Community

Posted 3w ago by @BogBody

My pilea has been propagating for a while now and no roo...

My pilea has been propagating for a while now and no roots yet. I even added rooting hormone to the water. I checked it today and noticed THE smell. Yknow what smell I’m talking about…that’s right: ROT!!! So I clipped the rotted stem off and hopefully I got all of it. Starting over with the propagation process. I’m letting my pilea sit out for 24hours to callus over on the cut area. Then back in the propagation station it goes. Uuuuugggghhhhh #PileaPeperomioides #PlantAddict #PropagationStation #ChineseMoneyPlant #help
4ft to light, indirect
4” pot without drainage
Last watered 1 month ago
Something that’s really helped me is letting the them dry out for 30mins and then adding super glue to were you cut they stay fresh no rot in sight.
You can also dip the end in dried cinnamon, a natural fungicide, whilst it callouses πŸ’š that works for me!

I have a Ficus Tineke that started life as a cutting that WOULD NOT ROOT! πŸ˜‚ It took me five months and THREE stem rot amputations before it took πŸ€¦β€β™€οΈπŸ€£ BUT Tinker is now happily rooted, planted and throwing new leaves πŸ’ͺ🀩 just be patient! She'll get there xx
@JenniB81 quick question Jenni - were you trying to get your tineke to root in soil or water or another substrate?
The allowing is to seal over overnight will help a ton, you should be fine.

I find mine do better if not in the sunshine for my Chinese money plant.

I’m pretty sure it’s because the warmth helps bacteria multiply, if you take away the warmth it’s much less likely. So heat is the enemy for me anyway. Also, I know bacteria thrives in warm places so for your cuttings it helps to avoid it.

Not sure why but they usually start to get roots all the way up the stem if under grow lights.

If you have a grow light that’s perfect!

Also, keep the water clean change it often.

Another tip that I really found helps is little bit of peroxide once every 2 weeks or so, you need to dilute it and it bubbles away. But, if there is any bacteria or fungus starting it kills it right off. I have not lost a cutting by doing this.

I use prop tubes and when I add peroxide I put it about 1/6 full with peroxide and then I fill the rest with water on top. I just leave it like that.

Anyway, I just thought you might like some help, I’ve also never been successful in soil for these either, but water works.

In fact, I just planted a dozen or so that I was experimenting with growing roots on just the leaf with the little stem. (No main stem) I cut as close as I could to the main stem and stuck them in the water. It took a lot of time to grow roots but out of 16 cuttings 12 or so were successful and did indeed root. It does take patience though they take quite a bit of time. To be honest they were not even great leaves they were at the bottom of the plant and on the way out. So I thought, why not try?

They were successful, so don’t give up!
@laniramirez99 that’s a good idea! Thank you!
@JenniB81 yes! Cinnamon to the rescue! Thank you!
@SuperbRaspfern this is wonderful info! Thank you so much!
@SuperbRaspfern you let them sit in the peroxide/water mixture while propagating?
Yes, once it interacts with the enzymes in organic material, which act like a catalyst, causing the rapid bubbling, it breaks down rapidly and are only left with added oxygen. It’s a fascinating process really.
@SuperbRaspfern that is fascinating! It won’t hurt the plant?
Oxygen + plants = good root growth
@SuperbRaspfern how long should I let it sit? Till the next day then repeat the process? Refresh peroxide/water mixture.
@SuperbRaspfern that’s amazing! Thank you so much for the help!
I do it regularly about once a week or if the sides of the prop container get any coloring I will pour out the old water and add the peroxide water. It does not hurt the plants as long as you dilute it.

Bacteria and fungi take time to grow so once a week works great for me.
It work the same way as if you are treating root rot on a plant. Even though it is a weakened plant from the bacteria that caused root rot.

The peroxide soak on the healthy roots left behind kills off the bacteria leaving only healthy growth behind.

Like this I got this off google but it explains it well for you to understand, these are not my words!

β€œDiluted hydrogen peroxide kills bacteria primarily by releasing oxygen when it comes into contact with their cells, creating an environment that is toxic to them, while healthy plant roots have mechanisms to protect themselves from this oxidative stress and can utilize the released oxygen to aid in their growth when used in appropriate dilutions; essentially, the bacteria are more susceptible to the damaging effects of the oxygen burst compared to the plant roots”
Your welcome πŸ’•
@SuperbRaspfern okay cool! And then you let the plant soak in the peroxide/water mix for a week or just a night then put just water?
@SuperbRaspfern sorry, I’m trying to make sure I understand everything correctly πŸ˜†
No worries, ask away! That’s how we all learn. So for mine I just leave the peroxide mix in. After it stops bubbling it’s pretty much inactive, so it’s essentially just water at that point.

But you could pour it out at that point and just use water either way.

I check my props pretty often and you know how you can see subtle changes in color, like a slight brownish tint to the container or stem. That seems to be the point that bacteria is starting to build up so I will promptly do the peroxide/water mix and just leave it.
I just looked up your profile by the way, and saw you have β€œJUMPING SPIDERSβ€πŸ•·οΈ, I love that, they are soooo cute πŸ₯°!

I also have isopods LOTS of them oh my goodness I have to keep adding containers. I have some dairy cows isopods and way too many of our local isopods, my son picked up around 7 for my terrariums and no joke I have hundreds! But now they are my little babies! I feed them fish flakes and some isopod powder and they are so fun! I swear I can just watch them for hours! πŸ’•
I have to add my husband sees me with my bugs and he’ll say,” I swear you have such a ridiculous amount of plants so you can play with bugs,” then I just have to say well your not wrong. What can I say I love nature, I can tell you do too from all your babies! πŸ˜‚
@SuperbRaspfern okay, sweet! I just did the peroxide thing and put my pilea back in the propagation glass after leaving him to callus over all night. Hopefully we’ll start seeing roots! I do have lots of bugs! I love all of them! I have zebra isopods so far! I wanna get more at some point! :) My husband loves them too lmao we adopted our first baby jumper about a year and a half ago. She’s the cutest! Since then he’s found me 3 moreπŸ˜†
Awww, I love that! πŸ’• Keep me posted on your Chinese money I think she’ll be fine now πŸͺ΄
@SuperbRaspfern will do!
I’ve had great success w dipping ends in super glue letting dry and no matter what I put them in - water, soil, leca- they don’t die … good luck!
@DecorousKanna I appreciate the advice! Thank you! I’ll try that if it starts to rot again for sure.
I use 3% peroxide with water. 1.5 cups to 6.5 water. I use it to bottom water my plants, if I find an abundant amt of fungus gnats, I'll pour a mixture of the hydrogen peroxide water and pour just enough of the water over the to soil. It starts to "sizzle"and "pop". Sometimes the soil will lift up some, letting me know it's working on the killing the fungus gnats, bacteria and if the plant has mealy worms, it kills them, including anything else that is unwanted in my soil.
@PivotalMakole thanks for the info! :)