Recycled Bottle Propagators

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Here’s another application for recycled bottles . The tops are clear plastic deli containers. They happen to be a perfect press fit to the circumference of 2-liter plastic bottles. You couldn’t manufacture them to spec any better.

The shorter ones on the left (16 oz deli containers) are propagating Ficus pumila (Creeping Fig) cuttings. The medium is coir . The taller one (24 oz deli container) on the right contains 3 Schefflera arboricola (Dwarf Hawaiian Schefflera) cuttings.

They are located on a shelf under a 4' fluorescent shop light. I’ve observed roots on the Ficus pumila cuttings in about 2 weeks.

You could make them taller simply by using a taller top (cover) section. Also note air holes poked in the propagator second from the right. I don't think they're necessary. We'll see.

I now have 20 recycled bottle planters and counting. They contain a variety of plants including an assortment of herbs. I’ll post photos of the herb planters soon.

Of all the smaller size sub-irrigation planters I’ve designed over the past 9 nine years these are proving to be the best. I’ve watched plant roots making a beeline to the bottom like a dog chasing a bone.

The interesting aspect to all this is that these recycled bottle planters are so good they’re worth manufacturing. Someone could be recycling them on a larger scale. I have some ideas to pursue.

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Cookie Container Propagator

Click to enlarge. Two recycled cookie containers make a perfect propagator for these Ficus pumila (Creeping Fig) cuttings. They come with snap-on covers. I cut out the center of the cover with a box cutter, following the outer raised edge. The outer snap-on rings then provide more of a bearing surface when the two containers are joined as a top and bottom as you see in the photo.

I use a mixture of Supersoil and perlite as a propagating medium with supplementary light supplied by a compact fluorescent lamp.

The Go-To Plant

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go-to (gō'tū')
adj.
Being a player on an athletic team who is relied upon to make important plays, especially in clutch situations: the team's go-to receiver.

The plant in the interior plantscaping business most likely to be named the “go-to plant” is Pothos (botanical name Epipremnum aureum or Scindapsus aureum). Interiorscapers may get tired of it but they know that Pothos is an attractive and durable member of the team, with outstanding ability to tolerate low light conditions (25 foot candles and above).

Pothos would definitely get my vote as the go-to plant for those who are new to indoor plants. Incidentally, it is often confused with Heartleaf Philodendrons (Philodendron scandens and Philodendron Brasil).

The Pothos in the photo are cuttings about three weeks old. The vase is actually a recycled plastic snack container from Costco (UTZ Pub Mix Click on the photo to enlarge). It looks like crystal glass on my desk.

Once you root the cuttings, you can easily replant them in expanded clay pebbles (hydroculture) or potting mix watered by measured sub-irrigation. To use a popular expression you're good to go.

Click to enlarge. Started as cuttings in water.

Click to enlarge. Also started as cuttings in water.

Seeing More Clearly

Click to enlarge.Clay pebble subirrigation (aka hydroculture) offers a new way to observe how plants use water and light. You can easily watch the level go down in these clear glass containers as the plants use water.

If the light is insufficient, you’ll know because the water level will not perceptibly recede. Add more light and it will observably go down. You will be watching what horticulturists refer to as the light-water relationship of plants, indoor plants in this case.

Many sources cite over watering as the leading cause of “houseplant” death when, in fact, the cause is insufficient light. Plants must have adequate light for photosynthesis to take place. Insufficient light is the most common indoor plant problem I have observed over the past three decades.

These same sources offer no scientific method to measure light (such as a foot-candle or lux meter). The common recommendations are based on imprecise window direction.

With clay pebble hydroculture (and measured soil subirrigation), you are alerted to insufficient light before permanent damage is done to the plants. Waiting for the plant to develop physiological symptoms is foolish.

Symptoms such as reduction in stem caliper, reduction in leaf size, and increase in the space between leaves are most often irreversible.

After a child complains about not feeling well, would you wait for severe physical symptoms to appear before taking action such as calling your doctor?

Aglaonema Rehab Candidate

Click to enlarge. This overgrown Aglaonema is a good candidate for "candle glass" rehabilitation.

Aglaonema (No. 461 in the GreenScaper Consumer Lab) was created from cuttings and potted up into Supersoil on January 10, 2004. It is sub-irrigated with an AquaPad.

The good news is "Oh my how you've grown". The bad news is the same thing. It's even more overgrown and out of control than the photo shows. No big problem!

I'll start cutting the stems and installing them in candle glass 'hydro-propagators". The "mother plant" will, over time, grow new leaves and create a new more compact plant. Cool eh?

Progress pictures will follow at a later date.

Candle Glass Propagators

Click to enlarge. Empty votive candle glasses are proving to be excellent hydro-propagators. I’ve used them very successfully in rehabbing outgrown Aglaonema stems. One of the first plants in the Greenscaper Consumer Lab is an Aglaonema Amelia potted up in September 1998. After 7 years, the plant grew too tall and leggy. I cut all the stems and stuck them in the candle glass hydro-propagators. They all rooted in a few weeks. None lost! The center plant in the photo is a Dracaena Janet Craig Compacta cutting.

The two on the left are in Grow Rokz from Atami and the one on the right in Hydroton. Both are expanded clay pellets. My opinion is that there probably isn’t much difference between the brand names you can find on the web such as Hydroton, Terra-Lite, PrimeAgra, Aliflor and LECA.

I much prefer the irregular shapes of the Grow Rokz. They lock together to provide better plant support and they don’t roll if you spill some on the floor…and you will. I also like the earth tone color of the Grow Rokz better than the Hydroton pebbles that have more of a terra cotta (orangy) color.

To each his own. Take your pick. I don't think the plants know the difference.

Got Pretzels?

Click to enlarge. We should have posted this before you bought your New Year celebration snacks. We discovered that a recycled UTZ pretzel container makes a very good propagating chamber. Can we get LEED credit for this?

We bought our UTZ pretzels at Costco but you can also find them online here. There are 2 sizes, 40 and 55 oz. It appears the 55-ounce container we buy at Costco is not available online. The dimensions are approximately; 40 oz – 11 ½” h x 6 ½” diameter. 55 oz – 12 ½” h x 8” diameter.

We use a mix of two parts vermiculite to one part SuperSoil. The mix is moist but does not stick together when squeezed. We also spray some water inside the container, which we keep closed. The propagating containers receive mostly fluorescent light in the range of 300 to 400 foot-candles for a 16-hour day. We have rooted Ficus, Schefflera and Dracaena sanderiana (Lucky Bamboo) cuttings in a few weeks. Aglaonema cuttings have taken much longer.

It works well and sure looks better than tacky looking glasses of water on our kitchen windowsill. Our success rate has been close to 100%.

Got Pretzels?

Click to enlarge. We should have posted this before you bought your New Year celebration snacks. We discovered that a recycled UTZ pretzel container makes a very good propagating chamber. Can we get LEED credit for this?

We bought our UTZ pretzels at Costco but you can also find them online here. There are 2 sizes, 40 and 55 oz. It appears the 55-ounce container we buy at Costco is not available online. The dimensions are approximately; 40 oz – 11 ½” h x 6 ½” diameter. 55 oz – 12 ½” h x 8” diameter.

We use a mix of two parts vermiculite to one part SuperSoil. The mix is moist but does not stick together when squeezed. We also spray some water inside the container, which we keep closed. The propagating containers receive mostly fluorescent light in the range of 300 to 400 foot-candles for a 16-hour day. We have rooted Ficus, Schefflera and Dracaena sanderiana (Lucky Bamboo) cuttings in a few weeks. Aglaonema cuttings have taken much longer.

It works well and sure looks better than tacky looking glasses of water on our kitchen windowsill. Our success rate has been close to 100%.

Inside Propagation

It’s a long way from a glass on your kitchen windowsill to a test tube in a micropropagation lab…or is it? Micropropagation is a technique for plant propagation in which offspring are cloned from tissue taken from a single plant.

Between your windowsill and a commercial lab are a number of other propagation methods worth knowing about. This University of Georgia website provides a good overview.

Although they don’t sell directly to the public, you might also find it interesting to visit commercial tissue culture labs to see what’s new. Here is where plants are often introduced to the houseplant and interior plantscaping markets. Twyford International, Oglesby Plants International and Agri-Starts, Inc. are a few worth exploring.

Bring It Down To Size By Air Layering

Here's a tutorial from Austin 8 News about how to propagate a plant by air layering. It looks like he's demonstrating on a Ficus elastica 'Decora' (common name Rubber Tree or Plant). They even included a video. Kudos to Austin 8 for including it.

You might try this with a lanky Schefflera Arboricola (common names Dwarf Hawaiian Schefflera, Hawaiian Umbrella Tree, Dwarf Umbrella Plant, Arboricola Tree,) or an overgrown Ficus benjamina (common name Weeping Fig).

There's a double benefit here. You get a new plant. Better yet, your overgrown dorky looking plant benefits from the pruning. Many are reluctant to prune for fear of hurting the plant. However, one of the most beneficial things you can do for inside plants is pruning them. You do trim your nails and cut your hair don't you?