I know the name Matt Mattus (Growing with Plants) from my involvement in the North American Rock Garden Society. He is very well respected there, and also in other genre in the plant world.

Thanks for the info, Rick. Good to know I landed on a credible source on the Internet.

Two tiny Monkey Puzzle trees. Yay!

I'm propagating red hibiscus cuttings and camellia cuttings.

A couple months ago I snipped several cuttings from a variegated Hibiscus that I put in the ground but is only rated to Z9. Several of the cuttings were stuck in pots with other already-growing plants, and at least 1 in water. The water one still has green leaves. About half of the ones stuck in pots still look alive. Pretty excited about that, feeling optimistic about having at least 1 plant still alive somewhere to start the new gardening season.

That's great! I'm also very pleased with the red hibiscus cuttings and the camellia cuttings. They still look alive. I will feel better though if the smaller leaves will really grow bigger. Then it gives me hope that roots are developing.

Also, the orange kalanchoes clippings are looking great!

Best luck to your stuff! My one Hibiscus stem in water has croaked. It looked OK a couple weeks ago, but yesterday, I could see that it is not anymore. Water rarely works well on woodies, so I'm not surprised.

I have one baby palm tree - the rest haven't done a thing. My cousin said they germinate fast. Maybe bottom heat wasn't a good idea?

I have rooted Rose of Sharon in water but it took a lot of water changing and I put a bubbler in the jar to keep the water oxygenated (my daughter's idea).

I tried rooting a broken branch from my variegated Poinsettia - it croaked yesterday too.

My Bronze Canna Lily has been very happy. It made some seed pods and mature seeds. So, I'm potting those up today/.




My local farm market store carries multiple varieties of dragon fruit. I took a teaspoon of flesh from the yellow and the red fruits to propagate.

Red... (younger by 2 weeks)


Yellow...

hlutzow said: My Bronze Canna Lily has been very happy. It made some seed pods and mature seeds. So, I'm potting those up today/.

• Cannas (Canna)
• Uploaded by hlutzow

• Cannas (Canna)
• Uploaded by hlutzow

My local farm market store carries multiple varieties of dragon fruit. I took a teaspoon of flesh from the yellow and the red fruits to propagate.

Red... (younger by 2 weeks)


Yellow...

• Dragonfruit (Selenicereus monacanthus)
• Uploaded by hlutzow

I need to propagate my Haley's. comet dragon seeds in spring!

Palm trees are very very highly variable on germination time and germination rates. Some pop out quickly, others can take over a year. Some produce lots of viable seed. some don't.

Gina1960 said: Palm trees are very very highly variable on germination time and germination rates. Some pop out quickly, others can take over a year. Some produce lots of viable seed. some don't.

Yes! I've had a lot of failure with palm seeds. Also, Cocoplum seeds look and act a lot like palm seeds. I had about 30 and the first one sprouted in a little over 2 months, but the last one sprouted about 6 months later. No failures, though. Every time I was about to dump the soil, another 1 or 2 would pop up.

Yes, I should have known better. My youngest daughter collected seeds from the palm in the Library parking lot about 35 years ago. The kids eventually gave up on palm trees and added other seeds to the pots. And, there they were, tiny palm trees a year later.

Palms grow fast in California. Florida too. I used to buy seeds from a place called Rareseeds I think it was. But the shelf life of their seeds was questionable. Some of those seeds could be years old. When I went through my palm collecting phase I bought palms and seedlings from a place in Hawaii. Much better outcome

I've currently got Okra, Amaranth, and Sorghum seeds sprouting.

If my seedlings from the grocery pepper seeds survive. I will have quite a farm of peppers to grow this spring. I will be mixing them with my ornamental plants, except desert roses.

Gina1960 said: Palm trees are very very highly variable on germination time and germination rates. Some pop out quickly, others can take over a year. Some produce lots of viable seed. some don't.

And....
The same variety of seed from the same handful of palm seeds can vary by a year!
I just potted up 'batch #2' seedlings from the baggie of moist coir that contained seeds. 'Batch #1' seeds sprouted last summer, and I potted those up, thinking that was it. I put the bag aside on the potting bench, and notice more sprouts 6 months after the first batch.

I totally love the unique props nature has given us!

Now...
Clivia miniata poking up!
Really excited about this Chinese wide-leaf variegated seed from ebay.
In container- 3" seed starting mix below, topped with vermiculite, and on a heating cable at 72 deg.


Vanilla planifolia orchid (vanilla bean) segments rooting in moss.
In yougurt cups inside a clear clambshell takeout container for humidity... bright, indirect light.



Some Drosera capensis started from leaf cuttings thrown in a clear new plastic bottle of water and kept on the kitchen cupboard (bright indirect light,) now transfered to moss once sprouts began.
Thank you to those in this forum who showed me that prop trick!


And while I didn't propagate this one, I'm teaching her how 'free snow' and a little maple syrup was how the snowcone was invented...
Or, that's what I told her mom at that age-
Just repeating what my mom told me... and so it goes.


"Oh, snow is so dirty!"
I agree...never do that.

Hoping your clivia seedlings will yield good results.

First snow or rain from a storm is noticeably dirty, but once the air cleans out, water is incredibly clear. One can easily see it if the have a metal roof and collect the water. But still, no, I wouldn't drink it.

FYI, for plants, it's the dirty rain (or snow) that is good stuff. The super clear precipitation is just water (H₂0), which is why it is often referred to as dead water. Good for certain applications, but plants usually benefit from more.

When the tap water has copious amounts of lime, pure H2O can be a great elixir to undo PH issues in soil. For plants that are offended by fluoride, the improvement can be dramatic.