wow, now you got all these crazy clematis folks rushing to walmart to buy aquarium bubblers!

ok, so i had a few (ok lots, like 3 dozen) cuttings from pruning out some unwanted growth on ramona and nelly moser that i put in water a week ago to test this water rooting method. nothing by way of roots so far although they are healthy and leafy. so just added your bubbler system today, will let you know in a week if anything happens!

ok, these are type 2s maybe not as vigorous as your comtesse but we'll see..

Kewl Kitova..so all of us will be a "Bubbling" away and sharing our results!!..Goodluck...Jeanne

Jeanne, thank you so very much for responding with all of this info. I'm going to take cuttings of my few that are large enough and see if I can get any to root. First I have to get to Walmart to see if I can get this.

Thanks
Maureen

Interesting concept! What are the lighting conditions during the root formation? Would bruising or scraping part of the last inch or two help?
Good work!

thanks jeanne! i have it set up in my home office and i actually find i like the peaceful bubbling noise it makes, this might be a year-round thing if my cuttings end up as successful as yours! maureen, i found a $9.99 pump at walmart, which combined with the plastic hose put me back just 12 buckeroos. forgot to buy the gravel for the gravel barrier though which is a pain. i had to improvise by poking minute holes at the end of my plastic hose with a pin, makes for some small bubbles but not the froth i see in jeanne's system. so don't forget the gravel!

Kitova..I never mentioned Gravel..LOL..I have an Airstone..on the end of the clear plastic tubing that goes into the water..that creates the bubbles...
Berry..I don't crush the end of my clematis..don't know if that would help..you can be the designated person to try this if you wish on one of yours and give us some feedback...My bubbler sits on my Potting Bench that is on my Screened in porch..so there is nothing but bright diffused light is all..Hey Kitova..DO I need to post a pic of the air stone so you'll know what I am talking about???

LOL, boy do i feel stupid. just was by walmart again today, and thought i'd check back in the fish area .. _finally_ figured out what an AIRSTONE is!! that 97 cent thing sitting RIGHT NEXT to the tubing i bought! needless to say, i fought the crowds to the checkout counter buy it. MUCH better than my blunt force
pokey-em-holes-in-the-tubey-things.

i have to thank you jeanne for making my weekend just that much more entertaining. (it's raining here, nothing to do but obsess over this contraption). oh and of course my husband thinks i have finally gone off the deep end with my clematis habit..

That was very ingenious to think of that. Now if you use a little larger container, do you think you could root more than one at a time, like maybe 3?

Also, what other plants might this method work with?

Thanks so much for sharing your method!

Kitova...glad you found it!!..Tell Hubby you ain't crazy..just having fun!!..
Aliska..Of course you can use a larger container..I have three cuttings already in that cup!!...Jeanne

Jeanne,
It may be the increased oxy in the water. What is the average temp also of the water. I wonder if a little bit of rooting hormone may help the process. A little bottom heat in the fall may also help. I will set up and try some experiments. Good hobby.
bberry

Jeanne-

I wrote you last week you should write a book!! You are a genius. I dub you the grand dame of the clematis forum. Might you actually be a botanist in disguise? LOL I always love to read your threads and search them out to glean any morsel of knowledge I can from your posts. Keep up the great work, my teacher.

suebot in CT

Sue, I agree with you. Not only is she knowlegable about clematis but she is a real classy lady!! I can only say nice things about this lady, she has always been so helpful whenever I post a question.

Will someone post a picture of an AIRSTONE please so I know what to buy. Thanks.

Dedith...I bought my Air Stone and T-connectors (Ts are used if you want more than one bubbler working) right next to the Aquarium pumps at Walmart...Hope this helps...Jeanne
Air Stone:
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T-Connectors:
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Thanks, Jeanne. I thought it was some sort of gravel or stone. Thanks for the pictures.

Before everyone gets too excited, look at the facts. After a period of time in water the plant made roots. I see no indication that the air made the difference???

The added air would reduce chlorine except on the first day. Adding small amounts of water after that would not add much chloride.

The air would change the type of bateria growing in the water.

None of these comments are made to indicate this does not improve rooting. I am only saying there is no proof yet. Somebody needs to try several plants both ways, of the same type of clematis before any conclusion can be reached.

First off... no offence to anyone especially none to the OP. Who knows, maybe the OP does have something, but I feel it is a coincidence. I'm not saying I'm right at all, but... I feel that the roots were getting ready to come either way with or without the addition of the airstone. Here's my situation...

On May 29, via email, I spoke to the other poster that successfully rooted her clematis in water. So I thought what the heck... I took 3 cuttings from "The President" on May 30 and put them in water. I used a small uncolored/clear glass, GLASS... not plastic. I put this by an eastern exposed window that grows African Violets well for me. I changed the water every 2-3 days with regular tap water until the present time. The one cutting put out some top growth but no roots until low and behold, this Saturday I looked and bam... roots all of a sudden. They came out fast. May 30 to June 24 was the time period. I have posted pictures below. I also noticed one of the other 3 cuttings I took looks like it will have roots any time now. I don't know if it made a differnce or not, but the one that put out roots first was the one I removed the most leaves from... I left it with 3 leaves and the others had 4 and 5 leaves. The one with 5 leaves is not showing any growth at all (no top growth or roots) and the one with 4 leaves is the one I think will have roots any day now.

I mostly agree with Madtripper, but disagree with this statement..

"The added air would reduce chlorine except on the first day"

Agitating the water would immediately start to get rid of chlorine and ammonia even on the first day. In that small volume of water it would not take long to get rid of it. Ammonia would take longer. Is there that much chlorine in water to make much of a difference good or bad? Does the PH matter? I don't know.

I could be wrong, but I feel as I originally said... You should try taking cuttings at the same time, same plant and do some with the pump and some without and see if it was just a coincidence or not. Maybe you will get the same results? Maybe the ones with the airstone will produce roots sooner?

My water rooted cuttings...

{{gwi:596151}}

{{gwi:596154}}

hmm, well i have 1 bunch of cuttings in a bucket of water outside and 2 bunch of cuttings in glass containers inside with a bubbler. so the ones outside are not exactly the perfect control group (i'd have to bring them inside clean them up etc and refresh the water) but i sort of have a control group going and may be able to report to you guys on whether the bubbling makes any difference..

my guess on why aeration could possibly make a difference is that it oxygenates the water? just a blind speculation on my part that roots grow towards water and air in soil so why not aerated water as a rooting medium..?? i am no botany major so feel free to argue otherwise..

Jeanne:
Well, you certainly created quite a stir here on the forum. Good for you Jeanne.
Dawn

I mostly agree with Madtripper, but disagree with this statement..

"The added air would reduce chlorine except on the first day"

I can't spell.

I ment to say :
"The added air would NOT reduce chlorine except on the first day"

Jeanne that is so very cool! Thanks so much for your post! I gotta try this!!!

Hi Jeanne. Are you trying to root any other clematis with the pump? Wondering how your doing. I haven't bought one yet -- I hate shopping.

happy 4th of July weekend,
Maureen

Happy 4th to you too Maureen..still waiting!!..I just put 2 cuttings on the 1st from Jackmanii and labeled them...one cutting is from the top..so the vine was semi-green and the second one was further down...hard wood..so, Hopefully I will figure out which roots quicker and then today DH decided he wanted to help me weed and accidently dug up two of my baby clematis that I planted back in May! !..the top had gotten broken off...I cut off that top piece and put in there but don't know which is which!!I was so mad I can't see straight..I took the clematis and planted it somewhere else in my garden and the other one is missing but he doesn't know which trashbag he put it in...the labels were pulled up as well!!..I know one of them was "Snow Queen"!!...Jeanne

Hi Jeanne-

DHs DO mean well but they should ask before mowing down something or pulling out a small plant. My husband can't tell a weed from a coneflower!! LOL
I have two beautiful daylilys ready to bloom but I am sure the damn deer will be by for a midnight snack tonight. I sprinkled cayenne pepper on the buds. Heard it might work.. Maybe after DH finishes cutting the grass I might get him to WATER the daylilys. Heard that works too and it is cheaper than coyote urine.

Happy 4th to you all,
suebot in CT

Due to athritis in my hands, my gardening days are about over but my Clematis remains my pride and joy. It took me so long to get it to bloom and it took three plants before I even got one to take off for me. Now it's a beautiful specimen, if I do say so myself. I fertilize it with Tomato plant fertilizer, a trick I think I learned here.

Now, I'm limited but not crippled (yet!), and I read your post, Jeanne, and thought of a place I could start another Clematis in my yard. It would look beautiful. I never even gave thought to putting Clematis anywhere else because I had tried it in so many places when I moved into the house twenty years ago and it didn't grow except in one place. So now, you've got me thinking I could try rooting a piece of my current growing one in this new place.

You live in a warm climate, so you may not know the answer but someone else might. Do you think I could use Jeanne's method to root a piece from my present plant and if I get those kind of wonderful roots, could I plant it now, in July? I know it wouldn't bloom or anything this year, or maybe not for years but I could at least start it. It's an unorthodox time of year to start a Jackmanii but it might work, don't you think?

As much as I hate Wal-Mart and all it stands for, I could swallow hard and go there and get the supplies. Not only that, my husband would be very interested in such an experiment.

What do you think?

well this is day 10 for me. just checked for roots and so far... nothing. well, i think i might see some really tiny fibrous roots coming out of one cutting but can't be sure, it could just be my wishful thinking.

i'm thinking the main difference is that i am trying to root type 2's vs your type 3 jeanne. one cup has ramona cuttings and one cup has nelly moser cuttings.

also in the glass of nelly mosers, the leaves of some cuttings are beginning to yellow.

the "control" in the garage is not showing anything either.

will post in a week's time. wish me good luck!

Has anyone had any luck with this method. Has anybody been able to root their clematis shoots yet? I would love to hear if anyone has been successfull.

hi guys, just came back from 1 week vacation and this is what i found!!

{{gwi:596158}}

ok so to summarize what i did:

june 24:
1 container nelly moser cuttings indoors in water with bubbler system
1 container ramona cuttings indoors in water with bubbler system
1 container ramona cuttings left outdoors in water no bubbler

changed water occasionally (not very often - just when the thought crossed my mind and it was convenient)

july 4:
checked for roots, no roots. eliminated bubbler system (DH was beyond himself with the noise at night anyway)

decided to test putting some rooting hormone in nelly moser container.

july 24:
came back from vacation. guess what, 3 out of 6 cuttings in the nelly moser container has set out roots.

nothing yet in ramona containers.

so i was really NOT that rigorous in my testing. but if i were to venture a hypothesis, i'd say that rooting hormone in water helps. but i can't rule out the bubbler system keeping these cuttings alive either. sorry jeanne, i turned out to be a shoddy lab assistant!

but i am just thrilled to be getting roots in water after only a month, and with 50% success rate too! thanks for this water rooting idea guys! with type 2s my success rate had previously been nil.

comments anyone?

Hi everyone, just a quick introduction since this is my first post here at the forum!

I'm James and live in S. California (Long Beach to be exact) and have only recently, within the past two or three months, stumbled across this site... and am glad I did! It's great seeing all the pictures of everyones collection of Clems.

Alright, on to the point of this post (finally lol!). I got really excited reading through this topic and actually seeing the pictures of the rooting stems and, of course, couldn't resist trying the whole thing out for myself. It was time for some light pruning anyways around the time I spotted the topic so off I went to get a bubbler and stuck a handfull of clippings in a glass jar (all stems together in one jar by the way).

So, this is what's going on with my bubbling jar of stems so far:

Put stems from an assortment of Clems (Petit Faucon, Ruby Glow, Gillian Blades, Pagoda, Pink Champagne, Carnaby, and a few others I forgot - oops lol) in the jar and started bubbling away on June 23rd. I only left a pair of leaves on each stem by the way.

Nothing seemed to be happening except for some of the leaves browning a bit at the edges or shriveling up completely UNTIL I noticed something happening on July 11th (2 and a half weeks into it). The Petit Faucon stems were getting little white bumps at the cut. These little white bumps are now, today, 3" roots!

None of the other stems (mostly large flowered varieties) did anything except lose leaves and looked pretty much dead and I was very tempted to throw them out but decided to just leave them and see what happened. A week and a half AFTER Petit Faucon got it's "bumps", some of the other stems started getting them too! This was on July 20th that I noticed.

Like I mentioned before, the Petit Faucon stems have 3" roots and even have new leaf/vine growth from the buds. The other cuttings that developed "root bumps" later don't seem to be growing quite as fast as the integrifolia did but they are growing nonetheless!

So, now all I have to figure out it what to do with this little plant with healthy roots! Not really sure when to take it out and actually plant it in soil - I'm kind of worried it will shrivel up and die if I do it too early... any advice? If even just one of them survives the eventual transplant and actually grows out in the garden, I'd be really happy - free plants lol! And it didn't take much effort, can't beat that!

If anyone is out there still trying this or thinking about doing it, hope this helps.

Kitova and James, did you start with woody cuttings or the new green shoots? Did you try both? Which rooted best for you? Karen

Hi Karen,
The cuttings that I took were all pretty woody but they weren't really thick old stems, they were all from this year's growth. I should have tried it with some young green shoots but, for some reason, I thought they wouldn't be strong enough to sit in water and would probably just rot. Something for me to try next time though!

Just wondering if anyone has tried to root a Sweet Autumn? I need to hide my neighbor's yard (they let everything grow....it's a mess), so I thought I could add some SA to a couple spots since it grows so quickly, and is so pretty in the fall. Any thoughts??

Hi Karen,
I ditto what James said. They are "young" wood. I'm trying another batch, this time off cuttings of my type 3 blue belle (or etoile violette, not sure). One glass with bubbler system, one glass with just a little root hormone. I think I put it in about July 25 so it's been a week. Will let you know how it goes.

pinkcarnation, sweet autumn will root in just about anything. you will have a hard time not making it root. so pot up a couple cuttings and put a few more in water and have a competition on which roots the fastest!

Thanks Karen!
Will do!! I suspected they would be easy to root.
Jackie

Jeanne, I have great news. One of my cuttings is starting to root. It is a "not will goodwin" - it's a really pretty white clematis.

I placed in water (I didn't use the bubbler because I just never got around to getting one) on July 2 and it started nubby root things about 2 days ago. Yipppeee! I have about 3 jars of water on the windowsill with cuttings in all of them. Some were started as early as 6/2/06 and some have been in water only a month. I am just so thrilled to get a clematis to root!! I'm going to try lots more.

Just had to share this great news with you Jeanne.
Maurreen

Thanks everyone for all the great information. I too tried the bubbler system. I didn't have any woody stems so I used tender new green shoots. A lot of them did rot, but this week 4 of them actually started sprouting roots. I am thrilled! I potted up two of them and will let the others develope a little more before I pot them up. I did use rooting hormone and I changed the water once. I am going to try some more, now that I know it works! Thanks Jeanne, James and Kitova. Karen

Any updates on this? Anybody try the bubbler method to root other plants besides clematis?

zzukke, I also tried it on penstemons and they rooted in about 3-4 weeks. I didn't try anything else. I am going to try more plant varieties next spring. Karen

hi zzukke, yes i got 2 successful rootings on my blue belles using bubbler in water rooting method. so my average is about 30-45 days to root. i did try adding rooting hormone to one batch but it seems to encourage more algae growth than root growth so chucking that idea for now.. my previous rooted nelly mosers are doing really well and have pushed out new growth and now winding down for the winter..

my ramonas never rooted.

my DH accidentally mowed down my purpurea plena elegans in the fall so i have a couple cuttings in water at the moment. will report on progress later this winter. they did spend a night lying on the ground outside though (DH fearing my wrath decided to not tell me about the mowing accident until following day). i turn off the bubblers at night plus it is colder in the house now. so not sure whether they will root so readily this time around..

Back on March 30, I put some cuttings of my Ville de Lyon in water by a window in my basement. I left them there all summer, never changing the water, but adding some water when it got low. I thought about throwing them out since they didn't root, but they've kept green leaves alive all this time. I just noticed that they have finally sprung roots a few weeks ago! Pretty cool, but it took a LONG time.

It's funny that Jean posted this, because I was just theorizing in the past few weeks that these might have rooted much sooner if the water was oxygenated by a bubbler. I got the idea because I had to look up something on hydroponic gardening a few months ago, because I'm a merit badge counselor for boy scouts getting the gardening merit badge. The info I read said that it was important to have a bubbler in the liquid solution to make oxygen available to the roots.

I think Jean's onto something here, and I'm going to try the bubbler next time around.

My only question now is whether I should keep these young clematises indoors in the cool basement through the winter or whether they need to go dormant for the winter by being outside. I'd hate to kill them by putting them out when they've acclimatised to indoor temps all summer.

I've read all these posts and wondered if in addition to the bubbler, the type 1, 2, 3 might also be a factor in rooting. I wondered if anybody can look at the named varieties and the type they are and come up with any kind of hypothesesis like this: Type 1 root best/fastest using new woody stems from May-June. Type 2 root best/fastest using new woody stems from ____ to _____ and so on for Type 3.

I had clipped some Clematis from a friend and out of 4 different kinds of Clematis, only one rooted. (I did a terrible job on them, but they were all treated the same.) My guess is that the one that did root was a different type than the other three. I just hope is wasn't SAC!

Lime

This is a fascinating thread, and I'd love to see more input as we approach spring.

With the extremely mild winter we're having here (MA), I'm tempted to take cuttings now and try this. But, I lost a supposedly indestructible SAC a few years ago after pruning in late winter (late March/early April?), so am fearful of cutting ANYTHING before May other than roses.

Any thoughts?

You know guys I think Jeanne has something here!! Those aeroponic cloning machines make the same claim. Rooting in six to ten days. They claim it's the oxygen enriched environment. I took several cuttings 3 days ago I'll let ya know as soon as I see some roots. Toot a Lou Gianty.

anything yet tootalou???

Hey all,
I had to leave town for quite awhile so I pulled the plug on the experiment. After 14 days I got nothing? I'm sure it will work. I just need to fine tune the process?

Keep us informed. We are waiting to hear back from you.
Good Luck!

Wow, interesting thread indeed! Any updates?

Well I said I was going to try again and I am. I made an aerponic bubbler cloner and took around 45 cuttings to root. It's day 6 and nothing yet. I put some fertilizer in the water, a very minute amount. But after only 3 days I had an algae bloom. Dumped that water, cleaned the tub out and started over less the fert. Will keep ya posted and thanks again Jeanne for the idea. Later Gianty.

Thanks all for posting on this interesting and logical concept. It sounds worth it just to keep the water from fouling. I'm going to try it as soon as my fish die. . . . that aquarium could hold a lot of cuttings, yes? hmmm.

I really enjoyed reading this thread - I have a few Clematis, too. But really, guys and gals, if you are in doubt as to the veracity of the aeration (bubbler) method of rooting, talk to any commercial propogater. I think its called Aeroponics, a type of hydroponics. Wonderful way to produce strong healthy roots quickly. Works on lots of stuff. Happy growing!