Does anyone direct pot cuttings in coco coir?

[Kelby]

I'm always trying to find an easier way to root. I like what I've seen with people rooting in coir, but everyone seems to using it to "pre-root" in loose coir and then transplant after roots are formed. Is anyone direct rooting into pots? I've got some 4x9 Treepots coming in soon that should fit nicely in a deep plastic tub for humidity. I've got some cuttings I really don't want to lose!

[WillsC]

Can't recall I have ever had cuttings I really did want to lose

I have tried direct potting and I am not a fan. It does work but the % is lower. I would be worried in pure coir that when you water the mix would be WAY too wet, in fact I am sure it would be. I know many just put cuttings directly in to the pro mix.

[SarinaP]

My direct-to-pot cuttings have done the best so far--I'm using Miracle Gro Sphagnum Peat Mix which is very light and fluffy. I started them in cups with either a loose sandwich bag or a cup with a hole over top as a humidity dome. I'm averaging about 4-6 weeks to visible roots depending on the freshness of the cuttings (my own rooted crazy fast).

[Jamie0507]

Sarina I was wondering what you used exactly. The rooted cutting you sent me is doing fabulous by the way! The leaves were a teeny bit pale when they first came out of the box, but they darkened up nicely and put on a few already Soon I will have to up-pot it into something bigger!

[SarinaP]

Yup, just the MG Sphagnum Peat Mix, it's a green bag. It recommends mixing it with equal parts potting soil, but you can also use it straight up. Yours has potting soil mixed in. I'm glad to see it's got new leaves!

[JoeRap]

SarinaP, I just bought a bag of this to give your method a try. I like easy !! Thanks

[Jamie0507]

Here is the one Serena sent me.. Arrived on Christmas Eve and looking very happy I think

[JoeRap]

Hi Jamie, I just saw your Plant inventory notes. Very impressive, and I liked your fig description page.

For your Long Yellow, was that a cutting that you acquired on Oct 2016? Then I see your notes said you had large fruit in 2017.

I am new to propagating. SarinaP mentions that she used MG Sphagnum Peet Mix. Do you think I can do the same with an I258 cutting, and Yellow Long neck?

I like it that I saw you had great success growing the Yellow Long. I would like to use SarinaP's method too. Thank you

[Jamie0507]

JoeRap Hi Joe! This post brought me way back in time! I had to really think about it, but I do remember that Sarina had sent me a Monticello Marseilles cutting that was pictured here. I received my long yellow cutting from Mountainfigs and I rooted it inside a box of slightly moist coir back then. Rooting in a bag of coir or peet is very similar to doing it in side of a sterilite shoe box, and I definitely have used that method very successfully more times than I can remember at this point.
Direct potting I have done in the summer with great success, but not something I did very well with over the winter, however some people swear by it! I do strongly advise against using MG products when rooting cuttings though bc they all too often have fungus gnat eggs in them. Ive never had so many fungus gnats as when I used MG the first time I tried rooting and that seems to be the consensus I have heard from others. I don’t want you to lose your I258 due to a bad medium choice.
If you need any help, pm me and I’ll be glad to give you tips 👍🏼😉

[JoeRap]

Jamie. Thanks for your tips. I just read from many others as well that say to never to use MG because of gnats. I definitely do not want them in my house, and will return them back to Home Depot.

Actually, I have 6 other cuttings as a test in solo cups using MG Sphagnum Peet moss mixed with perlite. I also have them covered in a baggie for about 3 weeks now, and they all contain moisture in it. Can gnats make an appearance when covered in a baggie using this mix?

I know it's always a gamble to root cuttings, so I will PM you for some more help when I pick up some coco coir. Thanks.

[Hershell]

root fig or die. The tough love method. Half coir and half Jungle Growth. With this much coir I hope I can use it because it seems that my partner in hoarding WillsC has backed out on his end of the deal or is just forcing me to be his storage facility. Actually that is not a bad deal on his part, I should have figured that out earlier. It will take a long time to use it any way and that is about 170 ten pound blocks. I guess I could have made it a trivia question.

[jmaler]

That's a lot of coir. I would hate to written the check for all that coir.

[Whiterk]

When your hobbies take over...

[Hershell]

That's what happens when a friend ( Wills ) says yea, go ahead and buy it. And it's really cheap compared to buying it by the block and it should be almost a lifetime supply if we store it properly and keep it dry.

[Brian M]

Kelby, I root probably half this way. My advice is to make sure a majority of the cutting is buried in the coir. Obviously make sure its squeezed out good. I will place a cup in top with a hole for humidity. Some cuttings root well this way and some just sit. I pulled 2 out of cups today that haven't done anything in over a month. I had to rehydrate them and will probably put them in moss. I like the paper towel method too and pre rooting in coir ir moss.

[Kelby]

Thanks for the input!

[drew51]

You can use the coir in potting mixes too, I myself still use peat. I like it too much. I use long fibered to root, when done the moss goes into my raised beds. This year I'm prepping a raised bed for a blueberry plant. Another reason I like moss, I need acidic material for blueberries.

[fitzski]

This winter I've been pre rooting in coco coir and then up potting with pro mix hp. I'm also following tim clymer's direct plant method using pro mix and parafilm.

Things are rooting much faster (2-3 weeks faster) with coco coir than direct plant with promix.

[jkuo]

I directly rooted most of my cuttings last year in 32 oz deli cups filled with coir. I got almost every variety rooted, but I did have some die from too much care (water), some took a long time to show roots, and a few just did nothing for long enough that I gave up on them. I had better results with smaller thinner cuttings last year than I did with thicker woodier cuttings. In hindsight, I probably should have pre-hydrated those thicker cuttings and then cupped them. This year I switched to pre-rooting in coir so I can monitor my cuttings better.

[Brian M]

Johnny I agree 100%