Cuttings in AP

[Josh]

Hey Y'all,

I recently got started into AP after about 2 years of research on the topic.  Right now, Im about 3 weeks into my first system which is a "shelf-ponics" system that I pirated from the people doing the Garden Pool.

 

I seem to be have really good results (so far) with cuttings from various plants from my dirt garden (which struggles here in the Florida Keys.  The herbs seem to be taking root exceptionally fast.

 

Does anyone else work with cuttings?  How do they compare to direct seeding in AP?

 

Thanks and great site!

 

Josh

[Chandara Khan]

Great to hear that! Well, recently i'm doing cutting with some types of AP plants as well such as sweet basil and other types of mints. In comparison, direct seedling takes longer time for a new sprout to appear on earth yet the seedling is strong.  On the other hand, cutting seedling grows faster.

[Josh]

Thanks for the reply.  

 

I guess I should have asked how a mature plant started as a seed fares in comparison to a mature plant started as a cutting.  In my experience, cloned plants are generally smaller than the "mother" plant at maturity when done in conventional gardening.  Does this apply to AP as well?  How do the two compare in terms of harvest?

 

Im currently working with sweet basil, oregano, cilantro (not taken root yet), opal basil, tomatoes and several pepper varieties.  I have direct seeded parsley (which germinated in about 4 days vs. 3 weeks in dirt!) and scallions, also.

 

The bed is not nearly deep enough I imagine to support the pepper and tomatoe cuttings long term, but Im just playing around with them for the moment.

 

 

 

 

 

[TCLynx]

As an aquaponics system matures, especially with some worms living in it, it seems to be a great way to root cuttings.  I've done this by accident even when I stuck a crepe myrtle stick into a bed to help support another plant and the crepe myrtle stick rooted (it was just something I had lopped off the tree cause it kept knocking my hat off.)

 

Anyway, we root bamboo using AP and it works very well, far better % of successful rooted cuttings from the AP than from dirt rooting for bamboo.

 

Tomatoes and basil root well in AP of course.