What do you all think?

[ThirstyBulldog]

Hey all, I'm new here and would just like to share a cultivation method I'm trying at the moment to see what you all think.

I'm still new to s. divinorum cultivation but I've read some others here mentioning how when rooting a cutting in water there is sometimes some small leaf/branch growth at one of the lower nodes (depending on where you made the cutting), but when transplanting the rooted cutting into soil those nodes unfortunately get buried and that growth is lost...

Here's a pic of my cutting rooting in water to illustrate what I'm trying to say:



Here's a pic of the same cutting out of water showing both the node that won't get buried by soil (top) and the one that would get buried (bottom):



(Only the bottom node was submerged in water; the top node met the waterline, and there you can see a single root growing.)

So when that small root had formed and the small leaves at the top node stopped growing I decided to move it into soil. However, I didn't want to lose the bottom growth, and so decided to try and grow BOTH out at the same time (a little background: of the four salvia clones I had ordered almost a year ago this was the only one that had survived -- I didn't have the proper drainage for my soil -- and I had packed its roots too tight when I finally did transplant it into properly draining soil; when it began dying my only recourse was to cut it at the base and try to save that remainder).

So here are the pictures of what I did:






That opaque plastic thingy you see there is from one of those gallon-sized plastic water containers. I cut out one of its edges and just whittled down the sides until it fit into the small pot (I'm keeping the cutting in a small pot for the time being until its roots grow out some more -- then I'll transplant into a normal pot). The idea is like that of a dam: the concave shape holds back the higher-placed soil, allowing the lower node to get enough light and oxygen to also grow its own roots. The top node just continues growing.

I cut that middle part out to allow the stem to fit through (and placed a wood chip on top to block the soil from tumbling down, because I had made the middle cut a little too high), then I just carefully dropped some soil around the bottom node and dampened it to promote root growth.

That's it as far as the set up is concerned. I can post more details if you would like to know more.

Now those last four pics were from August 15th; since then both nodes have grown well ! Tomorrow I'll post some pics of how they're doing now.

(Oh, by the way, that's a Luna clone.)

[lollipop guild]

Nice. But it seems like a lot of effort to keep that node looking pretty. I prolly would have just buried it and made sure that I got two nodes under water the next time I was rooting clones.

guild rep #8

[Veracohr]

I would suggest waiting until the roots are an inch or two long before potting that cutting.

[ThirstyBulldog]

Alrighty, here are three pics from today. The first is just a pic of the potted clone by the window:



(The reason for the zip-loc baggie is just to keep the soil damp longer. I keep my dorm window open all the time so the soil would dry out while I'm in class. Once the clone grows out more I will remove it. I also poked a couple holes in the baggie to allow some airflow -- it never fogs up with condensation so it's fine.)

And here are two close shots of the clone and the two nodes:




The bottom node has slightly overtaken the top node in growth I also removed part of the plastic to give the bottom one more light (it was stretching a little but you can see it has now grown out of the pit's shadow). The rest of the cutting (see third pic of first post) had also died off a little over a week ago; you can see I cut that part off.

Nice. But it seems like a lot of effort to keep that node looking pretty.

Nah, it actually wasn't. Although, it was a little tricky maneuvering the soil, plastic, and cutting into the pot it only took like two minutes. The little difficulty I had was that I had cut the plastic "dam" from a corner-edge of the container, rather than just an edge; that would have made it a little more easy to maneuver into place (but now I know for next time). So circa two minutes' worth of extra effort for double stems on my cutting

I would suggest waiting until the roots are an inch or two long before potting that cutting.

Wasn't an option; the single root had stopped growing, as had the small leaf growth. It was either pot now or let it sit.

[Syd]

kudos, she looks lovely