Trying Something New!

Last weekend a friend and I went to Dutch's Greenhouse to get a little fix of spring. We enjoyed wandering through looking at all the tiny seedlings, and just soaking in the incredible aroma of fresh growing things.

While there, I noticed some little plants getting a start, but not in the usual potting soil. I checked it closer, and it seemed to be brown styrofoam.
A clerk confirmed that it was Oasis floral styrofoam, that comes in strips of 10 with little holes to insert cuttings. He said that they use it to start cuttings of mint, angelwing begonia, coleus, and a number of other plants. You moisten the foam, insert the cuttings, and then spray it several times a day to keep it moist. It is important that it never dry, as it cannot be successfully remoistened. When you see roots coming out the bottom in a couple of weeks, you plant to new plants, foam and all. He said that they have a 90 percent success rate, as compared to 60 percent otherwise.

I bought a few of the strips to try it out. I started the first strip with cuttings of mint. It's been nearly a week now, and the cuttings look quite fresh. I'll report back later on how it works.

UPDATE: As of March 27th, 9 of the 10 cuttings of mint have grown noticeably taller. Three have lost a leaf or two, while the rest seem quite fresh. I've checked a few times, and in the last few days, nearly two thirds of the cuttings have roots coming out of their section of foam. I have given three of the cuttings to a friend to pot up. Three others I have put in small pots, and plan to pot up the rest of the cuttings tomorrow. We'll see how well they do in adapting to soil.

Next I am starting some cuttings from coleus.

UPATE #2: As of April 17, most of the mint cuttings are thriving in their starter pots. The friend who planted hers out says they are doing well.

The coleus cuttings are not doing as well as the mint, but there may be a reason. All of the coleus cuttings that are fizzling out are from one variety, while all of the others seem to be doing well. It may be something about that one variety.