# Columnea propagation



## patm (Mar 21, 2004)

I was hoping some of you plant people could help me out and decipher some info for me. I've had a nice columnea 'early bird' growing in a hanging pot in my window for about 6 months, and it's grown great, filled out and has some nice, long hanging vines. I was hoping to take some cuttings to grow in a grow out tank to possibly use in some vivs down the road.

My question is, how do i go about this? All over the internet it says a cutting can be taken from a vine without flowers, but how long of a cutting should I take? Does it matter where I cut it? And after the cut, what do I do/put it in to get it to send out roots?

Thanks in advance!

-Pat


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## Spaff (Jan 8, 2011)

I've propagated Columnea microphylla by just cutting a small portion of stem that already has some small roots. My cuttings have always been no more than 6-8" long.


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## patm (Mar 21, 2004)

Spaff said:


> I've propagated Columnea microphylla by just cutting a small portion of stem that already has some small roots. My cuttings have always been no more than 6-8" long.


Thanks Spaff, but I think one of the issues is, this plant hasn't been grown in humid/wet conditions, and I really don't see much as far as aerial roots from what's hanging out of the pot.

Also, what I read said don't take flowering vines. Can I take my cuttings from vines that have already flowered, then dropped the flowers?

-Pat


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## therizman2 (Jul 20, 2008)

You can easily take cutting, and roots will grow from each node where the leaves are. So if you can take one and leave a piece of stem on it between the leaf nodes so that you have something to stick into a media in which to root it, that would be best. You can also just lay the entire cutting on moist media and as long as you keep it held in place, it will root.

Yes, you can root one that has finished flowering. You dont want to root it when it is in flower because it will send all of the plants nutrients to the flower instead of the root.

Rooting hormone also would not hurt it. And as far as media, I have had the best of luck using specialized rooting medias, though normal potting media or sphagnum have also worked for me.


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## Spaff (Jan 8, 2011)

You should be able to dig around the pot and find some pieces with aerial roots that are in contact with the soil. 

Mine's never bloomed, so I don't know the answer to that, but mine has in the past, made side shoots off the main piece that I cut.


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## patm (Mar 21, 2004)

Great, thanks Mike and Spaff, exactly what I was looking for! I'll take a couple 6" or so cuttings and try it out, since there's plenty to spare.

I appreciate the help,

Pat


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## littlefrog (Sep 13, 2005)

Generally with cuttings larger is not better. So, two inches, maybe three, seems to root up best. Every leaf and bit of green tissue on that cutting needs water support, and you aren't getting much through the stem of a cutting without roots. So, it seems weird, but long cuttings don't gain you anything, and can actually hurt your chances.

Columneas (all that I've tried) are pretty easy...


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## patm (Mar 21, 2004)

littlefrog said:


> Generally with cuttings larger is not better. So, two inches, maybe three, seems to root up best. Every leaf and bit of green tissue on that cutting needs water support, and you aren't getting much through the stem of a cutting without roots. So, it seems weird, but long cuttings don't gain you anything, and can actually hurt your chances.
> 
> Columneas (all that I've tried) are pretty easy...


Thanks Rob, you're right, I wouldn't have seen it that way. I cut three pieces, about 4-5", but I'll snip another couple about half that size and see what happens.

Thanks again,

Pat


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

I'm on the same boat with Rob. What I do differently is I do it by node not inches. Most vine type Columnea start off well with 1-2 node cuttings with the oldest node going into the soil and the new one exposed. 

If it's a species with particularly large foliage, you can trim the foliage to reduce moisture loss.


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