Orchid plants can sprout aerial shoots on back bulbs that lack leaves. Small plants develop there, especially if the plants are stressed by overwatering or drought. The canes can fail to bloom and may produce small plants where you would expect flower buds. In about 3 months, you can remove the plant with back bulb and pot it up. The roots that form in air must be nurtured in the transition to life in soil, so those new potted orchids will benefit from weekly watering with Hormex Liquid Concentrate mixed 1 teaspoon to a gallon of water.

Last week, I blogged about propagating orchids using divisions and back bulbs. These two methods are very popular, but there’s more:

I was introduced to orchid keiki in the lava fields on the Big Island during my ill-fated stint in Hilo. I was in the right place at the wrong time, and only a few days were spent in glorious exploration of this rare and wonderful environment. Thankfully, one day was devoted to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, home of Kilauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes. Arundina orchids are among the first plants to sprout when the lava cools after an eruption and dot the black soil like prayer flags. The plants are tall, a weedy pest in the Tropics, and very prone to reproduction. The day I walked among them, I noticed that a few of the plants were multi-branched candelabras, but most had 2 or 3 stems and swollen nodes. A closer inspection revealed those nodes to be the beginnings of new plants, or keiki. This rampant reproductive nature of Arundina has made it a pest in some places, but you have to admire a plant that will not be stopped and constantly insures its future. It’s got spunk, and I like it. Just a side note: I grow other plants that are considered bullies, like the Clerodendrum known as Mexican hydrangea or Kashmir bouquet, but do avoid the real invasive species like Chinese tallow. I certainly would not plant Arundina outdoors in a tropical environment, I promise, but its reproductive abilities should be an inspiration to other, more finicky orchids.

Not only Arundina produces keikis; Phalaenopsis, Dendrobiums, Epidendrums, and Vandas also make them. Here’s how: Orchid stems can and do branch, sending secondary shoots out of their nodes. Sometimes a small plant sprouts there called a keiki. They are perfect copies of the mother plant, natural or sometimes induced babies, or keikis in Hawaiian. Correctly pronounced, it is ‘kay-ee-kee’, but most Mainlanders say ‘kay kee’ without pronouncing the middle syllable. Whatever you call them, these babies are cute and ready to grow slowly into plants with roots that are large enough to clip off and pot up. Be patient! This process can take six months, aided by your intentions and basic good care of the mother plant. As the roots begin to show, mist them lightly once a week with a solution of Hormex Liquid Concentrate mixed 10 drops in a gallon of water. Take care when removing keiki orchids so the roots are not damaged. Cut the keiki away from the mother plant with an inch or 2 of stem on either side of it. Use that stem to help stabilize the orchid in its new pot. Water weekly with a solution of 1 teaspoon/gallon of HLC and water. Remember, keikis grow slowly but usually flower the second year.

Orchid plants often produce flowering canes, including many Dendrobiums. They can sprout aerial shoots on back bulbs that lack leaves. Small plants develop there, similar to piggyback plant or airplane plant, but over a longer period of time. If a stressful event occurs, such as overwatering or excessive drought, canes can also fail to bloom and may produce small plants where you would expect flower buds. These aerial shoots will form roots in about 3 months and can be clipped from the mother plant (along with a portion of the back bulb if necessary) and potted up. The roots that form in air must be nurtured in the transition to life in soil, and will benefit from weekly watering with Hormex Liquid Concentrate mixed 1 teaspoon to a gallon of water.

Two other methods are used to propagate orchid: tissue (or meristem) culture and seeds. Both demand sterile conditions, so are seldom used at home. Seeds are preferred by those who want to see how diverse the results can be, and some of the finest selections known today were once random seedlings. Tissue culture grows slivers of meristem to produce glass tubes full of tiny plants just like the plant that donated the tissue. It is much cheaper to produce plants this way once the dear initial costs are recouped, and has made it possible to ship thousands of orchid plants in a small box from a commercial propagator to a finishing grower. When the horticultural history of the 21^st century is written, I believe that one of the benchmarks will be the geometric expansion in the availability of orchid plants, thanks to tissue culture. Long ago and far away, I worked with tissue culture briefly in a research environment. My fellow graduate student wanted to facilitate the delivery of cabbages and other vegetables to growers in her Asian homeland. She found her way of choice in meristem culture, and the rest of us got to explore what was, at the time, new-fangled technology. It’s true what they say – if you’re looking for a fascinating field that takes you from the backyard to state-of-the-art laboratories and runs the gamut of potential careers, you should consider horticulture.

Nellie Neal is a passionate propagator and owner of GardenMama, Inc. She advocates for gardening 24/7 at her website, www.gardenmama.com. Ask questions and comment about this blog on the Contact Us page of www.hormex.com.

It’s a tribute to romance and gardening! Unbeknownst to each other, my daughter and her boyfriend arrived for their Valentine’s Day date last week with gifts of orchid plants for each other. She called me for advice about purchasing a ‘grocery store’ orchid for him and I assured her that the moth orchid, Phalaenopsis, would be a wise choice. I love technology! One quick snapshot taken from her phone and I was able to see the characteristic rounded petals of moth orchid and its upright, roughly triangular flower shape. Fat leaves covered the top of the pot and 5 stems had buds, 2 fully in bloom. She wanted to repot it into a larger, nicer container, but I persuaded her to use it as a cache pot and wait until after the flowers take a break to repot. Both of them purchased healthy, full pots and soon enough they’ll need dividing, too.

Making divisions is one of several ways to propagate orchids and it is usually better done in spring than at other times of the year. Like many perennial garden plants, each orchid division must have at least one shoot and some roots as well as backbulbs if they exist. Those are the pseudobulbs that remain after a previous flower display has been cleaned up. Keep reading this blog for information about propagating with backbulbs. Gently slip the orchid to be divided out of its pot onto a bench or tray. If it is difficult to get the rootball out of its pot, break the pot rather than wrench the roots. Shake off any loose soil and inspect the plant for obvious places to make divisions that will yield strong shoots and plenty of roots for each one. It’s best to get a strong mess of roots, at least one new shoot and 2-3 backbulbs in each division.  Use a sharp, single-bladed knife to slice straight through the crown tissue and roots in one motion.

Like people, plants respond well to a little pressure and moderate amounts of stress can actually be quite motivating. Your quest is to minimize that stress and manage its effects for good results, from the way you choose and separate new divisions to how you treat the new plants as they root and begin to grow. Once the cuts are made, rinse the roots in plain water and soak the divisions for 15 minutes in Hormex Liquid Concentrate (2 T per gallon of water). Pot them up in a classic, bark-rich orchid mix and water weekly with a solution of Hormex (1 tsp. per gallon of water) at least until new growth begins.

The timid among us may find the act of cutting a beloved plant painful; trust me, it’s worth it. The stress of separation can produce stronger shoots and more flowers than the orchid plant left to grow for years in the same pot. Most will reward your efforts with flowers next season. If only the stresses of life were so predictably rewarding!

If you seek a way to propagate orchids that delivers a big investment on time, or want a more affordable way to acquire some varieties, use backbulbs. These are the stems with swollen bases left after flowering or that form without ever initiating bloom. Both root well and can be removed when the mother plant is repotted or divided. Roots are the first order of business in propagating backbulbs and Hormex Liquid Concentrate provides 2 growth hormones and vitamin B-1 to encourage rooting. Dip the base of an orchid backbulb into the concentrate for 5 minutes before planting it in orchid mix, or a combination of mix and finely ground bark. Water weekly for 6 weeks with a solution of HLC mixed 1 teaspoon per gallon of water. At that point, tug gently on the backbulb. If it resists your touch, rooting has begun. Continue using a Hormex solution monthly to insure good root development. It can take up to 4 years to bloom a backbulb but those who do say it’s well worth the time to expand their collections.

Orchids can also be propagated from keiki and aerial cuttings; I’ll blog about these fascinating plant parts and how to propagate them next week.

Nellie Neal is a passionate propagator and owner of GardenMama, Inc. She advocates for gardening 24/7 at her website, www.gardenmama.com. Ask questions and comment about this blog on the Contact Us page of www.hormex.com.

When you prune roses this year, try rooting some. Make cuttings pencil-thick or slightly less, six inches long and cut above one node and below another. Cut the upper end straight across and cut the lower end on a slant to expose more stem and so you don’t stick them upside down. If leaves are present, remove them from the lower half of the cutting, dip it in Hormex, and stick it into damp media such as well-drained potting mix. Oh, and don’t forget to label the cuttings with name and date. Trust me; you’ll forget which is which.

Rooting figs and other woody plants often happens because we prune the plants and cannot resist trying to start another one. I played in the yard while my grandmother cut back the French hydrangeas on a warm day in February. To keep the bushes under the windows, she cut back some of the stems fairly hard each year, while on the others, she just trimmed the tips to retain the flowers. Almost absentmindedly, she trimmed each long, woody stem to 8-12 inches long, stuck it into the soil next to its parent, and walked away. Most rooted. Since then, I’ve rooted figs, grapes, and even crepe myrtles using this method. But I add one important step that increases my success rate considerably. I put a little Hormex rooting hormone powder into an envelope and carry it with me when I prune. I dip each new cutting into Hormex, and recommend that you do, too.

Every gardener and grower will tell you that propagation is all about increasing the percentage of attempts that actually produce viable plants. The odds in your favor increase with the use of bottom heat and bottom watering, and here’s why.

Some plants do not respond well to overhead watering, such as roses and African violets. Their leaves are vulnerable to fungus diseases that need water to get going and without it, fewer disease problems arise. We’ve all heard that watering roses and lawn grass before dark works to prevent those fungus diseases, too. Given that rain does fall at night, it is wise not to compound that problem. The same goes for cuttings and seedlings, but another factor comes into play for them. They are small, easily disturbed, and also may be slowed by the introduction of cold water to the environment. I run tap water into a container and let it sit until it is no longer chilly, and then fill the flat or saucer underneath cuttings. No cold shock, no wet leaves or toppled stems, and better rooting percentages.

The need for bottom heat in the form of a heating mat made for use in propagation setups can be even more important for rooting and seeding. The reason we set up a rooting chamber of any sort is to create conditions where the cutting will develop roots before it rots or dries out. A warm soil provided by the heating mat keeps the process going and speeds rooting as well. Your modest investment in a heating mat will pay for itself many times over, but not everyone agrees. One of my own gurus insists that bottom heat rarely makes the difference for most plants, and if needed, it is readily available in most homes. Yes, it’s true that the top of old-fashioned refrigerators and water heaters can be warm enough, but new, energy-efficient models don’t leak heat like the old ones. Maybe he’s better than I, but my success rate with bottom heat is far superior to other efforts. Get a mat – you’ll be glad.

I do not want first time propagators to be daunted by the elements needed to set up a rooting chamber. As I wrote about in last week’s blog, it can be quite simple. Truth is, sometimes you don’t need much of a setup at all. Rooting figs and other woody plants often happens because we prune the plants and cannot resist trying to start another one. My grandmother had a reputation for being able to grow broomsticks and proved it. I played in the yard while she cut back the French hydrangeas on a warm day in February. Her way of doing it was, like most things, pretty original. To keep the bushes under the windows, she cut back some of the stems fairly hard each year, while on the others, she just trimmed the tips. As she went down the hedge, she discarded the tips but rooted the long, woody stems. Almost absentmindedly, she trimmed each one to a foot long and stuck it into the soil next to its parent. The result was always plenty of flowers and thick, leafy stems. She dug up a few as gifts once they took root, but most grew right there and kept the planting full and fresh for 30 years that I know of. Since then, I’ve rooted figs, grapes, and even crepe myrtles using this method with stems about as big around as a pencil and some larger than that. But I add one important step that increases my success rate considerably. I put a little Hormex rooting hormone powder into an envelope and carry it with me when I prune. I dip each new cutting into Hormex, and recommend that you do, too.

Nellie Neal is a passionate propagator and owner of GardenMama, Inc. She advocates for gardening 24/7 at her website, www.gardenmama.com. Ask questions and comment about this blog on the Contact Us page of www.hormex.com.

Here’s my uncomplicated take on setting up a rooting bench indoors. Fill flats or small cells with a soilless, fine-textured media such as Metro Mix and water them thoroughly. On the bench, roll out a heating mat made for propagation. On top of that, put a plastic tray that is at least an inch deep and nestle the flats of rooting media into the tray. I dip the base of each cutting into a little bowl of full strength Hormex liquid concentrate before inserting it into the media. This setup lets me provide bottom heat and water the flats from the bottom by filling the tray. I use plastic boxes with vents on top of the flats to keep humidity levels up around both cuttings and seedlings. A grow light fixture with energy efficient, full spectrum bulbs on a timer hangs over the setup.

More Media Notes

Choosing a rooting medium is an important step best taken with your ultimate goal in mind – a healthy plant suited for your growing style. Most plants that we root are intended to be moved into larger pots and space for rooting them is often at a premium. Some rooted cuttings are made for hydroponic gardening systems so are best started without any soil at all. These realities have spawned clever products that allow strong roots to develop efficiently in small spaces and without soil. You can purchase or make your own rooting cubes from a variety of materials.

A disclaimer here – I did not have children until I was over 30 years old and today they refer to everything about my life before they arrived as ancient history, or Old Mama. Therefore, Old Mama and other dinosaurs once had to cut or punch out small squares of florists’ oasis to make cubes for rooting. It was time-consuming to do all that carving and the oasis shattered too often in the process. As a result, the ‘cubes’ varied in size and the least perfect shapes got crammed into cells and flats instead of being neatly arrayed. Such variance does not just look messy; it can be a challenge to keep the different sizes watered evenly.  Mechanical punches helped with the sizing, but still it took time to perfect enough cubes for large projects. These days, you will find neat oasis and other foam cubes and sheets that are sold in custom-sized flats, ready to wet and stick with as many cuttings as you have room to root. If you are short on space, remember that you can always put more squared shapes into a space than similar sized round ones.

Bark starter cubes have many of the same qualities that pots of finely ground bark do, and will produce similar stocky roots. I find them useful for rooting small caliper woody stems and some succulents. Both need to dry out more than other cuttings to prevent rot, and bark works for them.

Oasis cubes make a good rooting media for green plants and some woody ones, and, like rock wool flats, is very desirable if you are growing in a hydroponic system without soil. Yes, you can wash roots of seedlings produced in soil before adding them to the system, but oasis and rock wool produce cleaner roots that are far less likely to pollute it. Water these materials and use a clean tool to poke a starter hole for each cutting. Although I am an inveterate recycler, these are not products to reuse and must be discarded to avoid contamination.

There is usually more than one way to root any particular plant, but maintaining a variety of different rooting media plus pots, flats, and cubes can be daunting. Gardeners often settle on one or two methods that make sense for their plants and their growing conditions. I am often rooting cuttings of some plants while starting seeds for others and have developed a way to do both right next to each other on the bench, which is actually an old dresser. No, it doesn’t work all the time for everything, but my percentages are good. Here’s how I do it: Fill flats or small cells with a soilless, fine-textured media such as Metro Mix and water them thoroughly. On the bench, roll out a heating mat made for propagation. On top of that, put a plastic tray that is at least an inch deep and nestle the flats of rooting media into the tray. I dip the base of each cutting into a little bowl of full strength Hormex liquid concentrate before inserting it into the media. This setup lets me provide bottom heat and water the flats from the bottom by filling the tray. I use plastic boxes with vents on top of the flats to keep humidity levels up around both cuttings and seedlings. A grow light fixture with energy efficient, full spectrum bulbs on a timer hangs over the setup. It’s the perfect light for the plants, but also for fighting the winter blues and blahs that come with gray days. And the cats like it, often dozing on the daybed in the same room in the glow of my propagation dresser.

Nellie Neal advocates for gardening 24/7 at her website, www.gardenmama.com. Send comments on this blog to mama@gardenmama.com.