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woebegonia

Using ethylene to promote blooming

Woebegonia
13 years ago

I grow many houseplant/tropicals in terrariums. I've been experimenting - putting a green banana in with the plants, for example. I also plan to dip a long Q-tip in ethylene glycol and tape it inside the terrarium. Is this a good way to do this, or should more be applied directly to the plant(s)? I'm afraid to use too much . . .

Comments (4)

  • ronalawn82
    13 years ago

    woebegonia, I am not sure that a green banana will work. It is during the ripening process that ethylene is produced.
    On a plantation scale, as the first bunch ripens the 'ethylene effect' is very slow but as the neighboring bunches "feel" the effect, they in turn, ripen and the process accelerates in geometric proportions.

  • Woebegonia
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thank you for the tip.

  • leftwood
    13 years ago

    That's right. It is already ripe, or at least ripening fruit, that produce the most ethylene in general. I am not sure (never looked into it) that bananas are necessarily the best ethylene producers, but they seem to have been studied a lot.

    Do you have bromeliad relatives that you want to induce bloom on? A cut apple in an enclosed environment can do the job too. Remember that ethylene also speeds the process of decay, and may distort growth, so be sure to remove the ethylene source if you see an flower buds at all coming.

    Rick

  • Woebegonia
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks again.

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