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alenka_gw

rooting hormone for chirita leaves?

alenka
16 years ago

If a leaf of Chirita linearifolia has not grown any roots in a month, is this normal? How long will it take, approximately? Is it a good idea to try rooting hormone on chirita leaves? I have 2 leves, so I think I'll try rooting hormone on one and see which one does better, but I was wondering if anyone already tried that before.

Thanks!

Comments (8)

  • irina_co
    16 years ago

    Alenka - I will wait for your results!

  • greenelbows1
    16 years ago

    The only thing sort of like a rooting hormone I've tried is the SuperThrive I usually add to everything. I think sometimes when you have a large leaf it's a good idea to cut the top half or so off--think I read somewhere that the roots are expending energy maintaining the leaf instead of growing a new plant. I've found them entirely too easy to grow from leaves(!) tho' I tend not to spend much time watching the calendar for how long it takes. Sort of the 'watched pot that doesn't boil' theory.

  • alenka
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    greenelbows -- I'm glad to hear these propagate well for you. I'm just surprised my leaves are taking so long because I put down a leaf of Aiko at the same time, and it had roots in a week! And stubborn linearifolias are just sitting there, a month later... I guess I'll just let them be and stop watching them :) It's the first time I've put down leaves which didn't come from my own plant, so I'm actually worried about losing them, that's why I was paying attention :)

    I actually had 3 leaves originally, and for one I cut the top off, to see if that makes any difference. But the cut didn't heal well, started browning, and the brown area keeps spreading. I still have that leaf, but I don't count much on it rooting now, though who knows. I don't know, maybe it's just a bad leaf, or maybe it has something to do with linearifolia leaves being so fat and stiff, much more so than other chirita leaves I've seen. Though people do root these from leaf sections, right? So theoretically cutting the top off should not have hurt the leaf. It's hard to judge from just what this one leaf did, so if one of these does produce a plantlet, then when the little plant has enough leaves to spare I'll try rooting several leaves with tops cut off and and small sections too.

  • greenelbows1
    16 years ago

    So did they root? I don't have linearifolia, but everything else I've tried seems to root well--but then a lot of them I root from suckers too, and haven't kept track too much of what does and what doesn't and how long it takes. Really should!

  • alenka
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thanks for checking in, greenelbows1! Ok, so the leaf that had its tip cut off and was browning at the cut, that one died. Of the other two, the one with rooting hormone has a bit of roots, but really weak small roots. And the other one has no roots and is yellowing: about half of the leaf, in the middle, turned yellow. So the tip is green, the bottom is green, and the middle is yellow. So maybe the rooting hormone is helping, I don't know. It's hard to say, because the leaf that got rooting hormone was also a younger leaf (but then the leaf that was the first one to dies was also a younger one).

    I searched online a bit, and found this webpage (linked below) that says: "Leaf cuttings: Most Chiritas can be grown easily from leaf cuttings (C. linearifolia being an exception)". Not very promising, right? I'm wondering if people who propagate these for sale use suckers, not leaves?

    I also have 2 leaves of C. gemella that I put down at the same time, one got a bit of roots and the other one doesn't have any (but at least these are not dying, so I have much better hopes for them). So maybe species take longer? All the hybrids I'm trying to root now are sure doing better and faster: C. aiko put down at the same time already has plantlets; nakako has no plantlets, but it's got a lot of roots, and I mean A LOT! Keiko rooted in maybe a week, piccolo was almost as fast... Or maybe linearifolia knows that it is my favorite chirita and so it's playing hard to get :)

    If anyone has experience rooting linearifolia and/or gemella, please share!

    Here is a link that might be useful: TAVS Newsletter, with a section on chiritas

  • greenelbows1
    16 years ago

    That's a very interesting and useful article, Alenko. Thanks for posting it. I've found it hard to find more than little snippets of information here and there. I have friends here who are getting interested, but they seem to think I'm the authority, which I most certainly am not! Really appreciate these forums and the people who post here, like you.

  • JohnnieB
    16 years ago

    Chiritas are usually easy to propagate from leaf cuttings, but sometimes they will sit for months before doing anything. Fall seems to be the worst time to propagate because most species have a natural dormancy and just don't want to put out new growth in the fall and winter. For this reason I generally recommend propagating them in the spring or early summer.

  • alenka
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thanks for your reply, John! I thought it could be a problem, putting the leaves down in October, but they were a gift, so I didn't have much choice :) It's good to know that it's normal, that they can sit there for months and then eventually root. Hopefully my last surviving linearifolia leaf does make it. But if it doesn't, I'll just get a plant in the spring and I'll try rooting leaves then. I guess I'm most surprised by the difference in propagation times for different chiritas: some of the leaves I put down the same day already have plantlets (Aiko, Nakako), and some don't even have roots. Very interesting.

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