Just stick it in a glass of (room temp.) water so that the bottom 2-4" of the stem are in the water. I don't change the water, I only ADD to it, but I also throw in some bits of charcoal chips (aquarium grade from the pet store) which keeps the water from getting yucky or growing algae. Will take quite some time so pls. be patient, if you've got a clear vase than you can SEE when it roots, otherwise, just take the stem out to check in a couple of months & then every month or so.

If it is a true lipstick--i.e. aeschynanthus species or cultivar it will root from a leaf. But, that is a very slow proposition and must be done just right--rooted in a medium like long fiber moss or a mix of perlite/vermiculite, enclosed in a ziplock bag and grown with good light such as on a light stand. The leaf will root and then after a fairly long time, send up a new shoot. It will need a light feeding after rooting for the leaf to gain the strength to send up a shoot. I just gave this info for the sake of accuracy. But, growing from leaves is rarely useful with aeschynanthus. A cutting with a node will be much faster and easier. I have rooted leaves under less than ideal circumstances and had the leaves sit for two years before finally dying without issue. Other gesneriads which some mass growers call lipsticks are other genera of gesneriads, which will not root from leaf cuttings (i.e. columnea or nematanthus). Jon

I'm the guy from SC pnbrown was referring to. In 2002, my father and I built a road worthy vacuum from an old 2-horse trailer and an 8HP Agri-Fab vacuum. I attached 6 feet or so of PVC pipe to the end of the flexible hose as a nozzle that I could hold. I soon found that it was easier to lay the nozzle on the ground and rake to it instead of moving it around because it would get jammed pretty easily if it was overwhelmed. I used it for a few years and then moved to another place where they bag their leaves, so I quit using it. I still have it. It should still work with a little tinkering. I'm in the process of upgrading, though. I have found that I have a tendency to bring home plastic bags and dump them whole and then they turn into a mess in the spring that I don't want to clean up. I do dump a lot when I get them home, but when I haul 200 at a time and head back out for more, I can't dump them all on the spot. I got over 1000 one year a few years ago. i still have plastic bag pieces all over the place when I till in certain areas. The upgrade... Same vacuum mounted on the rear of a 16 foot flat bed trailer with 6 foot sides and a conduit top covered with a heavy tarp. That's the plan anyway. I calculated it and with 4 foot sides, capacity would only be double what I had in the horse trailer. Maximum possible, that is. Not that I ever filled it that full, but it did come close on occasion. I have acquired the trailer frame and need service on the electic brakes and other wiring. And safety chains and a jack. And a tray welded on the rear for the vacuum to mount on. Once I get that done, I can add the bed of 2x6's and build the sides. There are stake pockets on the front and sides. I'll use metal roof pieces to make the sides solid. Then I'll cover it and give it a go. I drive a F-450 with an 8x12 dump bed on the back. So it's not great on fuel. Having a larger trailer means more collection per trip. More efficient (yeah, right). I have a couple of sub-divisions close enough that don't bag their leaves that make it worthwhile enough for me to visit. I live in Pendleton (Anderson county) about 2 miles from the county line (Pickens) where they vacuum all leaves in the city of Clemson. They will deliver vacuum truck loads of leaves to folks in the Clemson area if they are in Pickens county. Otherwise, I think they haul them 20 miles to the landfill site where they are composted. They will not deliver them to me even though I have offered to pay something for them. A vacuum truck load of leaves is worth paying for. So if they won't bring them to me, I'll take them. I got the funny looks from folks when I'd pull up with the horse trailer and start sucking. But quite a few folks would come out and talk to me about it. I can't wait to unveil the new and improved version. Probably next fall. I'm already popular with the baggers in Pendleton. They see me coming and some actually help load them. One old guy was complaining about how expensive the bags are, so I brought him a bunch back one time. Nice ones like he was using. What I really want is for some of the folks that are putting out bunches of bags at a time to quit using them altogether and let me suck them up. They'll like not having to bag them and I'll like getting clean leaves. Often pre-shredded and mixed with grass clippings! I love leaves! Here is a link that might be useful: The horse trailer vacuum - 2002

simple pickup a bunch of celery at the grocer ... and look at it ... the CORE ... would be akin to the crown ... so instead of snapping off a celery stalk ... you would cut down and take a piece of the core with the stalk.. which in a hosta is called a petiole ... but i still dont know why you would need to massacre a whole plant.. to get 100 divisions ... when most of us would simply divide it in half.. or quarters .. and be more than happy with a few more plants ... i just dont understand the need for mass reproduction on the scale this process dictates ... that.. and its going to be 3 to 4 years.. before you end up with much of anything the size of a normal plant ... if you are lucky.. next year.. you will probably have the typical 2 to 4 inch TC sized plant.. that will need extreme TLC .... except for the 'experimenting' part of course ... there is never a down side to that ... i did it.. you may as well try .... i am just trying to set your expectations where they should be .. not some pipe dream.. that next year.. you are going to have multiplied momma as to size ... if you have one plant.. and you want 4.. simply dig it up.. wash it off.. and separate the eyes.. and make a few cuts [if you can not simply pull them apart ..... and cut it into 4 parts.. ibso presto.. 4 plants... WITH ROOTS .. and most likely.. near the size of what you started with .... BTW .. if you do the crown division ... something like ROOTONE will help.. not so much as for the rooting hormone.. but for the fungicide [make sure you buy the right one] .... if you cut into the crown.. odds are high.. that it will rot ... if fact.. if you arent already guessing at my predilection .. just go to the link.. and do it that way.. and skip this nonsense.. unless its just about the 'experimenting' .... whatever you do.. just have fun .... ken Here is a link that might be useful: are you aware of this.. and why not do it this way???