Thanks Albert, I have this 6% hydrogen peroxide I can try if it’s the right stuff.

I have been deliberately just topping the water up rather than replacing it so really it’s amazing it’s not much slimier.

I wouldn't use the peroxide at all, might damage young roots.

I don't change the water, only top mine up & throw in a few small bits of aquarium grade charcoal to control the algae on my Hydro grown Sans.

I also grow a Hydro Hoya, where I don't use the charcoal (or maybe forgot), it has some algae on its roots & doesn't seem to matter.

Plants rooting in water put forth a growth hormone (so I've read) so I never discard it, just add to it. But if slimy, I would change the water & perhaps even rinse off the plant material.

In your set up which looks great, I'd suggest don't let the water go more than an inch or so in height, or it seems to risk rotting the less rooted plants.

I so wanna say yes, those are pups, but honestly I cannot tell from the bumps. I can say it looks VERY healthy & happy.

If mine, I'd be tempted to pot that into mix & see what happens.

OR, at least separate it from the other 2 (in its own jar w/ inch of water) 'til you decide what to do.

Great fiddling around, well done. Pls. post updates.

Hi Robin,

i like to play with leaves too. Here is my little collection. A couple of hoyas jumped in too

Must be warm where this is happening. For me, They just rot. I only had success when panted in course gravel that is kept moist at times.

Robin98, your leaves appear too dark to be regular trifasciata, I see no banding at all. Are they the variety Black Gold? Interesting pics, the bumps just left of center look like roots to me, however the larger whitish bump just right of center could well be a plant emerging. If your leaves are Black Gold, they will produce more of the same, unlike some other varieties of trifasciata.

I see you're in zone 9B, same as my locale in Florida, so you can probably get away with potting these leaves any time you're ready but certainly won't hurt to leave them alone to enjoy the show.

Karen, I've heard about a rooting leaf producing a hormone too, so I would just top off rather than changing water.

Cool glass of cuttings Barb! Is the green hoya a carnosa type? I love your granite counter top... colors and pattern are beautiful!

Stush, how's it going so far this winter? I recently had two nights just below freezing and tropicals outside burned badly. I'm taking stock of succulents and getting them moved to cover before I get another freezing night. I had two nights prior to this that were even lower temp but no damage whatsoever, probably because it was breezy all night and the last freezes were dead-still. So much for weather 'experts' in the fall saying I was going to have a mild winter.

Russ

Russ, The little hoya is Mathilde. I am re-starting some branches that were shriveled. Thanks, we enjoy the granite, have had it several years.

Stush, Some of those leaves root and some rot. You never know. I do think the leaves root a lot better in the spring and summer. It takes a long timeto grow a leaf into a plant of a normal size. I will be glad when spring comes. Too much winter already.

Karen, I had read that too about the growth hormone on this forum, hence just topping up. I have rinsed them off and put them in fresh water now though, but hopefully they’re far enough down the track to not be upset by that. I will look into the charcoal, thanks for that tip.

The third leaf that’s just starting roots now was cut and air dried only overnight before being put in water, and I did wonder if it was starting to rot. Whereas the other two with more roots lay around shrivelling on the floor of the garage for a couple months first. I’m not saying this is the way to do it, but maybe that illustrates the importance of allowing a good callous to form?

Barb, great arrangement you have there! Do you start them all at the same time or just pop new bits in as you want? Do you do anything to keep the water clear?

Stush, it’s summer here and it is particularly warm for us, mid-20s C which is about mid-70s F. I don’t know that that’s especially warm from this plants point of view though? I’ve kept the water as shallow as possible, only deepening it more recently (because one is standing on tiptoes pushing itself out of the water from its root growth) so maybe that’s helped prevent rot.

I think I may need to devise a way to suspend them so the roots are just in water but not touching the bottom, if I want to keep them going in water. Even though I know it’s probably better for them to go into a soil mix, I’d still like to see what happens!

Russ, I believe mine are just the common trifasciata, but those particular leaves were the oldest and grown in low light conditions. With more light the parent plant has produced much lighter coloured more distinctly banded leaves, that are also flatter and wider (some older leaves have very narrow square necks, like the profile of celery). I’ve tries to show the range of leaves in the photo :

Does this look more like trifasciata now? I find the changes fascinating!

Special note about rooting hormones. I have heard about willow branches cut up in warm water and then used to root other plants. I tried with our local binge weed. Those morning glory look a-likes. They reproduce with any piece in the ground and makes eradicating them almost impossible. So I cut up my pullings and mixed in warm water and put in some cutting from my Rose of Sharon and they did root very fast. Didn't try with some thing more harder like sanseveria. Maybe this year.

Thanks Karen for the rebirth of an idea.

Robin98, shallow water holds more oxygen than deeper water. So keeping the water level low adds more oxygen which keeps rotting fungus at bay. That's the main reason to add peroxide to water. Too much will hurt them but just a little helps to increase the oxygen and kill the fungus. But I wouldn't mess with success which is what you are having.

Barb, interesting about Mathilde, I did notice that those leaves looked dried and wrinkly, hopefully they will plump up and it'll root for you. I have your little Philo 'Green' in my kitchen window with a glass inverted over it to maintain humidity. It wasn't doing very well in the shadehouse at the end of summer and I was afraid I'd lose it out there with no heat. It's perked up since it's had a clear cover over it, produced a few fuzzy white aerial roots. Is it a slow, picky grower for you?

Stush, I'm trying to think of a weed here that might have rooting enzymes in it. Your idea of a morning glory relative reminds me of a climbing weed on chain link fence in part of my property, flowers look like little pink morning glories. I think you said you cut the plant into small pieces and pour warm water over them, do you then take the pieces out and put in cuttings, or leave pieces in?

I recall someone saying that stirring in some rooting hormone in water speeds up rooting but I've never tried it.

Robin98, your sans is indeed regular trifasciata species, your propagating leaves were so dark they sure looked like Black Gold.

Russ

I’d love a really dark one like Black Gold, they look beautiful...

Or Black Coral. Or Black Robusta.

Hi Russ,

i have some roots forming on Mathildes, except for one little piece, it may need to be tossed.

Here is the littl philo, hangin in there pretty well. It grew and was full and pretty in the summer, but has dropped lots of leaves indoors. It’s just happier outside. If you want cuttings in the spring, I will be happy to send them.

Russ, After soaking the binge weed in warm water, I remove the solids and just leave the water. I heard the same said for willow stems. Fresh new shoots are best. I heard it was better than rooting hormone purchased. After a week, I do have to change the water due to fungus starting to take over but at that time, I have young new roots starting. Also at that time, could place in it's own moist soil covered to increase the moisture content of the air.

Thanks Stush, maybe I'll try that with the wild morning glory growing on the chain link fence. There are probably some types of willows here, my brother is an expert of Florida wildflowers so I'll ask him.

Barb, it seems that Philo 'Green' is always having a bad hair day with its unruly growth habit. But it's a cute little philo, which makes me wonder if it would qualify as the smallest philodendron. I think Pincushion is the smallest, species pusillum is second, but Green is much smaller than either. Dropping leaves indoors indicates it needs higher humidity, and mine perking up with a glass inverted over it sorta confirms it to me. I'll give you a holler if I lose the one I have but I think it'll be okay... thanks!

Russ

Willow water has long been used to promote rooting. I have made it with the young branches of a contorted Willow, and had very happy results. It definitely seemed to up my success rate. I don't recall using it for succulents, but it rooted a very stubborn hoya cutting for me, that I was about to give up on. Here is one of many links you can find regarding willow water. https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/diy-instructions/home-made-plant-rooting-hormone-willow-water/.  

Laurie,

Curious mind of a another Hoya grower, which was your stubborn rooter? Good to hear it helped.

Good link, nice clear instructions. Be worth trying sometime.

Hi Karen, is this the sort of aquarium charcoal you mean?

The instructions say it also removes some trace elements essential for plants..

Does this matter for rooting leaves? I’ve been assuming the energy/nutrients for the root growth comes from what’s stored in the leaf, not what’s in the water, and I haven’t added anything to the water. Just wanted to check before going ahead! Thanks :)

That looks like a processed chemical product. I have used 'used' carbon which looks like tiny pieces of hard coal. True while it will remove some trace elements, it holds them and can't remove all of them. Slowly releasing them over time. I haven't seen long term effects of using this as part of a potting mix.

I'm really not sure, the package from my charcoal is long-gone.

Here's what the product looks like.

I don't use a lot, a pinch really, 3-6 pieces maybe in water rooting things. Sometimes maybe a teaspoon full to 1 lb of C&S mix or so.

I doubt that it matters. Am assuming if it's safe for the fish ...

I plan on experimenting with this come spring re-potting time. Karen, looks like the stuff I'm using. My son was into fish and I have lots of used carbon. Over a 5 gallon pale.

Thank you both. Mine definately looks more processed, like an extruded pellet. I’ve put one of my leaves in with a few pieces and will see what happens :)