Succulent Water Propagation Success (Some) - Succoholic Series #11
Today is day 53 since planting of succulents (POS).
On the early morning of day 40, I started an experiment on water propagation. I started with three leaves, one 'crown' cutting (the topmost portion of the succulent), and one 'naked' stem (the stem from where I removed the leaves) for the water propagation samples. On the other hand, I had two leaves on a bed of pure pumice as my control specimen. (see photos here)
After getting them set up, we went on a short vacation out of town.
In the afternoon of day 42, I came home to this:
The water in the glass, which was supposed to be kept touching the bottom of the cuttings, have gone far down. I'm estimating that it's been at least one whole day since it touched the cuttings (probably more). You can maybe see that the crown and the stem have dried up a bit.
On day 45, the naked stem has completely blackened.
On day 46, the naked stem was really really dead so I threw it away, and there were no signs of growing roots on the rest of the cuttings.
On day 50, my control specimens died. It just happened so suddenly. They were supposed to be my basis in determining whether water propagation is faster than normal propagation or not. Now I can't tell anymore. :(
I'm guessing that they died because of the consistently ultra-humid nights we were having, plus the many rain showers. I've also been diligent in moistening their pumice in the mornings. If you notice, the rest of the leaves in the container are also not doing well. So sad.
On the bright side, one of the leaves in the water has grown roots!
The crown seemed to be scarring, while one leaf was rotting, and the last leaf wasn't remarkable (just looked healthy).
Succulent Water Propagation Success
Today, day 53, thirteen days after I started the experiment, two of the leaves and the crown now have roots! I'm ecstatic. :) The last leaf is showing advanced rotting though. :(
I think that's a success in my water propagation experiment. Three of five is not bad. One of the leaves looked like a bad cutting in the first place, plus the naked stem was too short. Considering that the 'dry' propagates died, that turns the 'not bad' to a resounding success.
Note: I dropped the shot glass while taking photos of the cuttings so I had to re-make my little contraption. I washed the glass (it was showing molds at the inner bottom) and I replaced the water with normal tap water.
Analysis: I think that water propagation, if done correctly (i.e. keep the bottom touching the water), is a fast way of propagating. It also keeps the cuttings mostly unaffected by the unpredictable changes in weather (since they're in water already, they can't be over-watered. hehe). Maybe the super dry and super wet alternation in the environment of the 'dry' propagates is too much for their young souls. churva
My reservation is in the upcoming transition from their water nursery to the pot. I hope the roots don't shrivel up. I'll have to do more research.
Other updates
Babies
Look at this fuzzy baby, and that survivor in the foreground (the leaf was already damaged and drying out before the propagate came out). They're so cute. :)
Color Vibrancy Improvement
Last weekend (6 days ago), because almost all of my succulents were becoming etiolated (i.e. they grew taller and wider in search of more sunlight), I moved my succulent shelf a little more to the west so they get more hours in the sun. Today I saw some improvement in the richness of the colors of some of them (although it's not so obvious in the photos, in real life there is a marked difference).
They still have a long way to go before they go back to their lovely, vibrant shades but I'm positive this adjustment in location will help them get there. :)
That's all for today! Thanks for reading.
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