Potatos as a rooting medium

Bunjeh

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I keep seeing on Pinterest and other social media outlets, people using potatos as a rooting medium. Apparently you just stick the end of the cutting in a potato (after stripping the eyes), place it in the ground or substrate and the strike rate seems to be pretty high. Wondering if anyone has ever tried this? I would imagine the logic behind this is that the tip never dries out as long as the potato is still viable. I am going to try this with some Paul's Scarlet Hawthorn cuttings in a controlled experiment. What the heck, I had zero strike last year.
 

sorce

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I heard people only store them in there....
But hell....it could work.....

Rockwool......
California echo.....

Rockwool is for "clones"!

Sorce
 

Starfox

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I have seen potatoes work quite well for people using them with rose cuttings before. Not tried it myself but some swear by it.

You need to be careful though as the potato can rot and turn to mush.
Worth a shot at least.
 
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But potatoes are for eat..
And don't stink! Good (=Dutch) potatoes smell nice!
Interesting about the rooting, will try.
 

Anthony

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Also used is oasis for sticking flowers in, cheap and it works.
Can also be sectionised, cut up.
Good Day
Anthony
 

Cypress187

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I wonder how the rootball looks and how you will get the roots out of the potato (just like getting the flour out of the baked cake, it's not possible).
 

aml1014

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I wonder how the rootball looks and how you will get the roots out of the potato (just like getting the flour out of the baked cake, it's not possible).
Just plant the cutting in the ground with the potato and wait for the potato to decompose lol that's my only idea:D
 

Cypress187

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Just plant the cutting in the ground with the potato and wait for the potato to decompose lol that's my only idea:D
Yeah, but won't the decomposing potato rot and damage the roots in the process? And how about the root spread, roots trapped in a (solid) potato won't have a good oot structure I think.
 

aml1014

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Yeah, but won't the decomposing potato rot and damage the roots in the process? And how about the root spread, roots trapped in a (solid) potato won't have a good oot structure I think.
I agree the roots would not be very nice, in my opinion why not just use vermiculite or something we know is reliable.
 

Bunjeh

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Sounds completely pointless. It's a gimmick.

If this worked better than any other rooting medium it would be used by professionals in market gardening - it isn't.
Perhaps, but professionals are also going to have the ability to establish the proper microclimate and likely use warming mats. I would imagine this is for use on a small scale. Meh, anyway. Gonna try it.
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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In the comments section of this linked blog post, the blog author said it didn't work. I think I'll stick to "conventional" techniques for rooting cuttings, sphagnum moss, or perlite, or rockwool, or peat moss, or what ever growing medium you have on hand. I already have one or more of these media on hand.

Trick I've used with success on Satsuki azalea cuttings. A pot, 3 inch diameter or less, filled with my azalea bonsai mix (perlite & kanuma, or what ever I'm using that year). I make sure media is wet and settled before inserting cuttings. Cuttings are put into pot, usually I don't bother with rooting hormone, then place the pot & cuttings into a large zip lock plastic bag. Seal bag. Set in bright shade. Check every month or so to make sure not getting dry. Usually within 3 months have signs of growth. Then I partially open bag for a week, then remove bag and begin growing as a normal plant. Sometimes cuttings won't show growth for up to 9 or 10 months. Just keep bag sealed until growth begins. Growth is the signal that cuttings are rooted. Usually around 25% to 60% of cuttings stuck in pot root. I usually have 5 to 10 cuttings per pot, so almost always get 3 or more to grow. Simple, all done with available materials, and no rotten potatoes. Works for a wide array of species. Long fiber sphagnum moss is another good media, but the moss is difficult to tease out of roots when it is time to plant cutting that took out into larger growing containers. If you wait 2 years before separating the cuttings, the roots will be sturdy enough to survive the "teasing out" of the sphagnum.
 

GrimLore

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Perhaps, but professionals are also going to have the ability to establish the proper microclimate and likely use warming mats. I would imagine this is for use on a small scale. Meh, anyway. Gonna try it.

I never tried it but a friend where I used to live in New York has had good luck with it with Rose cuttings. All I know about it.

Grimmy
 
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Perhaps, but professionals are also going to have the ability to establish the proper microclimate and likely use warming mats. I would imagine this is for use on a small scale. Meh, anyway. Gonna try it.
Do things which are proven to work. Bonsai takes long enough following the established best practices without going off down some bizarre "rooting potato" route.
 

coh

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Personally, I think it's good that people are willing to try things like this, even if some or most consider it bizarre. Maybe he'll discover something that others have missed, maybe this is a good technique only for some species...or maybe it is completely useless. Really not much to lose by sticking a couple of extra cuttings into a potato or two!
 
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Following that logic and we never would never advance.
Every beginner claims this. It's BS.

What on earth makes you think that nobody ever tried it? You think we're inventing new propagation techniques several tens of thousands of years into civilisation and many centuries into bonsai?
 
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If the wheel hadn't been reinvented you wouldn't be riding your bicycle that comfy on the wibbly-wobbly streets of Amsterdam.

From rediscovering and reinventing can also be lots learnt. Ask the guy who dug out Tutanchamon's tomb.
 
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