** A METHOD **
** TO GROW CUTTINGS **
** IN WINTER **
____________________
CHAPTER 2
2-Rhipsalidopsis rosea : winter cuttings
repotting and winter cultivation in a nutritious substrate.
I took advantage of the repotting to photograph the root system.
The cuttings had been grown for two months in pure sand.
Photo taken on March 5, 2021
The root system is more than 5cm long and is still attached to the sand.
I replaced the sand with a nutritious substrate made up of non calcareous gravelly sand (1/2), horticultural potting soil (1/4) and heather soil (1/4).
I added some Osmocote slow release cactus fertilizer.
Photo taken on March 5, 2021.
The rooted cuttings are in their new substrate.
Paradoxically, this stage was the most perilous, because the roots, which had been disturbed by the change of substrate, took several weeks to adapt to the new one. I had to fight against their dehydration which started by confining them in the humid mini greenhouse.
Two of them went well.
The third one unfortunately dehydrated and I lost it.
When the warm weather arrived in May, I took out the two remaining cuttings that had not changed their appearance and put them in a shady spot in my garden.
At the time of writing (autumn 2021) they are still healthy and I hope to have them flowering in spring 2022.
END OF ARTICLE
___________________________________
BACK TO THE SUMMARY OF THE ARTICLE
_________________________________________