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[Bach]

Saros, you've got lots of time to think about what's next because you won't be seeing shoots for a while yet.

That said, you can amend the mix now, or use just a slightly heavier mix when you do pot them up.  The trick is to make the new mix similar enough that the plants don't go "WTF?" and stress out.

[PermieGing]

This is a nexus thread that seems to very effectively and thoroughly cover viridis propagation from leaf.

https://www.dmt-nexus.me/forum/default.aspx?g=posts&t=28787

[TBM]

Now that's what I call a *** ton of P. viridis sprouts! That person really knows what they're doing

[Mandrake]

Thank you PermieGing, I'm merging this thread with the thread we have already working for Psychotria Viridis Propagation, to keep the references together and avoid title repetition.

Kind regards,

Mandrake

[Psihkal]

This is great info thanks TBM!

I plan on starting some Viridis this week or the next however I still have a month to go till spring is in full swing...  I was very interested in your terrarium idea tho.
Ive got an old terrarium setup that i was planning on using to start them off. Id use a normal plastic pot tho to add the soil mix to. Think ill use a Pine bark based soil, soiless mix, perlite/vermiculite (2:1:2) maybe have a layer of hydroton balls for drainage at the bottom.


This is my terrarium idea. Sorry for the shitty photo. Its basically 2 plastic tubs one in the other. The bottom tub will have water in it and a fish tank heater to keep the temperature of the water at 35 degrees celcius. Im hoping this will keep my cutting just below 35 degrees and will keep humidity in the terrarium at max. The top tub will be set into the water and the cutting will be placed into the terrarium with the lid placed on top. 

Im wondering what were the specs of why your terrarium didnt work? What were your temps, and how often did you open it to give it air? Maybe it needs to be sprayed once a day with water?

Many thanks

[TBM]

I like your set up!

I think it's just from my plants getting bigger now and they're breathing more so it's possibly affecting the humidity, I've tried measuring the temperature inside the jars before and they were usually around 80-90° F, but I haven't thus far any means to measure humidity. I was thinking of adding some hydrated sphagnum moss wrapped around the pots in my jars to see if that doesn't up the humidity, similar to a perlite layer only it won't 'spill' when I go to open the container (since the lid is the bottom).

EDIT: Mandrake mentioned an easier method to raise humidity where you use hydrated sponges (maybe a little H2O2 in water to prevent mold) in plastic baggies which have holes cut into them. You would then put those into the sealed terrarium.

I've usually been opening the jars roughly 1-2 a week for fresh air so I don't think that's part of the issue. For your set up you'd probably be good with opening yours and fanning it every once in a while for fresh air exchange.

[nobody]

walmart carries very cheap indoor / outdoor digital thermometers that also measure humidity. They also record the min / max for temp and humidity so you can see how much it fluctuates, for $15 it is well worth it.

[Psihkal]

Cool well as I have my leaf cuttings sitting in sealed plastic bags right now Im planning on getting this on the go today. Anyone know the best way to store leaf cuttings? Id like to try 1 at first and if it fails try the next and then the final one.

I like the sponge idea I think I will give that a try aswell as keep a bottle of distilled water for spraying when airing the tubs.
This idea is stolen from a mushroom terrarium idea as It was used as a fruiting chamber for the mushies. They needed 20degrees celcius heat and also almost max humidty so im hoping seeing as they were fine with the humidty levels in the terrarium the viridis will be aswell.

I will post a short log here to allow members to learn from my mistakes/success

[Saros]

I'm probably not the best person to answer this, but I feel like trying to store them for any great length of time would decrease the viability or increase the chances of mold with the remaining leaves...

Esp. considering that it took a few weeks for mine to show the first signs of roots.

I was a little uncertain about the best way to root them so I tried about 4 different substrates in various locations (outdoor greenhouse, window sill, and terrarium). I had quite a few leaves to play around with.  so I wanted to try to find out what worked best and not risk them all in one spot

Here are the substrates that I used
100% Perlite
50% Perlite, 50% Vermiculite
100% Pine Bark
33% Pine Bark, 33% Potting Soil, 33% coco coir

They all worked, but it seems like there was a higher instance of rot with the mixture of bark, soil, and coir.  Maybe because it held too much water, or it may just seem that way because I had smaller leaf pieces in those pots. and of the leaves that I cut into 4 pieces, rot was more of a problem.

Whole leaves, whole leaves folded back and forth, or 1/2 leaves seemed to do better than the smaller pieces.

Of the 4 substrates that I tried, I was most impressed with the straight pine bark and the mix of perlite/verm. 100% perlite did pretty good as well but it may have just been the location that made the mix stand out. The only place that I had the mix of perlite/verm was in the terrarium at a constant 86F and near 100% humidity, while the 100% perlite was on a window sill inside a tupperware container.

Obviously there's not much in the way of nutrients in the straight pine bark, perlite, or mix of perlite/verm and I haven't quite figured out my plan to move them to soil yet. Just this morning I picked one with good root grown from the perlite/verm and transferred it to a mix of pine bark, coir, and soil as a test. If it takes the move well, I'll probably migrate the rest that way.

[Bach]

Give it a try and let us know Saros. Any time that I've tried changing media like that it was always rough going. Not impossible mind you, just difficult.

These days I just leave them in the original rooting container until it is just about rootbound and then up-pot using a similar mix, but adding organics. The trick is to not change it too much and be very careful not to overwater for a few weeks after transplanting.

[gator]

I've successfully rooted hundreds of leaves into mature plants. I like the lay the leaves almost flat on the growing medium, as opposed to at a 45 degree angle. The reason I started doing this is... when the roots form on a  leaf that is angled @ 45 degrees, they all grow downward and get twisted/stuck together. Being that a leaf can produce dozens of shoots, it makes it hard to separate the shoots when the roots are grown together. I've found that by laying the leaf flat, the surface of the leaf is allowed more light, and the roots grow straight down, more individual, making it much easier to seperate them when the time comes.

[Psihkal]

great info guys thanks!

Have mine set up in the terrarium as shown above and am opening it twice a day to air it out and make sure the soil is nicely saturated. Its been in since last friday so I will check on the root development in 3 weeks granted i have no issues before then. 

I have the cutting at 45 degrees now with 10% cactus soil to keep everything abit more together, a layer of hydroton balls on the base of the pot and the rest filled with pine bark chips.

With my last cutting i think il set it pretty horizontal as recommended. Il also use straight pine bark for the medium. Ive been trying to think of a way in which i can guarantee there will be no mould growing in my damp terrarium.. Anyone got any good ideas?

[gator]

I forgot to mention, a problem you may encounter when setting the leaf horizontally is... the leaf surface will try to raise off the soil somewhat. I try to slightly bury both ends of the leaf, or hold it down w/ something.

[TBM]

Just be aware of transplant shock whenever you're planning on up-sizing the pots, Psihkal: straight pine bark will work (as it's what I've done) but be aware that when you transplant them (whenever they're ready) that you should mix pine bark into the potting soil you use avoid shock. As others have mentioned earlier in the thread it's best keep the soil similar to what you've started them in so the leaves doesn't go 'WTF' from drastic soil differences.

I like your technique billydgator to get the shoots apart by changing the way the leaf is planted, I've seen the downward/twisting growth you refer to on one of my 45° buried leaves already and wasn't sure if it was typical or not.

[gator]

I like your technique billydgator to get the shoots apart by changing the way the leaf is planted, I've seen the downward/twisting growth you refer to on one of my 45° buried leaves already and wasn't sure if it was typical or not.

It's just a preference. Some like to grow the shoots in a group and thin the smaller ones out. I have several that I haven't thinned out and they grew in a group just fine.

I forgot to mention that plant cuttings (as opposed to leaf cuttings) have rooted at least 3x as fast in my experiences (no rooting hormone). I may do an experiment to see if a leaf w/ a small piece of stem attached, or a node, roots as fast as the double node cuttings im referring to.