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Remove the two cotyledon leaves indicated in the picture to the right. Clean any other loose material or obvious contamination from the stem. (Dipping it in clean water is okay.) Leave the tuber in the pot. If it is healthy, it will put out one and probably more sprouts in a few days. When they reach the appropriate size, you may take more cuttings. There is a limit however. If many cuttings are taken from the same tuber, it will become exhausted and die. You must limit the number of cuttings you take from a tuber, if you want it to eventually produce a plant. The number of cuttings that can be obtained before a tuber becomes exhausted varies from cultivar to cultivar and tuber to tuber. Some tubers die after the first sprout is removed, others survive until 10 or 12 have been taken. |
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Place the cutting in a container holding a solution of hormone root stimulant such as Hormex or Dip N' Grow. Follow the instructions on the bottle for recommended strengths. Cuttings left in the solution much longer than indicated in the directions may receive damaging acid burns. If possible, get a rooting hormone that includes a fungicide. Some say that the fungicide does more to increase rooting than the rooting hormone itself. The time lapsed from when you first take the cutting until you place it in the root stimulant solution should not exceed a minute or two. If the cut stem is exposed to the air for longer periods, an embolism (air bubble) may form in the stem preventing the plant from taking up more water or nutrient. |
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Once the cutting has been in the rooting hormone the minimum required time, you are ready to put it into the growing medium. A quick overview of growing mediums is in order. Growing mediums used for growing cuttings should be the equivalent of "pasteurized"--harmful bacteria are killed (viruses are not killed). Such growing mediums include: play sand, potting mixes, vermiculite, perlite, and preformed cubes for growing cuttings such as Oasis. |
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Gary Miner's suggestion of a mix of 1/3 play sand, 1/3 perlite, and
1/3 vermiculite struck a positive note with me. I recognized that it
could overcome some of the difficulties of using play sand or perlite
by themselves.
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Most cubes used for starting cuttings come with a hole predrilled in them. While a hole is predrilled, and while it is large enough for the typical sprout cutting, it is not large enough for most leaf cuttings. Therefore, it is a good idea to enlarge the holes so that the leaf cutting can be easily inserted without damaging the stem. |
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