Process of Rooting Mitragyna Part 1
Part 2 will include much more pictures, thorough description, and hopefully a video of me processing a large number of cuttings. All the plants pictured will be moved to allow for further Mitragyna experiments... My process was as follows: Cuttings were removed from peat pods. There was a small amount of black on the cut end, so I decided to recut the ends. I heated a scalpel to red hot with a jet lighter and cut a diagonal end. Using the scalpel, i scraped 20-60% of the circumference of the cut end up to 1-1.5cm. I wet the cutting end with a small spray bottle, then dipped and rolled the cutting end in rooting powder hormone 0.1% IBA. The coating was dense and essentially entirely white, no exposed green. I wet the powder with another small spritz, then the cutting was replaced into the peat pod with some perlite. The picture of the roots below is approximately 10 days after scrape+hormone application in the humidity box. Cut ~10 July, Recut+hormone 13 July, rooted as picture 23 July ![83112221-961D-455B-A1B5-6E104EDF0495.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/iQ6pbl7.jpg) ![FBF71E2E-B9EC-4D9F-A293-36711BA7636C.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/4Sbk00B.jpg) ![3F6591B5-D077-4125-B35B-F022BA01549C.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/VixjYf6.jpg) ![6D889B1D-9519-4B34-B3C4-9D7E1D0302CF.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/rJHGnSw.jpg) ![3DDC6AEE-F918-4E37-9488-BA2D7872E3F3.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/UnCtj0D.jpg) ![135D56AE-2C1B-444F-BCB2-0CDE616FC895.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/XRQLlH7.jpg) ![5CAB54D6-8621-4340-B8BA-389122FF39A9.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/8w4XvoY.jpg)
last edited by SubstanceTheSqid
Planning on transferring them to soil today or within the next few days. I’ve been told that you can transfer to soil when roots reach 1-2in or more. Probably a good rule of thumb.
Did I understand correctly that you scrape the bottom inch or so of the cutting all the way around it? Is that to remove the outer layer completely
last edited by roadkill
I actually did not remove the outer layer completely all the way around. About 10-20% left intact, 20% shallow surface scrap, 20% moderate scrape, and a small percentage was deep scraped. I tried varying depths of scraping around the cut end so i could have more success if one depth was better than others. I did not know what depth was best, but i knew that raw tissue would absorb the wet hormone powder and likely be more effective overall. I am happy with how it turned out, and i will be documenting a couple experiments with rooting and scraping style to see if it makes a difference this week. I would even suggest only scraping 0.5-1.5cm of the cutting’s end. I ended up scraping over 1inch, almost two inches. The tissue of the cutting looked mutated, frankly, I probably could have scraped less, use less powder hormone, and utilized the cutting’s energy into a smaller number of larger roots. My process could have been more efficient, but for my first three clones, i am satisfied.
last edited by SubstanceTheSqid
Holly shit you have roots already?!! Great job! Love all this documentation as well. Really well done.
I know right?! They arrived on the 13th, its the 23rd today, some of the longer roots are about 1in or 1.5in long. I think all three of them will survive and be able to go in soil soon! Something unique I noticed: the root shoots have partial red coloring, like red veins sometimes: ![82F81046-B701-4691-BEBC-0B316D499E05.png](https://i.imgur.com/shsqTAn.png)
last edited by SubstanceTheSqid
What sort of lighting conditions?? Amazingly quick rooting time too. One of the quickest I know of!
Currently sitting 21” from an HLG 65 V2 4000k light. For a few days, i think the light was at approximately 14-16”, but it was moved up because of drying issues with other plants in the grow tent. Spray misted tap water 1-3x per day. The humidity box is 2 dollar store shoeboxes inverted with about 1in of perlite. The peat pods were placed in smaller plastic dishes with more perlite, as pictured. I suspect it has something to do with the light intensity (67W actual draw) and light colour. Apparently blue light is better for vegetative growth, and the 4000k light leans a little more blue, 3000k is a little more red. 5000k lights and 7000k aquarium lights may be well suited to cutting and seedling growth. Edit: Working on organizing the grow space and planning the actual arrangement of plants, as well as naming conventions and grow logging. Going to have a large number of plants in a very small grow space. A1 - MToL, 4 nodes +1 emerging, in a 1gal pot B1, B2, B3 - KLUS, 2 node+1 emerging each, rooting C01-10, C11-20, C21-30, C31-40, C41-50, C51-60, C61-70, C71-80, C81-90 - CSGA, unknown sizes, to be rooted D1, D2, D3 - CSGA, unknown surprise established rooted plants. My tent is 24x24in. 144” square area. Have 1.5” rockwool starter sheets, about 9.75in square. The shoeboxes i have are nearly 12in long, and ~7inches at the top open width, and 5-5.5in at the bottom. The sides are angled, its like a trapezoid prism? So i thought i could cut and slide a sheet section, that would sit on the walls of the shoebox. Theoretically a sheet could be cut at 7-7.5in and would allow for 5x7=35 plants. While 35 per shoebox is good for numbers, (i can fit 3 shoeboxes comfortably in tent=105 plant total) it is a loss for canopy space. I am concerned with overcrowding. So, more comfy, would 3x7 or 4x7, 21-28 plants per tote. 4x7 is a little crowded but nearly 30 per tote which is just enough. 21 per would be 63 cuttings, so 27 would need to find another home in a humidity box outside, or i’d need to set up some more lights. Not optimal but it will work. I may need to dig up some aquarium lights and plastic cups for perlite. I have coconut coir that may be useful for rooting, but i had good luck with MiracleGro perlite and the peat pod. This round will be testing rockwool and plain perlite. Perhaps in the future or as a seedling substrate? When rooted, my tent can hold 36 plastic cups that are 4 inch in diameter. I will need to figure out another space to grow in, either in the limited outdoor space and add lighting/tent/something, or by buying another tent and light... can’t justify the expense at the moment, this hobby is starting to cost a small fortune lol. Im hoping the summer will be a bit more moderate, and survivable for a little while longer. I will post part 2 late today, it may require significant amounts of editing and uploading.
last edited by SubstanceTheSqid