This is the propagation method of choice for our new Eucomis releases, and although I'm not sure how many aficionados there are in this forum, allow me to summarize a few tidbits from personal experience: Harvest a leaf in mid-summer. If necessary water the plant well the night before, so the tissue is as well hydrated as possible. Use a new razor blade so you can cut the sections with very little tissue damage. Cut the leaf into transverse sections 2-3" long, making the bottom into a V shape. This is because the leaf is much thicker at the midrib than at the edges, and it's easier to push into the growing medium without the thin edges extending all the way down. It also creates more active area for sprouting. Stand all the cuttings in a cup of water with Dip-n-Grow at 10:1 dilution and let them soak for a few minutes. Plant in promix or perlite making sure the entire cut surface is buried. Keep moist. In promix the pot/flat can stay on the floor of the greenhouse. In perlite, I put the whole thing in either a large plastic bag or a clear leftover container. Note that I prefer the dip solution over Clonex gel, but both can work OK. Some growers don't use hormone at all and it seems to work. Clonex is my weapon of choice for woody plant cuttings. Lately I have tended to use the little leaves at the top of the inflorescence (the "pineapple" so to speak) rather than slices of the main leaves, for several reasons:1. If one of the large slices gets rot, you lose the whole thing, whereas with the top leaves, you have dozens of individual leaves and if one rots you haven't lost much.2. You can use a 24-cell tray insert and put one leaf in each, saving yourself the first thinning/transplanting. The most important things are good hydration of the plant ahead of time, and a really sharp blade. Then, keeping an eye on humidity and avoiding rot. The attachments show leaf cuttings after bulblets have formed, leaf cuttings in a bag (this one used Clonex - note the purple stain), and top cuttings ready to treat and plant. Sorry if this was long-winded but now you know everything I do on the matter. BobEucomis Working Group Zone 7 -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Great White leaf props.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 1443509 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/pipermail/pbs/…> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Crab Nebula leaf props.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 1341273 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/pipermail/pbs/…> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Dusty top cuttings.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 1445709 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/pipermail/pbs/…> _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>
