I took four softwood cuttings of a Japanese maples last August or September and rooted them as described below. By the time winter came, I thought they were gonners, but I didn't get around to tossing the container. This spring I have leaves on 3 of the four (and roots, of course.) Thoroughly clean and sterilize a 2 liter pop bottle. Cut it horizontally 5" up from the bottom. Drill 5 drainage holes in the bottom. Fill it with well moistened pro potting mix. Poke a hole in the middle of the potting mix with a pencil. Take softwood cutting made at an angle. I don't remember using rooting hormone, but you could. Stick the cutting into the pencil hole then firm the soil around it. Here's the key: You must keep it warm and moist, but definitely not hot or wet. Tape the top half of the bottle back onto the bottom. Keep bottle lid in place, but remove once a week to let new air in. I have since read that some put ventilation holes in the tops of their bottles, but I didn't. I put my bottles on the SE corner of the house in dappled shade; morning sun. Voila. 6 months later I had rooted cuttings. Good luck! And remember...You can't win if you don't enter.

Hi Toni! The Philodendron 69686 is thought to be a natural hybrid of unkown parentage and origin. It's believed to have come from Brazil but it has never been found in the wild. 69686 is the accession number given to it by plant researchers at MOBOT when they received the plant for identification. Tiffany: Maybe, that sounds like a good trade but you can just have them anyways. I already have a P. squamiferum which is a similar plant. Currently, I'm really only interested in Philos with long strapy leaves but I have a weakness for philos. So I think a flat rate Priority mail box is 6 or 7 bucks. First class would be cheaper but don't count on getting anything alive. I will check it all out and get back to all who've asked. Toni, did you want some? I'm sure you can squeeze another pot in somewhere.

Rooting in Water Though roots form readily and often seemingly more quickly on many plants propagated in water, the roots produced are quite different from those produced in a soil-like or highly aerated medium (perlite - screened Turface - calcined DE - seed starting mix, e.g.). Physiologically, you will find these roots to be much more brittle than normal roots due to a much higher percentage of aerenchyma (a tissue with a greater percentage of intercellular air spaces than normal parenchyma). Aerenchyma tissue is filled with airy compartments. It usually forms in already rooted plants as a result of highly selective cell death and dissolution in the root cortex in response to hypoxic conditions in the rhizosphere (root zone). There are 2 types of aerenchymous tissue. One type is formed by cell differentiation and subsequent collapse, and the other type is formed by cell separation without collapse ( as in water-rooted plants). In both cases, the long continuous air spaces allow diffusion of oxygen (and probably ethylene) from shoots to roots that would normally be unavailable to plants with roots growing in hypoxic media. In fresh cuttings placed in water, aerenchymous tissue forms due to the same hypoxic conditions w/o cell death & dissolution. Note too, that under hypoxic (airless - low O2 levels) conditions, ethylene is necessary for aerenchyma to form. This parallels the fact that low oxygen concentrations, as found in water rooting, generally stimulate trees (I'm a tree guy) and other plants to produce ethylene. For a long while it was believed that high levels of ethylene stimulate adventitious root formation, but lots of recent research proves the reverse to be true. Under hypoxic conditions, like submergence in water, ethylene actually slows down adventitious root formation and elongation. If you wish to eventually plant your rooted cuttings in soil, it is probably best not to root them in water because of the frequent difficulty in transplanting them to soil. The brittle "water-formed” roots often break during transplant & those that don't break are very poor at water absorption and often die. The effect is equivalent to beginning the cutting process over again with a cutting in which vitality has likely been reduced. If you do a side by side comparison of cuttings rooted in water & cuttings rooted in soil, the cuttings in soil will always (for an extremely high percentage of plants) have a leg up in development on those moved from water to a soil medium for the reasons outlined above. Al

leaves get torn and/or have problem unfurling is due to lack of humidity/moisture. Although when in ground in tropical climate with high enough humidity it can be kept drier. Keep in mind that large leaves cause a lot of evaporation too. when indoors in less then optimal conditions what I have resorted to on occasion is putting a plastic bag loosely on top of emerging leaf/shoot. when I see that leaf edges are sticking while the shoot is emerging I wrap a damp paper towel around it to kept it unglue. you need to be very careful, as the leaf is very soft and it takes about a week for it to firm up. alternatively you can mist it lightly ev day for a few days until it's ok.