The RainForest 36 is ideal for small projects in limited space. A submerged pump circulates and aerates the nutrient solution. This System's size is 12" circular. This system includes: 4 Gallon Reservoir with Lid Rio 600 pump assembly 3" Plastic Cups CocoTek Liners and Caps 3-Part Flora Kit

How are your propagation skills? I have a tremendous tip for all you hardcore PGS blog readers! ( All four hundred and twenty of you ) Taking cuttings and propagating your plants asexually is the most efficient and prosperous way to keep your garden going indefinitely. There are so many ways to take cuttings successfully. I have tried, rockwool cubes, Rapid Rooter Plugs, Oasis Cubes, soil, coco, perlite blends, Light Warrior, Rainforest Aeroponics (all models), Homemade Aeroponic/Hydroponic hydrids, in a cup of water,  a bucket of water with an air stone, capsulized mycelium, compost, bocashy, Ezcloner, Turbo Clone. You name it and I have probably tried it. I know what your thinking, have I ever tried to nestle a cutting into a piece of rock next to a waterfall, right? Actually I have, I used to live in Maui for ten years, and happen to have a waterfall handy I watched the mineralized water splash onto the cuttings and root them right into the rock under the waterfall. Well all of this is leading into today’s blog post. Basically folks, all of these techniques do the job. You can get bright white centipede looking healthy roots from any of the above mentioned techniques. The question to ask yourself, is how long does it take to get your cuttings to root. Aeroponic cloners will clone cuttings faster then cubes in general. The only issue is, if your machine stops spraying oxygenated water onto the plants, they can die right on the spot. The upside is, you can have rooted plants in a very quick time. In all my years, the fastest I have ever seen a plant root is three days, and it was in a Rainforest 36. I was truly astounded to see burly white roots pouring out of some cuttings I placed into the unit only THREE DAYS earlier under a 600 watt HPS. I had never tried to root under an HPS before and I don’t necessarily recommend it to everyone but these plants were extremely healthy and I have never seen that again. Anyway, glancing through Hydrofarms catalog today, I saw this incredibly old school machine dieing for a comeback. Make no mistake, this little aeroponic machine and its bigger cousin the Rainforest 66 will outperform ANY other clone machine.

Aloha Friday gardeners! Taking cuttings is such an important part of our success that I feel we can’t have enough information here at the definitive growers blog on the subject! Here is a video from Penn State explaining how they take cuttings and propagate them. It’s so interesting to see how many different successful ways there are to take cuttings. I Hope you all have a fantastic weekend. Spend some time in your garden this weekend and give it some love for me.

Happy Aloha Friday growers! It’s been a product filled week here on the blog, I thought we would dim the lights in the room and watch a fun video. This video is a time lapse recording of cuttings rooting in water over a course of 5 days. When I saw this video, it reminded me of the magical wonder of asexual reproduction and how incredible it really is. When you really think about it, one humble plant can be turned into not just a million plants, but an infinite amount of perfect clones, that when applied to food production, could feed the entire world an infinite amount of times. What a truly remarkable metamorphosis plants can make!

Happy Aloha friday gang! Lets get into some hardcore science today. Today’s topic is Micro-Propagation / Plant Tissue Culture.

If you have ever wondered what kind of plant science you would be doing if you were in a university program for Horticulture, BAM, this is it. I recently discovered this technique because we had a plant tissue kit that was begging for someone to use it. My curiosity got the best of me and later that night I found myself deep in the throws of a full on academic endeavor. All I can say is, after 20 years of taking cuttings, our community now needs this level of precision, technology, and science. I am so excited about this knowledge and I look forward to sharing it with you guys now.

What is Micropropagation?
Micropropagation is a way to clone plants axenically (sterile). Terminal buds collected from branches of mature plants are surface sterilized and placed in test tubes containing a specific nutrient medium. The different media we are experimenting with usually contain a carbon source, vitamins, plant hormones and antibiotics. Plantlets grown from buds of the same plant, barring mutation, will be clones (i.e., genetic replicates) of the plant from which they were cut. Once we are able to maintain rapidly multiplying plant stocks in the lab, we can use them as a source for additional micropropagation or subculturing. Subculturing involves dividing sterile plantlets into smaller segments and growing plants from these pieces. This is how we grow Widgeon-grass (Ruppia maritima) in the lab, and we are in the process of developing this technique for Shoal-grass (Halodule wrightii). Widgeon-grass is the easiest seagrass to micropropagate; other species, such as Shoal-grass (Halodule), Manatee-grass (Syringodium filiforme) and Turtle-grass (Thalassia testudinum), are increasingly difficult. We are focusing on one species at a time.

Why Use Micropropagation?
Compared to standard nursery techniques, micropropagation has the potential to produce more plants in less time. Fewer stock plants are needed because an explant can supply a great amount of material from which clonal material can be subcultured. Also, not having to rely on seeds and other propagation methods ensures greater uniformity in plants produced. Clones can be screened for different attributes and used for specific applications, or genetic variability can be assured by mixing different clonal strains in restoration projects. Another advantage to micropropagation is the contamination-free condition of the plants produced and the ability to produce microbially fit stocks that resist pathogens.

We have plant tissue kits available, give us a call 1-866-PGS-GROW

One of the things people come in and ask us the most about is propagation. “How do I root cuttings?” or “What grow medium do you recommend for seedlings and cuttings?” There are several options. The most preferred method for long time, experienced growers is to use Oasis Root Cubes. I personally have used them for over 15 years and have enjoyed a 97-99 percent success rate the entire time. What I really like the most about this product, is that you don’t need to go through any pre soaking like you do for rockwool cubes. Right out of the box, into a tray, wet with water, take your cuttings, and 5-10 days later, you will have roots. Of course there are several rooting agents available to help facilitate the cloning process. We will have a more detailed blog post at a later date, with step by step instructions on how to take cuttings with Oasis cubes.

OASIS® Root Cubes are rigid, open-celled, water-absorbing foams, specifically designed for optimal callus and rapid root formation. Outstanding performance is due, in part, to the unique cell structure, which closely resembles the cellular structure of the plant itself. The composition of the foam anchors the plant and provides capillary action for feeding water to inserted cuttings. These mediums offer the propagator many advantages.

Oasis Growing Media is a low density, high drainage foam with characteristics specifically developed for hydroponics seed germination and vegetative propagation of vegetables, herbs, flowers and foliage crops. These characteristics allow for an optimal balance of oxygen and water, even when saturated with water.

Oasis Rootcubes® Growing Medium offers an excellent starting environment for plant cuttings. Rootcubes® are sold in sheets that fit into industry standard 1020 trays. The engineered balance of air and water ratio makes Rootcubes® an especially good, economical propagation medium for a wide variety of plants and woody ornamental’s.

The innovative formula of this medium eliminates the necessity of leaching before use and assures proper drainage and water holding to achieve optimum air/water balance.

We have tons of Oasis in stock at all of our stores and online soon. 1-866-PGS-GROW