Previewing subject: Persian shield
Im a very new gardener!! I started in June zone 6 b . I have a 2 Persian shields that I have grow n now propagating. I have many questions and I would greatly appreciate all the help I can get. This hobby has turned into a very fulfilling Job! I think.. I have propagated about 12 prices of PS now and I have 6 with roots! I think that's pretty good for a newbie? So I also propagated a collage with no luck! All in water vases.. so if I ramble. I don't even know where to start I have questions I have needed answers to for a few months now. I have been learning on my own with only help from Google. It obviously helps but don't help with everything!!!
Why are my coleus not rooting!? I tried 2 more stems now from a friend and I don't wanna lose them. . . What have I done wrong. I used rooting compound, in vase with bottled water. I am changing the water almost every day now. I admit I may have let the first ones sit too long without changing water but it only smelled a little bad when I noticed n nothing was bad looking in the water just a lite smell of bad water.
If anyone has a tip for me with my 2 new ones please HELP. Lol Im so stressed trying to learn to winter all my plants I have grown to love over the summer. Im propagating a lucky bamboo waiting for roots very nervous about them . I would just be too upset if I lose the 2 pieces I used. Each piece was over 3 ft tall had been growing for 4 years n I decided I wanted to propagate n now I feel sorry I did . It hasn't been a month but my nerves tell me they aren't doing well.. one of the stalks I took a piece from got a little soft n yellow from the cut. I had to redo the cut n so far it looks better! Not sure if thats gonna work either. So anyone who may know about these bamboo. Not really baboo plants please message me . I'll do anything to save the bamboo!!!!














please read update!!!!!!!!!! need help soon!

The Coleus cuttings look good. I don't see any reason why they wouldn't take root, but there are never guarantees with propagating.

If the PS stems are hard & woody at the cut point, they are less likely to take root.

I would encourage you to put the lucky bamboo (Dracaena braunii) pieces in a pot, at least as deeply into soil as they are now in the water, maybe a little deeper for the taller one. They are not aquatic plants in native habitat and water-grown plants don't have the robustness of potted ones.

Look on Google for "Forsythe Pot" method of propagation. It works for me 90% of the time.
Gardening should not be stressful; relax, take a deep breath and give it another try.

Have I waited to long to plant in soil... please someone tell me it's not too late even if it is!! Lie to me idc! Damn I think I waited too long and they sit a few days too long in the fish tank without enough air too. It had only a screen top but I'd sit 5 vases in there including a coleus. I'll share pics.. coleus don't have long enough roots to plant.. I don't think so anyways.. I'll add pic also of their roots. Back to Persian shields ,,,,,I'd put a few of my vases in a fish tank put a heating pad in there for a few hours and then once it was warm I turned that off but the plants all remained in there for a few days and my Persian shields leaves turned black and began to fall off! Was it lack of air or sitting too long with roots! ???? I'm going to add a pic of roots! They are great!!!!!!! Maybe if I plant now I may still get a few??????? Please help!!!!!!!!!











uPdAtEd

I prefer to root in soil or vermiculite .. the problem with water roots is that some tend to be extremely fragile and break off when you finally do pot it up. I'm thinking that water roots have no resistance and the cell walls of the roots don't thicken. Roots that have to push through soil or other medium have stronger cell walls .. it's the same thing for seedlings - they need some kind of resistance (a breeze or just brushing them with your hand) in order to build thick walled cells in the stems that won't break when stressed.

soil is better

How is it going, Pamela?

There's always a new stem, sometimes 2, after the old one is cut.
A taller cut:


Closer to the soil line. This one is more recent, I just noticed the new stem today.


I haven't had any cut stems keep growing, only from below the soil line. Eventually the old stump just falls out, like this one.


All of the stems that were removed were stuck in pots with other plants & have kept growing, so it can be assumed they took root.