tam ... it doesnt matter ...

when it gets yucky ... take a new cutting from the far end.. and root it.. and when you know it has survived ... get rid of the other ...

growing in water is not as long term as growing in soil ...

but if it roots that easy .. just keep cycling the plants ...

if you have to do this once a month until spring... what the heck.. you are out nothing but the water ...

and in spring you will have a much healthier plant, than if you try to keep the same one alive all winter ...

or you will have 100 of them.. lol ...

or.. take a one gal milk jug... put one quarter teaspoon of soluable fert in it.. fill with water.. and let stand.. until you need to fill up a glass .... letting your water stand for even a few hours gets rid of stuff your plant roots dont need .. like chlorine and flouride .... and iron if you have a well like mine ... if one quarter tsp doenst work .. change the amount.. if they root so easily .. you have a ready supply if you do something wrong...

good luck

ken

PS: since they are so easy to root.. why not try a clear jello/gelatin .... made with the soluable fert water.. jsut to see if it works... lol .. who knows.. sounds like a kid project to me.. and if it dies... another lesson on the circle of life for the kids ...

Ken - I tried the gelatin thing, but if you don't put some kind of anti-bacterial product into it, it goes VERY yucky and BLACK. I saw some jell cubes in my local hardware store. Quite expensive, but they might be neat!

I have a Peace lily and philodendron that grow in just water and the children can see the roots. Would this be a possibility if the other ideas don't work?

The much vilified MiricleGrow probably has everything you need. Dissolve it in some water and add a few drops of solution to your rooting water, perhaps.

They also make a MiricleGrow liquid for house plants. I don't recall what is in it.

I once saw this with a monster Swedish Ivy.
It started as cuttings in water in a plastic icecream pail. It turned into one of those primordial pools with a big bunch of roots. The cute girl then added a few spoons of soil every few days until it was filled in. She never stirred or shook it or anything like that, she said not to disturb the roots. It seemed like a long time then but now I guess it was only a month or so.
It lived in her hallway and grew a great mane of happy leaves. She carefully collected every dropped leaf and put it back in the pail.

The cute girl also grew Babysbreath in her shower. It crawled up the wall and over the shower rod.

She was a beauty.

You can use soil based fertilizers short term but if you keep it in solution a long time you will eventually see nutrient deficiencies. If you want to grow long term you should get a hydro product. Some hydro stores sell products that last a long time.
You should also get an air pump  Wall Mart sells cheap ones or look at a thrift store. If your roots start to rot you probably need a pump.