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[Sunshine]

I realized while giving tips to another member in dm that my technique that I've pieced together had some really good information that I'd love to share with you all. Enjoy.

The trick to getting a high strike rate on cuttings - these apply to kratom specifically, but I imagine it would work for other plants - such as coca or khat.

Anyway, the trick is bacteria and aeration. See, rot is caused by anaerobic conditions - lack of oxygen. There's a combination of things I use/do that result in almost NEVER getting rotting or a dead cutting, unless the cutting is already weak to begin with.

Ok so,,, always use dechlorinated water. I use fish tank water. It's pre warmed, oxygenated, full of aerobic bacteria from the filter oxygenating the water[this is key], and very lightly fertilized by the fish. Starting with water that already has this good bacteria seems to buffer the water and keep any other bacteria from taking hold - notably the bacteria that causes rot.

I use 50mL conical centrifuge vials. Generally I put multiple plants in each vial, the leaves tend to cover the opening, sort of sealing in the bacteria and keeping other stuff out [ presumably], and also helps prevent evaporation.

Another tip is to use fluval stratum. This stuff is magic. Kratom in water roots in about 5-6 weeks @ 70-75f 50-80% rh. With stratum I saw roots in as low as 4 weeks. Also by using these methods I was able to root very small, fresh growth cuttings off of kratom - something I was told is difficult when compared to more woody older growth.

Also worth noting - keep cuttings out of direct sunlight. High lighting is fine but you do not want to overdo it and dry them out. Maintaining turgor pressure is critical when they lack the roots and shoots to support themselves. I've been playing around with the idea of using distilled vs fish tank, as distilled is hypotonic, and while my fish tank water is 'soft' - around 100-150ppm dissolved solids, an even 'softer' hypotonic solution would naturally help the plant jam pack water into its cells and maintain a state of turgidity. Now that I think about it, doping the plant with a hypotonic solution such as distilled water prior to even taking cuttings could increase strike rate as well - as the plant will be in a state of turgidity when its cut and be able to handle more stress.

Air layering is another option, though I've never had luck doing it. I've also never had luck rooting in perlite, and a lot of people seem to like it...so who knows. Anyway, I hope that helps...

As always, if you spot anything in the above post thats obviously wrong or up for debate, please please point it out. I love being wrong and corrected - no ego here when it comes to correcting misinformation. Id rather be corrected and learn from it than someone just overlook it for fear of hurting my feelings. I would not be surprised if my learnings and reasonings are incorrect in the way I understand them, as I'm almost entirely self taught and tend to logically suss out the reasoning behind stuff.