Yes, Kim... cuttage does work, although the process I used was a bit different.

Back in March of this year, I received an Emerald hippeastrum bulb as part of an order... it was fairly rotted when I unpacked it, the rot extending down in between some of the layers, and I wasn't sure I could save any of it.

However, to do nothing meant a sure loss, so I tried cuttage for the first time. If you go back to March's postings, you'll find my process documented in text and pictures. I forget what I called the thread, but I know it's there!

I cut the bulb into sections, eliminating as much rot as I could, keeping a piece of basal plate on each section... dusted the pieces with Captan, a powdered anti-fungal... and placed them in moistened vermiculite in airtight ziploc baggies. I inflated the baggies before sealing by blowing in them. I put two pieces per baggie, making sure the basal plate area made contact with the vermiculite. I half buried the pieces.

I placed the baggies under a grow light, on a heat mat, using a plastic lid between the baggies and the mat to buffer against too much heat... and I waited. I checked on them every week, or so.

Just recently, I noticed leaves growing in one of the baggies, so I opened it and took out the new bulblets which were still attached to the old bulb sections. The old sections were feeding the new bulblets, so I left them intact and shallowly planted them. They had a few small roots growing.

I posted a picture of the newly potted bulblets just yesterday, in a thread called "Russian Halo & Emerald Update", or something close to that.

The medium I use for bulbs and bulblets is different than what many people use... mine is a mixture of very small pine park pieces, granite chips, perlite, and I sometimes add a tiny bit of vermiculite and a handful of top quality potting soil to each batch. The idea is that it stays light and airy, with plenty of space for the exchange of oxygen and gases produced by the roots, and it avoids compaction as would occur in finer soils.

I hope this helps... I think the process worked for me because of bottom heat, a sealed environment, the use of an anti-fungal powder, and lots of patience! I didn't disturb the baggies until I saw leaf growth.

Hi Jodi, nice summary and great results! I think patience is the most difficult step of all though ;-) Alana

It is, Alana... it took almost 6 months for the cut pieces to produce baby bulblets that I thought were far enough along to remove from the baggies and pot up!

Once they were bagged and on the heating pad, I only checked once in a while... just to make sure they were still green and alive. Other than that, I tried to forget about them so I wouldn't be too anxious to open the baggies.

Patience does pay off! It's an essential part of bulb growing, for sure!

Yes...I have done the full blown surgery! Used clean/sterilized equipment, soaked bulb strips in liquid fungicide, etc. I think you can find the posting with photos if you do a search for "Gordie". You'll have to look over the posts...and find the one from August or September 2008. I now have 6 health bulbs that are exact genetic copies of the mother bulb.

Earlier this year, with a bad Chico bulb, I used Jodi's method, which is quick and dirty by comparison. I split the bulb in quarters. Currently 2 quarters are out of the bag and growing under the lights with first leaves emerging. The other 2 quarters are still in the box (in the dark) developing bulbs.

Kristi B.
Spring, TX

Here is a link to Jodi's post on her Emerald:

Here is a link that might be useful: Series II - Intense Bulb Surgery...

And here is a link to Java's work on Estella:

Here is a link that might be useful: Time to try cuttage?

See how bad my memory is? I didn't get Emerald in already rotted... it rotted in its pot!

Thanks for posting the links!

Kristi, did my cuttage take less time than yours? I notice you kept your baggies in the dark... mine were under cheap grow lights. The lights don't provide enough to grow anything really well, but they're bright enough to start seedlings and that sort of thing. I wonder if the light amount had anything to do with the timing? Interesting...

Jodi,
I think I chopped up my Chico in May or June. The Veronica Read book specifies the cuttage be kept in the dark. I think this may be to stimulate root growth compared to leaf growth. So....it sounds like mine moved along a little faster than yours.

Kristi

Oh, ok... I got my times confused... I couldn't remember when you chopped yours up! :-)

Jodi and Kristi,

I read both of your accounts on cuttage and was very impressed.

Kristi, I read your Gordie story -- how cool! So how many Gordies do you have now? Did they all survive? And did you try the different methods to see which worked best? Or to ensure that something lived?

Genez

I had to do this 8/28/09. I tried to leave a large section of this bulb intact in the hope it would recover. I cut away a little over half of this bulb away. Here it is today.

{{gwi:428218}}

It has recovered well.
AJ

It's amazing how plants, bulbs in particular, will try to survive at all costs.

Is that variegation I see? Is that Mrs. Garfield, by any chance? Great save!

It is variegatioin you see, from my original research it was reticulatum var. 'Bangkok Rose' identified by a picture but now I don't know because if it is 'Bangkok Rose' it should have a white center stripe also a characteristic of the variety reticulatum var. stratifolium. You can see it does not have a white stripe but a yellow. So I currently think it might be Mrs. Garfield, unfortunately because I really wanted a 'Bangkok Rose'.

It looks kind of like a white stripe to my eyes, but that could be due to my monitor... but no matter... the important thing is that you were able to save it! I'm not familiar with a variety named Bangkok Rose, though I do have a Mrs. Garfield, myself. I can see I need to find out more about this Bangkok Rose!

A newbie question--when you bag/seal your cuttings, has there been any water at all added?

Thanks,

--Rr

I think my v/v of vermiculite to sterile water was 8/1, so 4 cups of vermiculite to 1/2 cup water.
Kristi

I just moistened it so it wasn't dripping... moist, but not sloppy. I didn't even use sterile water... just tepid tap water. But I did dust the bulb pieces with fungal powder.