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It seems like running rhizomes into pots would be the best way to get a guaranteed successful division, but since I've found juicy roots(root stimulating gel) I think whip shoots that have at least some roots and dormant buds would be an easy way to get small divisions since this stuff does seem to accelerate the rate of getting established. I might need to try this stuff on bamboo branches next.



These divisions will curl their leaves a bit for the first few days


After about a week, they look fine.


Whip shoots are capable of making their own rhizomes after about 3 months if they are pampered enough.

What does Juicy Roots contain? As in, what are the active ingredients?

It is supposed to have b1 vitamins and other rooting hormones, but I have been satisfied with it so far since I've taken little whip shoots with only like 2-5 root hairs, coated them in this stuff and they eventually recovered to show root growth in only like 2 weeks which makes taking divisions way easier than ever. When I tried divisions like this before without this stuff, they kept on failing. I only use like 1 drop on each division since I only have a 4oz bottle that I want to last me for a while. Has anyone had success with any other rooting gels that are cheaper than juicy roots?

Here's a video that explains what is in it.

Seeing that the ingredients listed online are IAA, and a b-vitamin, it looks like they are using the same ingredients that are used in most rooting or cloning products. Also, IAA, and perhaps another of the common rooting compounds that are found in cloning gels and powders, is found naturally in the Willow tree, and is pretty easy to extract, and use in place of the store-bought products. I am in the process of looking through the different methods online to extract IAA, and when I find one that seems reasonable, I will post it.

Sounds like interesting stuff if you can coat a rhizome using only 1 drop.

I usually carefully squirt a drop onto the roots after the soil is washed off and with a small whip shoot division that usually only has a few root hairs, 1 drop is more than enough to get contact with all the roots. This stuff is like 20 something $$ for a 4oz bottle at the cheapest place I could find so it is important that it doesn't go to waste. I don't think there's any need to coat the rhizome itself unless it looks like roots are ready to form there.

I do however like the idea about using willow tea which consists peeling the young bark off of the live branches until you have a few cups of it, boiling it, then letting it sit to cool until it gels up. It sounds like an easy way to get young plants established more quickly.

I'm leery of any product that uses computer animation to show the results you get when using it. Why not show actual plants?

Just In-

Apparently, human saliva makes one of the very best rooting hormones. Works for propagating (new growth) stems from trees, I heard this from a very reliable source. Cut off a four inch end of a branch, remove all but the end leaves, place the stem into your mouth, pop it into a growing medium. Wala.

Regardless,
Mackel in DFW

Mackel in DFW wrote:Just In-

remove all but the end leaves, place the stem into your mouth, pop it into a growing medium. Wala.

Regardless,
Mackel in DFW

What if you are rooting cacti!

David wrote:

Mackel in DFW wrote:Just In-

remove all but the end leaves, place the stem into your mouth, pop it into a growing medium. Wala.

Regardless,
Mackel in DFW

What if you are rooting cacti!

I suppose you could just spit on them.

Some research on the web about this:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... f45e4.html
http://www.springerlink.com/content/j732t33460222596/

From what I read, the idea is that plants grow response to the saliva present when they are eaten. However, the one actual experiment to test this indicates that it doesn't work. Then again, considering the lack of luck I've had with it, I am skeptical of rooting compound.

Here's some divisions with some 1 inch diameter rhizomes off Atrovaginata.



If I have whip shoots that I can extract with a few good buds and roots, I'll just take those, but when I have rhizomes at 5-6ft away and still want to keep on growing, I'll let them curl around in a pot filled with compost which will likely produce a pretty good 1-2 culm division for me.

David, I bet yours will make like 5 or more large culms if that rhizome has been running in the pot all spring. If you let it whip, it might even get more growth come up.

stevelau1911 wrote:Here's some divisions with some 1 inch diameter rhizomes off Atrovaginata.



If I have whip shoots that I can extract with a few good buds and roots, I'll just take those, but when I have rhizomes at 5-6ft away and still want to keep on growing, I'll let them curl around in a pot filled with compost which will likely produce a pretty good 1-2 culm division for me.

David, I bet yours will make like 5 or more large culms if that rhizome has been running in the pot all spring. If you let it whip, it might even get more growth come up.

You should just sell these on ebay Steve. Include a drop of juicy root at no extra charge

As expected, running rhizomes into pots does create shoots, but the one problem with atrovaginata is that the whip shoots that do rise out of the pot will come up very large so I peeled off around 5 sheaths per shoot in order to reduce the size of the culms that are produced in the pots with rhizomes run into them. Here's the same divisions from the last post.




Using the energy of the mother plant definitely gets better divisions than taking rhizomes. Here's one of my rhizome divisions off the same plant.



Another way to do it which will result in smaller shoots is to sever the rhizome prior to shooting season. The rhizome is already well rooted in the pot so the section curled up around the edge of it should have enough energy for shoots. This one in particular is off of propinqua beijing. It differs from just taking a rhizome division because there's no transplant shock involved in just snipping a rhizome, and pulling the pot out of the ground.

Sorry I am late to this post but it is an interesting experiment. I have had good success with running rhizome tips into partially buried pots with a 3" strip of barrier inside the pot to prevent it popping out one of the other drain holes. It shoots about 50% of the time with Aurea & Nigra but have had great survival after that if I separate the pot in the fall after the new growth has leafed out. The drawback has been that these new potted plants seem to take an extra season to really get going but right now the ones I did in '09 have a lot of new growth this year! Right now I am trying it with Dulcis & Vivax. My reason for doing this is to get more healthy divisions in smaller 5 gallon pots.

It is just about time for all the rhizome production to get going, and since my prominens is producing quite a few large ones, I think it would make sense to shove one of them through the drainage hole of a nursery pot, and let it root out as much as possible.

It probably won't be a good idea this late in the season to cause a whip shoot, but I've found that rhizomes guided into pots in September typically root out enough to send nice little culms inside that pot. I'm not sure if this is made possible since those rhizomes are stressed to produce a survival response, or if it's because the black nursery pots heat up that section of rhizome first, activating the less mature shoot buds on those sections.