Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
mark4321_gw

Deppea splendens Propagation Experiment

mark4321_gw
13 years ago

I just noticed on Ebay that two different auctions, by different people, got close to $180 for small rooted cuttings of Deppea splendens. It's a beautiful plant, and generally hard to find, but still that surprised me. I've seen it high, before of course--it just continues to amaze me.

I had seen a 5 gallon plant at a nursery a couple months ago for $40. I already grow the plant--I got a one gallon plant at Strybing Arboretum a year ago for $12 and it bloomed last summer.

My plant is still fairly small, but I've propagated it already--it's fairly easy. So I decided to buy the 5 gallon plant with the hopes that I can propagate a ton of plants as well as preserve much of the flowering.

In case anyone is wondering, if I do get a good number of plants to root I may end up selling some. If so, I'll follow up here after I sell the plants.

Here's the plant as I bought it from Sloat Garden Center in San Francisco. It looks a bit ragged--Deppeas generally do--but it seems healthy. Perhaps it has gotten a little too much sun. The plant came from the wholesaler San Marcos Growers (link at bottom of the post). I believe Sloat is out of this plant, but no doubt at the right time of the year they, or other nurseries that carry San Marcos plants, can special order it.

The inflorescences come off of the reasonably mature growths--there can be many--so I wanted to leave a reasonable number. The plant was a bit lopsided, so I decided to go for the main stem. I'm going to let what's left leaf out and decide how much more (if any) to take of that stem. I also took some of the new growth at the bottom.

And here are the cuttings I generated. I count 21 "real" cuttings, as well as 6 tiny pieces which I doubt will root, but which I'll try anyway:

I dipped them in IBA (0.8% but it's old, and I use a tiny bit on the tip) and put them in plastic cups in moist perlite, with another cup on top to maintain humidity. I put the largest 5 in their own cups, the rest mostly in groups of 3. I ended up with cuttings in 11 plastic cups. These went under a compact fluorescent light inside.

I'll try to follow up in about 3 weeks, when hopefully some (or most) of the cuttings have rooted.

Comments (12)

  • mark4321_gw
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Forgot the link to San Marcos Growers Deppea splendens page (at the bottom).

    I should also include a link to photos of the plant (on Flickr):

    http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=deppea%20splendens&w=all&s=int&referer_searched=1

    And Sloat Garden Center (as I say I think they are out):

    http://www.sloatgardens.com/

    Here is a link that might be useful: Deppea splendens at San Marcos Growers

  • Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
    13 years ago

    It sure is a pretty plant in bloom! How often does it bloom? Be sure you put the zones where it grows so it doesn't die when you sell your cuttings to folks on Ebay.

    I thought I was pretty smart, and bought some Dahlia tubers. They are from Mexico, after all, and here I sit 2 hours from Mexico! Huge mistake. They are from the cool mountains of Mexico, not the Tijuana area! LOL!

    Good luck with your venture!
    Suzi

  • mark4321_gw
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Hi Suzi,

    Yes, the plant is from the cool mountains of Mexico (Chiapas at 2100 m or 6900 ft). As far as cold they say it can die in slight frosts (I move mine if there is frost in the forecast). As far as heat, I'm not sure how much it can take. I've read it grows at the Huntington (and just found a photo on Flickr), near Pasadena, CA, which gets awfully hot in the summer. However it cools off at night, which can make the difference. I'm not aware of the plant being grown successfully in the Deep South, although I could be wrong.

    I'm guessing GW has all sort of rules against discussing selling (one's own) plants--it can quickly become an advertisement. If I end up doing it I should probably withhold all discussion until after the fact.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Pasadena climate

  • mark4321_gw
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Hi Suzi,

    I forgot to answer your question. I think it mostly blooms in late summer/fall, although I think I've read it can bloom some at other times. Mine bloomed last year in August, and formed buds that would have opened in the Fall. However it dropped those--probably too much water, if I remember.

  • mark4321_gw
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Followup, day 12:

    I checked the cuttings and the first has rooted--barely. One tiny root is barely visible in the lower left, others are emerging elsewhere and are not visible. I potted up the cutting in a 50:50 mix of potting soil and perlite. I believe this was the cutting originally in the upper right in the photo above.

    Another cutting should have roots tomorrow and a few should follow shortly after.

    So far I've lost one cutting and a few leaves. It looks like most of the 6 tiny cuttings that I didn't count with the original 21 might actually make it. They have nice calluses and some have bumps that should become roots. The problem is keeping them stuck in the medium.

  • mark4321_gw
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Followup, day 13:

    The second cutting has rooted (not the one I expected). This time it's one of the tiny ones that I had discounted at the beginning:

    I have noticed rot in the woody sections of a couple cuttings, so I'm checking them regularly. Those cuttings can be cut back to the green and should be salvageable if caught early enough.

    The large plant itself has changed dramatically over the last 13 days. It's moved from San Francisco to a warmer climate 45 miles South, likely with less sun--morning sun only.

    The leaves are dramatically bigger, and there is a lot of new growth from the base. New growth is appearing on the bare stem.

    Because of all the new growth at the base I decided to take 4 more cuttings. I hesitated, because in a week or two these would be much larger cuttings. However, I assume that removing some of the growth at the base will stimulate the growth of the other shoots, so I'll have more cuttings in the end.

  • Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
    13 years ago

    Impressive! And you are going to sell each one of these on Ebay for $200.00 ea? Wow!!

    Good luck!

    I am sort of in shock at how much soil it takes to fill one 3 gallon container. We are in the process of potting up our rooted UC Davis Pomegranates, Figs, Olives, and Grapevines. I bought some cheap plastic 3 gallon grow bags online, and they work great, but wow! Takes a lot of soil! We are using Al's Gritty Mix modified for our hot desert temps, and it's heavy, but it drains well. We have potted 8 in one day, and we have about 50 to go! YIKES!

    You might like to pot in these grow bags for those you sell. Lightweight to ship.

    We are not selling ours. Might gift a couple pomegranates, but the vines are an addition to our little vineyard.

    Suzi

    Here is a link that might be useful: Cheap containers

  • mark4321_gw
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Hi Suzi,

    Unfortunately not all sellers get the same price on a plant like this. I think maybe most Deppeas have been sold by the same seller on Ebay, and his reputation is such that he can get top dollar. I've only sold a few things on Ebay, so if I were to sell them I doubt I would do as well. The one plant that I have sold that has gone for hundreds sometimes is Brugmansia vulcancicola, Strybing hybrid. I think one went for as high as $450 last year. The most I've gotten (for a small plant) is $50. This is a complicated situation, since the true species was just recently brought into cultivation in the U.S. So things may be different. Still, I can't imagine there are 20 people all willing to pay high prices for a Deppea. But maybe I'm wrong...

    Other than that one seller, who I *think* propagates his own plants, most Deppeas for auction are plants that people bought at a Strybing or perhaps UC Botanical Garden/Berkeley sales and are reselling for a profit. They sell them for $10-$15 at Strybing sales.

  • mark4321_gw
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Should be "Brugmansia vulcanicola" above.

  • mark4321_gw
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Update: It will be 4 weeks tomorrow. So far 9 cuttings have rooted. 3 of them are the very tiny ones, (only) one is a woody cutting, and one is one of the more recent cuttings. So far the woody cuttings are slowest to root and in general have the most problems.

    While I certainly don't consider this a failure, a lower percentage have rooted so far than what I'm used to. I'm still waiting on close to 15 cuttings, so this may change.

    One cutting (the first to root) has been outside for a few days and is doing great. Another is heading out tomorrow.

  • mark4321_gw
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Update: 11 cuttings have rooted: 4 of them are the tiniest ones. I'm still waiting on more than 10.

    I do wonder whether the cuttings would have rooted more readily if the mother plant looked a little more vigorous when I got it. Here's the change in appearance over a month and 4 days. It's hard to believe it's the same plant:

    The cuttings that have rooted are doing great, including two that have been outside for a while, happy with 90 degree heat a couple days. Here's the first cutting to root. Note both the roots and the appearance of the new leaves--it looks like a very happy plant.

  • voodoobrew
    13 years ago

    Thanks for the tutorial. I just bought a large Deppea splendens at a college hort sale. Nice to see it propagates fairly easily. Mine is about to bloom. A very large Deppea is in full bloom right now at UCBerkeley, and it's beautiful!

0
Sponsored
HEMAX Construction Services & Landscaping, LLC
Average rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars34 Reviews
Innovative & Creative Landscape Contractors Servicing VA