Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Hippeastrum Experiment: Begin!

Yesterday I've managed to buy 2 hippeastrum seedlings from a nice guy in Green Culture Singapore forums. Supposedly the seeds he had gotten were Apple Blossom hybrids, which is quite rare since Apple Blossom is known to be sterile most of the time.

Anyway, here are the two plants:

11/9/2014

I may repot the droopy, more buried bulb sometime later this week when I manage to get hold of sand and more perlite.

5/11/2014

What's this forming along the outer rim of the neck? Gasp! Is it...? Shhh cannot jinx it. I pray it isn't a leaf!


As of 2015, that flower scape has aborted, roots rotted beyond imagining, bulb shrunk, leaves all fell off, and the bulb has only just woken up on Monday, 23rd March 2015. DO NOT POT HIPPIES IN SINGAPORE WITH PEAT BASED SOIL. NO AMOUNTS OF PERLITE AS AMENDMENT WILL HELP SAVE IT FROM ROOT ROT! I suggest using the 6-in-1 organic soil mix, mixed with 80% perlite and 20% soil mix. Once roots have begun to grow sufficiently, cover the surface with compost.

Monday, September 1, 2014

Mas Ching Dynasty

Contrary to my initial belief, Mas Ching Dynasty still hasn't rooted. The large mature leaves have also turned limp. I've decided to cut off these leaves and place them in a small jam cup containing water and foliar fertilizer to try and grow some plants from leaf cuttings.

2nd Sept 2014

Wish me luck!


Update 4/9/2014:

Leaf petioles look slightly brown. But others who have rooted their cuttings also experienced similar discoloration, so I shouldn't worry too much. 




4/9/2014

Update: 9/9/2014:  one of the leaf's petiole (the leaf that is flat and rubbery) became jelly and I had to throw it away. I can safely assume that when a leaf looks weird like some rubber plastic thing, it will not be viable as a mother leaf.

Update: 11/9/2014
11/9/2014

In my desperate desire to salvage as many plants as possible, I've decided to play safe and stop adding hydrogen peroxide and fertiliser. I've also placed the two precious leaves in a tabao box to increase the humidity. It's been 9 days, but so far there's no rooting yet.

Update 15/9/2014:

Another leaf has turned jelly. Left with one leaf. Here's the dying leaf. It Kenna some water on the base of the leaf, and began rotting.

15:9/2014 jelly petiole

Update 29/9/2014:
All of my cuttings failed. Their petiole turned to jelly. Ok. Next time I should just avoid putting anything in the water and just use plain tap water.


Update: Gonna write down a guide on how to propagate leaf cuttings in water for own reference:

Step 1: Cut a fresh, mature leaf from the adult plant. (leave a longer stem for Step 2, or cut straight to 2 inches for step 3.

Step 2: If it is limp, mist it with warm water and leave it in a ziploc bag for a day or two to allow it to return to its crispy state.

Step 3: Trim the leaf stem to 2 inches from the leaf. Try to get a longer petiole from the start instead of trimming to get a longer stem. Trim the sides of the leaf to produce a longer 'stem' via this method: Make a 45 degree angle cut on the stem. Don't use your fingernail to dig the angle, coz I did that and my cuttings failed. Don't do the 45degree angle if you don't have a knife or a pair of scissors. 

Step 4: Place leaf stem into a small cup of water. Don't add anything into the water. Don't submerge the leaf part or else it will rot. Change the water when it becomes cloudy. 




Step 5: Leaf will generate a root system within 2 weeks to a month. Plantlets will appear between 6-8 weeks. Bag the cup when plantlets are seen. 

A user grew plantlets in barely one month, due to aircon during office hours 5days/week and 12 hours lighting daily

Step 6: Wait for plantlets to be 1-2 inches tall, and have grown some roots, before transferring to soil. Bag the pot for maybe a week to allow plantlet to mature.