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avsforme

Starting AV leaves in semi-hydroponics....

avsforme
9 years ago

Okay here is my dilemma, I am ordering a bunch of leaves to start from various vendors, I want to start with only leaves to keep the chance of buggies to a bare minimum. I fully intend to keep all full grown AVs in semi-hydroponics but I am wondering if I should start the leaves conventionally (1Peat, 1V, 1Pearlite) as per how I had started them in the past with usually very good results. The clay "pebbles" look like they would crush or deform any tiny widdle mouse ears that would be attempting to poke through. I have yet to order my supplies but am leaning twards starting the leaves as per usual and move them to S-H when it is time to split up the babies. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. :0)

Comments (11)

  • judyj
    9 years ago

    Could you just start them using the same convention-maybe using perlite instead of the ceramics at first? I used perlite to move a baby (that sprouted from a leaf set in water) to dirt. My guess is you could do the same thing moving it to the ceramic media. Some folk fill the cup with the leave and babies in water, with sand to ease the transition shock.

    That way it will be easier to separate the babies from the leaf. You will need to be careful when transplanting the baby to the heavier medium. You may wish to leave the baby in the perlite until it's bigger than we normally would (just thinking: More root growth). I also wonder if you couldn't just use perlite, period, but perlite will likely break down much faster than the ceramic media.

    Would love to know how this comes out! May try it myself!

    Best,
    Judy

  • avsforme
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    The only problem is Pearlite floats! ;0) though pearlite filling half the cup plus half filled with water might be good as the pearlite would help support the leaf. Pearlite as a semi-hydroponics medium....hmmmm, I might have to do a guinea pig with one of my NOIDs. ;0)

  • judyj
    9 years ago

    :-) I'd forgotten about that! When I used it with the baby though-I crammed enough into the little shot glass to keep the roots happy!
    There was still water at the bottom, though-and you're right-the perlite did support both the leaf and baby!

    Or-I believe there is a finer grade of ceramic you could use. I'll got check ours-we have a very large hydroponic system (not currently set up, but used before). We have lots of "pebbles." Another thought is to use rock wool, then set it into the pebbles (might be tough to separate the leaf, though). We did this with almost exclusively with our hydro veggies.

  • avsforme
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I have seen the littler clay pellets in pictures and they look like they would work great for babies but havn't found them anywhere as of yet. One of the clay pellet mixes did have smaller "balls" mixed in but separating them from the biggies would be a chore.

    I'm going to try the pearlite only starting and see what happens (always the mad scientist! ;0)).

  • fortyseven_gw
    9 years ago

    Suggest doing a search on this forum for your topic. People here have successfully started leaves in S-H. But not me. In my ltd exprnc plants grown S-H are tiny and don't do well if later planted in potting mix. Seems that anytime you move plants from one medium to another, it stresses them.

  • avsforme
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I found some great S/H threads here, learning a lot! I did find a clay pellet mix that had the pellets from 4mm to 16mm mixed, that is a huge size difference, I will probably stick to the Rays mix which is (I believe) 8mm to 16mm. I'll try some leaves in that mix and see what pops up, some have has great sucess with starting leaves with the S/H method.

    Not sure what you mean by plants grown in S/H are tiny and don't do well if later planted in potting mix...maybe they didn't let the babies grow enough before separating them. I don't know why anyone would start a leaf in S/H only to move the babies to potting mix.? To each his own though. ;0)

  • Karin
    9 years ago

    In another topic someone mentioned you can find the small clay pebbles at terrarium supply places.

    I've thought about s/h but can't find the clay pebbles in a small enough quantity...

  • judyj
    9 years ago

    They are tough to find in small quantities. Since we had a large system, we bought great bags of them.

    When doing our own research for a full Hydro system, we found lots of articles saying it was hard to go from hydro to dirt, and almost impossible backwards. We've found that to be pretty true.

    The roots grown in water are apparently not the same as the roots grown in dirt. Articles I've found say they're far more fragile (not just AVs, but most plants).

    Since there are plenty of variables in even an SH system, it's may take a bit of experimenting to get it quite right.

    I'm going to try this too with a couple of leaves, once the current babies are separated and potted.

    Love experiments like these!
    Best,
    Judy

  • paul_
    9 years ago

    â¢Posted by avsforme 5b One of the clay pellet mixes did have smaller "balls" mixed in but separating them from the biggies would be a chore.

    LOL Common issue for many hobbyists who are into bonsai or cacti/succulents ... though the sifting in those cases is typically with different materials.

    If the perlite is the only media, I would think there would be little issue with it breaking down as there wouldn't be the issue with large heavy particulates crushing it. The perlite would need rinsed to wash away any dust-sized particles.

    While I have yet to try it, you might consider giving "Growstone" a go. It is lighter than the puffed clay but heavier than perlite. Scroll down the page linked to below if interested.

    I don't see that there is any need to worry about the hydroton pellets "crushing" or "deforming" any plantlets. The plantlets would simply grow past them as they would with any media. It's not like you would be repeatedly shaking the pellets up. The only issue I would foresee, would be one of adequate moisture. If you do have a supply of BB-sized pellets, you might be fine. However, the larger diameter pellets would be far less likely, IMO, to supply enough moisture to keep the leaf alive. Perhaps -- assuming you do use larger pellets -- if you were to keep the water level high enough for the stem end to remain immersed (rather like regular water rooting) until a root system had developed? ....

    Here is a link that might be useful: Growstone

  • summersunlight
    9 years ago

    I have started a number of leaves in hydrocorn without any problems. Hydrocorn has stones/pellets of various sizes in each bag, and I don't make any effort to sort them out by size. It doesn't seem to matter. The leaf roots in the stones just as it would in soil and the baby plants are not harmed by the pellets.
    If you want to grow your plants in hydroculture, you might as well start them in it from the very beginning!

  • Karin
    9 years ago

    I re-root the crowns of plants i buy anyways, so if you aren't afraid to chop them, transferring them shouldn't be that hard....

    I've found a source for 50L hydroton bags... now i just have to find about 5-10 people who will share one with me ;-)

    Karin

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