I tried that with Kalanchoe but I didn't use perlite or rooting stuff. I did it to two leaves in just soil in the window and over the winter they seem to get roots but the leaves themselves just got old and crappy looking. I threw one of them out.

Then the other week I discovered the remaining one had a stalk growing out of it! I got myself a nice new plant for free. It worked, it really did, but it took forever.

So on that admittedly limited experiment of mine, you might have to wait months for real growth.

I wonder if you could cut up the vines of a parent plant and root them in water?

I bought one this year and I thought of trying that.

The other half just sit there with one leaf, growing longer and longer roots, week after week, and then pft...

==>> grow the roots.. and the plant will follow.. when it has a sufficient root mass ...

i dont know what more you want???

do you want to know what chemical will change that????

as to pft??? .. do you mean they die??? ..... or just arent growing in your preconceived notion of performance???

ken

Ken, they die. So I end up with a dead plant consisting of one leaf and a 5 inch diameter bundle of roots.

Not so much a chemical thing, but would it help if, say, I put them in direct sunlight? Maybe re-pot the plant, move the root mass higher or lower?

I have successfully rooted clems in water (accidentally broke off a segment while weeding around it). But it took forever for even a little bit of roots to form.

Then potted up and it took forever, again, for top growth to begin.

Now in their third year, they are really taking off. Just like some people -- slow to mature.

So I take a cutting leaving a single node, root the stem.

I see that some people recommend burying the node, some say leave it at the surface, and others say it doesn't matter, even if its an inch in the air. Any one have any experience with that?

This post was edited by david52 on Tue, Apr 30, 13 at 14:34

Ok, here's what they look like. I'll repot these up in a gallon container, leaving the leaves and node an inch or so above the surface. So, out of 50-odd rooted cuttings like this, roughly half shoot runners, the other half just sits there, the root mass gets 3 -4 times that, and then the plant just dies.

{{gwi:581771}}

This post was edited by david52 on Tue, Apr 30, 13 at 14:52

I've never rooted clematis, but I was wondering if it could be that they need a shot of fertilizer? Maybe since it has long roots, now it needs something that will promote leaves? I think nitrogen right? Maybe even just some miracle grow? Could be that the new roots can't absorb nutrients too quickly and a foliar spray of miracle grow would do the trick? Just a suggestion.

I used Clonex rooting compound, which, according to them, ....has a full spectrum of mineral nutrients and trace elements to nourish the young roots during their important formative stage.... " And from use with other plants, there's enough nutrients present that they'll grow noticeably in a sterile medium - in fact thats a sign that they've well rooted.

I did try some miracle grow on a few to see if that would help. Didn't spray the foliage, just watered the vines with the proper dilution, but they just rotted within a few days.

I received some very helpful correspondence from a Gardenweb member/reader (who I assume wishes to remain anonymous) who pointed out that cuttings from clematis taken at flowering nodes will root but won't shoot new growth, while cuttings with nodes further down vine that won't flower will be successful. I think that may be the issue.

Good Luck!

How hard are they to start from seed I wonder? Would the flowers from such be inferior?

Seeds take something like 6 months to germinate. I've tried to do it intentionally, but that has never worked.

I do have 4 or 5 vines from seed that have popped up out in the flower beds in front of my trellised vines - some, from Jackmanni, seem to come true, but I'm not convinced they flower at the rate of the originals and if the plants are as vigorous.

One feral clematis, from a double-blossom blue one (name escapes me) came up as a single, larger darker blue flower.

I'm letting them go for now, figuring what the heck.....