Propagate Ficus Cutting in Water?

[penumbra]

Just curious, I do not normally do cuttings in water but I have had some surprises of plants rooting in water while I was holding them to root in a mix.
I just got a Morton Bay Ficus which I bought for long term development and I could not abide looking at the cluttered mass of branches all winter so I took off a few cuttings averaging a diameter of 1/4 inch and about 5 to 6 inches long.
Now my gut is telling me to trim the leaves, dip in hormone and put in my starting mix under plastic domes. I have rooted dozens and dozens of other types of ficus but have no experience with this ficus or cuttings this large. They are now in a bottle of spring water with a couple of tablespoons Hydrogen Peroxide 3% solution. Now this just happened 20 minutes ago and I would like to know if anyone has rooting these in water before I push on.
Thank you so much.

 

[BrianBay9]

I have rooted F microcarpa and F salicaria in water. Also pyracantha, chinese elms, and probably a few more. The roots formed tend to be pretty delicate and easily broken when transferring to a growth medium, so handle with care.

 

[penumbra]

I have rooted F microcarpa and F salicaria in water. Also pyracantha, chinese elms, and probably a few more. The roots formed tend to be pretty delicate and easily broken when transferring to a growth medium, so handle with care.

Thanks. I appreciate your feedback. Pyracantha is a bit of a surprise to me. How big were your cuttings?
Yeah, I am aware those water roots are brittle. I transplant them before they get long enough to be a problem, sometimes when the leaf nodes erupt.

 

[cbroad]

They are now in a bottle of spring water

Throw a small air stone attached to an aquarium air pump in there and stand back!

That's what I basically did for my microcarpa cuttings and it worked superbly!

 

[penumbra]

Throw a small air stone attached to an aquarium air pump in there and stand back!

That's what I basically did for my microcarpa cuttings and it worked superbly!

That is an excellent idea. That is used in hydroponics. I have everything I need. Thank you.

 

[canoeguide]

Is there an advantage of rooting in water? (I am legitimately wondering, not asking a rhetorical question. I've been able to root every ficus cutting that I've tried in potting soil, compost, straight DE, etc. - it doesn't seem to matter if humidity, moisture, and temperature are maintained.)

 

[John P.]

Is there an advantage of rooting in water? (I am legitimately wondering, not asking a rhetorical question. I've been able to root every ficus cutting that I've tried in potting soil, compost, straight DE, etc. - it doesn't seem to matter if humidity, moisture, and temperature are maintained.)

Your losses of cuttings to desiccation (drying out) can be mitigated much easier by rooting in water.

The airstone is a good idea. I’ve had good luck using a seed germination warming pad under a container of water when rooting them in water in the winter and early spring. Ficus microcarpa:

• Smaller, green cuttings end up rotting.
• Woody stems seem to work best. I replaced a couple dead ones with new cuttings, but I need to get more to fill the tile holes.
• Bottom heat=good.

 

[penumbra]

I've been able to root every ficus cutting that I've tried in potting soil, compost, straight DE, etc. - it doesn't seem to matter if humidity, moisture, and temperature are maintained.)

Me too! But I have never tried this ficus.
In my original post I put forth the observation I had upon roots developing in the water jar before even going to the soil. So I figured it was faster and quicker to establish whether or not the cutting would take. This came about when I took bougainvillea cuttings a few weeks ago. I did not get all of them stuck so I put a few in a jar of water. The ones in the jar made root nodules in a mater of days and the ones in potting mix lagged a bit behind. That made it pretty easy for me to select the best ones and pot them, or to discard any that did not do so well.
Space is also a consideration. Imagine you are working in something other than the ficus you already excel at. You put say 30 cuttings in cells in a flat that takes up usually 10 x 20 inches. Or you put ten cuttings in a jar x 3. Not only are you taking up 75 percent less space, put you can place the single jar in a space as any space you could set a small pot.
Of course if you oxygenate the water as has been suggested, another arrangement can easily be made. I am very curious about all of this myself and I am going to set up a 5 gallon aquarium this week with air stone. It will be a fun little experiment.

 

[cbroad]

That is used in hydroponics

I used a 750gph pump in a 5 gal. hydroponic DWC bucket, more technical, but would still work on your smaller scale.

https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/ficus-experiment.27965/

 

[mbunro]

i use water for ficus rubiginosa var "little ruby"
they are usually very hard to root cuttings, even if you select a branch that has ground layered its own roots...
but i have 100 percent success rate with a glass of water on the window sill. no fancy air stones or anything i just overflow the glass until im sure the older water has been replaced once a week or so.

 

[Shibui]

Ficus macrophylla - Moreton Bay fig is usually very easy to strike. Even quite large cuttings can root without difficulty. Found one growing in the expansion joints of a concrete bridge. as there was no way to extract roots we just sawed it off at the base and planted the trunk in a pot and it grew new roots. Warm weather is the best time but indoors with heat you may be successful.

i use water for ficus rubiginosa var "little ruby"
they are usually very hard to root cuttings, even if you select a branch that has ground layered its own roots...

I have found 'Little Ruby' to strike well. It grows slower than the original species but striking cuttings is no problem.

 

[penumbra]

I set this small tank up today. It will hold about a dozen cuttings or so. I will drop a small heater in it tomorrow. Its not really a waste of space because I will enjoy watching the dwarf freshwater Cherry Shrimp I will put in it.
.

 

[John P.]

I used to breed and sell Cherry Shrimp when they were new to the hobby 15 years ago, LOL. You could definitely put a lot more cuttings in there.

 

[penumbra]

I used to breed and sell Cherry Shrimp when they were new to the hobby 15 years ago, LOL. You could definitely put a lot more cuttings in there.

Thanks John, I am actually raising the shrimp in a 55 gallon planted aquarium that has been set up for years so I will be putting a few stones and a ground cover plant in there as well, for my amusement and for the shrimps well being.

 

[BonjourBonsai]

@penumbra , this is a cool idea. Any update on this?

I've been thinking of taking 1/4 to 1/2 inch cuttings and planting them in a perlite and sphagnum moss mixture. I'm going to plant them in a plastic cup and cover the soil with some screen so I can change the water without losing the soil.

 

[John P.]

@penumbra , this is a cool idea. Any update on this?

I've been thinking of taking 1/4 to 1/2 inch cuttings and planting them in a perlite and sphagnum moss mixture. I'm going to plant them in a plastic cup and cover the soil with some screen so I can change the water without losing the soil.

That should work! Just removed some Burtt Davyi cuttings growing in a pickle jar:


100% success this time between this jar and another container for ~25 cuttings.

 

[giventofly]

When you put the cuttings in water do you replace the water after X time or never? Can they be in full sun or shade?

 

[Ply]

I've never been able to root ficus (tiger bark) cuttings in water. I've tried it two times with about a dozen cuttings, none of them rooted. I'm not sure why.

Either way, they root so easily in soil that I see little reason why you would want to in water. When given enough humidity and kept out of sunlight the succes rate in soil I get is near 100%. Even including thicker cuttings, which is one of the big benefits of the ficus species imo.

 

[giventofly]

I just want to view when the roots are there to make a clump, using substrate I would say my rate goes around 80%