Propagation under mist

Plant physiologists have discovered that a mistlike fog of water keeps tender softwood cuttings (cuttings from new growth) in such excellent shape they “just have to root!” Under these conditions of either constant or intermittent mist the cuttings don’t wilt and there is a minimum of trouble from fungus and rot.

There is a mist unit on the market that has been adapted from a larger commercial mist-maker system. It’s called the Mistic Bubble and is an excellent greenhouse space stretcher. This is a system for rooting soft cuttings outdoors, in sand under plastic with the use of electronically controlled mist. Harvey M. Templeton, Jr., Winchester, Tennessee, is the inventor of the system and the control known as the Electronic Leaf. With this portable system the plants get water automatically, as they need it, until rooting takes place. Then the temporary greenhouse cover is gradually removed and the plants are thus hardened to growing outside in the full sunlight.

The hemispherical shape of the Mistic Bubble is designed to let in light evenly all around as long as the sun hits the cover. The plastic covering has a pigment cast into it to protect the cuttings from excessive summer heat. The low capacity mist nozzle, using 1 gallons of water per hour, keeps the leaves of the cuttings wet at all times, promoting very rapid rooting.

The Mistic Bubble is 4 feet in diameter and has 12 square feet of planting space it will hold 1000 cuttings at a time. After they root the cuttings can be sold or planted out to grow to maturity. In the South, the Bubble can be used throughout the year. We are installing one of these units to use for propagation of herbaceous plants and conifer cuttings, which we will plant out as a basis of a profit-making nursery. We’ll start by lining out several hundred daylilies and iris plus a few rows of evergreens. Later we may include chrysanthemums (these too can be rooted in the Mistic Bubble), and a few Azalea mollis, the hardy species, which several dealers now carry and which can stand our hard Minnesota winters.

I have described this system not only because I’ve had experience with it but also because its basic principles apply generally to mist propagation in the greenhouse as well as in a purchased or homemade propagating case. Fog nozzles for water lines are available for those who wish to make their own setups. Complete mist propagation kits are on the market too.

Tags: home greenhouse

Kindly consider linking to this article by just copying and pasting the code below on your website/blog ( press Ctrl+C to copy the entire code). The text link will look on your website like this: Propagation under mist

<a href="http://www.home-greenhouse-profits.com/propagation-under-mist.html">Propagation under mist</a>