What do you prefer to root in water or soil and why? Personally as a very inexperienced Gardener I have only rooted in water. I have read that the plants needs the soil and things of that nature but for me I started rooting devils ivy in fish tanks first then lucky bamboo. That was almost ten years ago. I also did a veggie Garden with the kids when they were younger around 2008/07 that was great with the kids too. So its been quite awhile and I have started again with the flowers! I JUST LOVE TO GET A FLOWER ON A GOOD GROWING FRENZY!. lol I had hundreds and hundreds of petunias this summer. They were BEAUTIFUL! Now I am rooting everything I can get my hands on everything started great got some Persian Shields to root lost few coleus stem then rooted some vines n 2 more coleus all in water. Now im gonna do Some rose stems but I AM DEBATING THE SOIL but maybe Ill do both. Just wanted a few thoughts from a few ladys or gents ... kinda see how others have done...

also do you use rooting compounds or honey or any other things to get better roots or more chance of roots?????

It all depends upon what you are trying to root. And there are several methods, depending upon time of year and plant. But woody plants generally will root better in soil.

oh i see. i have never rooted a woody plant, how is this done?

im assuming soil only?

Yes, but also at the right time of year and the right part of the plant. You will have to research each plant to see what best suits it.

If you are serious about rooting everything you can find, I would recommend you purchase a book on propagation. There are many but my personal favorite is The American Horticultural Society's book on Propagation.

Or, start Googling and reading about specific plants.

You need to research each plant to see which type of propagation is recommended. Your question asks what we prefer to root but there are way too many plants to get one answer. ?Maybe narrow the question to one or two types of plants and make a post on the propagation forum?

There is a search box here on NGA. From the home page type into the search box and look for articles and posts already here on NGA.

Typing just the word "propagation" gets this result:
http://garden.org/search/index...

Vary your search words to find more results:
rooting in water
rooting plants
propagate in water
etc.

My all time favorite method to root just about anything is the Forsythe Pot method. Lots of good information here on NGA and on the internet. I've had success with everything I tried including Gardenia and Mandevilla.

NICE! TY Greene for the info i'll be sure to check this out..asap Im a lil busy atm trying to clean up a soil mix up i did , meaning I used the wrong soil to pot house plants in and i had an issue with molding so I LEARNED THE HARD WAY. LOL but all is well I am replacing the soils as i can though out the past two days and its working just fine. now im taking a break to propagate some flowers n foliage I hope.

>> so I LEARNED THE HARD WAY.

I think that's the best way to learn. Otherwise, we just copy each others habits, mistakes and good ideas blindly. When you can say "I tried it several ways and this was the best for me", then you LEARNED something.

And it might have been something that few other people knew, or that you tried for the very first time anywhere. When one person learns something NEW the HARD way, we ALL learn something new.

If it weren't for people learning new things the hard way 10,000 years ago, we would still be hunter-gatherers instead of gardeners. Hooray for the hard way!

@RickCory, that is so very true. I had some soil stay too damp for a few plants this summer, and I really thought it was going to be fast draining. I was up to neck in repotting for a few days there. Glad it is all going well.

Laurie B

Thank you, @Greene, for mentioning the Forsythe Method. I'd never heard of it, and I found your article on it and have it starred so I can try it.

i just feel i cant thank you all enough for all your info. honestly all summer i googled every flower,plant i got and it was hard not being able to just ask a question but instead research every single thing. i dont mind but you end up repeating alot i mean alot that way... I called my self the google gardener for a few months. lol its so nice to have someone to talk to about it and know things I don't to help me especially when plants are dying!! It's nice to have someone else love the plants also!!

plantmanager said:...mentioning the Forsythe Method...

This method has been around a long time (like over 200 years?) but I only learned about it fairly recently. My article is about an improvement to the method for areas that are prone to mosquitoes. Please do a Google search to find many different articles about the method itself.

Here is a good basic instruction for the Forstye Pot method:
https://www.extension.umn.edu/...

There are many different methods for propagation depending on the plant. Here is a good link with many options:
http://extension.missouri.edu/...

Thanks, Greene! It sounds like a very practical, and easy thing to do so that is how my next propagation will be.