus Tone and Holly Tone), but I have come across a company and, so far, these couple of things that I will talk about, are showing some good promise.
As you all know, I like to experiment with growing different and unusual plants. Finding different, easy, cheap ways to grow them or propagate them. Things that the average poor homeowner might be able to pull off.
Camellias have become, for lack of better wording, an obsession. I am a competitive person and love to see how I stack up against other people and their ways of growing things. However, Camellia plants are VERY expensive to just go out and buy. If you have friends that grow them or maybe a nursery that you are in good with, today, I will show you an easy way to multiply your collection.
I will start with the basics.
The best time to root Camellia cuttings is Summer. The wood should be semi-ripe. Not hard and woody and not green and very pliable, a kind of in between.
To root the Camellias, or any other type of plant for that matter, you basically need a pot or container, a medium in which to stick the cutting into, light, humidity and of course, the cutting.
I have created a humidity chamber out of rubbermaid type containers. They look like this:

The thing with the tube going into the first picture is a reptile fogger. As you can see, I have three different container experiments going on here. Two large and one smaller. One of the large ones has the fogger going into it. The idea of the fogger is to provide humidity. I run it for 30 minutes, then off for 30 minutes while the lights are on. The lights are on for 18 hours and everything is on timer switches. You only want bright indirect light. Don't put the light directly on the plants, it will just fry them.
When the fogger is on it looks like this inside:

The temperature stays between 70 and 85 degrees.
Okay, that takes care of the light, warmth and humidity.
I use a 50/50 mix of fine pine bark and perlite as my soil medium. It is well draining, light, yet holds some moisture.
This is where the products I was telling you about come into play.
I take a Camellia cutting, about 6 inches long, cut all but the top two leaves off. I then cut those two leaves in half to help retain moisture. I scrape a little of the bark off at the cut end and dip it into Dyna-Gro Root Gel.
It looks like this:

I think there was a horror movie made with stuff that looked like this. LOL
Also possibly a Ghostbuster was hit with it.
I have used all kinds of rooting products before and got so-so results. This is so much easier to use. The theory behind the gel is it seals the cutting and functions as an artificial root system until the cutting develops its own roots.
You will want to have your pot filled with your medium of choice and, using a pencil, poke a hole into the center of the medium so you don't scrape the gel off.
The stem will look like this:

And the final product will look like this:

Always make sure you tag your cuttings, preferably with the botanical name of the plant, but at least the common name. I promise you, even if you stick only one cutting, you WILL forget the name of it. I like to put the date that they were stuck too. That gives me a better idea of when they might be ready to start checking for roots.
Usually I start checking 6-8 weeks after I stick them.
I mentioned that there where a couple of products I wanted to discuss. While the Root Gel seems to be working exactly as planned, Dyna-Gro has a couple of other things as added insurance to your success.
For all intents and purposes, I am using a mist system to propagate my Camellias. So, I am also using K-L-N Rooting Concentrate and Pro-Tekt Concentrate.
The directions are: Mix 1/2 teaspoon K-L-N and 1 teaspoon Pro-Tekt per gallon of water and add to the systems holding tank. Keep the cuttings moist. I have had to modify this slightly. I made the mixture and using a spray bottle, I spray the cuttings by hand a couple of times a day.
The K-L-N rooting concentrate is pretty self explanatory. It is just a little more of a kick to get roots to form.
The Pro-Tekt Concentrate I actually find fascinating. Reading directly off the bottle, "contains potassium and 7.8% silicon to reduce stress caused by heat, cold, drought, insects and disease".
This stuff is not just for rooting cuttings either. It has directions for maintaining your plants and hydroponic production. It can be applied with your irrigation and/or as a foliar spray.
This is what my cuttings look like after a month:

Not great pictures I know, but trust me when I tell you they look good. Like I said, I have tried other rooting agents and after a month I was losing them quickly. The leaves would start falling off and they would just up and die. These are not.
I am not one for pushing products just willy nilly. If I mention something here on my blog, I have actually used it and like what I see.
So far, I like the results.
If you would like to contact Dyna-Gro yourself and ask them any questions, their website is HERE
Or you can call 800-Dyna-Gro
Just as a side note, I have some WONDERFUL friends that have allowed me to come into their yard and take some cuttings or have sent me cuttings from their yard in other states. I also want to thank a local nursery that has basically a forest of old Camellias, some more than 50 years old, that allowed me to come acquire some cuttings. You ALL are great!!
As always, if you have any questions for me, I am only an E-mail away: TheCitrusGuy@netzero.com
Happy Growing!
Darren