So here are the results going into the rooting medium. First, I modified
@cmeg1 rooting process to fit what I had on hand. I have several of the same trays and domes that I use and I still have a few trays of 'Root Maker' cells that drop into this size of tray. I also had Sphagnum moss on hand. I make my own rooting hormone which is IBA and NAA so essentially it is 2500ppm (technically I make a 10000ppm stock solution then dilute it) Dip n Grow made with water and not alcohol. I make this a liter at a time.
(Side note if you ever want the hormone recipe or a more in-depth explanation of the culturing process I will post a guide)
So the next thing I did was to take a 7L bag of sphagnum (just about the perfect amount for a tray) and soaked it overnight in a 4:1 peroxide solution to kill any spores or other beasties. The next day gave it a weak dose of fertilizer and trace minerals. Then put a 'Root Maker' (60 cells per tray) tray into the bottom tray and packed each cell about 3/4 full of moss (just enough to cover the side holes so the sand would not fall out).
Next I topped it off with builders sand (like I used to sprout initially).
Next for the exciting part! I wanted to see if this was a complete failure. Seventeen lived I dumped all the tubes into a bath of 40:1 water/household bleach (more for the other cuttings I put in but I have learned you can never get cuttings clean enough...) and picked out the dead ones.
The other cuttings in the batch are Emperor Pomegranate (
@Eric Group I have not forgotten life just sucks!) and Pink Pixie bougainvillea (
@Carol 83 Pink Pixie is a dwarf
) Now you can't see really well because these are crappy pictures but take a look at the growth node. Look how fat it is! I am hoping this is proof of concept and I will get many branches out of this point! If they live that would be a huge step in JBP development! It's already worth doing again with much better control over time periods
In this pic you can see the other thing TDZ does, it makes the stem gain girth. These have all approximately doubled in caliper, I have no idea if that is temporary or if this pattern will continue. I suppose they could be ugly mutants... Also check out the movement on this one! This came from hitting the top of the plastic shoebox that they sprouted in. Crappy pic again my epilepsy meds make my hands shake... If you look at the split on the trunk, it looks like it might grow twisty, that would be cool!
I poked a hole in the wet sand and put a squirt (from a condiment squirt bottle) of rooting hormone in each hole. Now we have all been taught to dip and sometimes soak but a guy I learned a lot of this from squirts it into the holes of the rooting medium and he has propagated for a living working at a lab. After this pic, I put in the boug cuttings and I use the same dome that
@cmeg1 uses. Some of the JBP look pretty rough and that is because I am two weeks late getting them out of the tubes. They were green as could be the second week of June. Oh well...
Now we wait! They are growing (as they have been since sprouting ) indoors under my T5 HO lights.
