Kat2

I've searched here and elsewhere to find out how long to make the sections and wasn't sure. Goal is maximum starts. The 18" piece I have has 11 rings and the same number of buds; cutting it into 11 smallish pieces seems chancy (unless it's like horseradish). Should I go with 6? One site recommends wrapping the sections in damp paper towels, placing them in a plastic bag and letting them sit in a warm spot for a couple of weeks until roots form. I like that idea since my last attempt failed when the cores rotted out. (In all fairness I was given stalks (by the same person who handled me this and believes I can work miracles) that had sat in a bucket of water for few weeks then allowed to go dry--there were dried up brown roots that were not viable.)

Has anyone successfully tried the plastic bag method? (I suppose I could cut fewer sections and then cut again if I achieved growth.) What's your tried and true way to propagate SG?

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merce3

i have never tried the bag method, but when i cut i try to keep a section intact with cuts above and below the section. like this: =]=[=. i think this prevents it from drying out. then i just stick them in a trench sideways and cover with mulch to keep the humidity in and that seems to work for me.

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Kat2

I'm going out on a limb and trying this. Edible Tropicals: How to: Propagate Sugarcane

I will cut the stalk into 3 pieces using the "=]=[=." method (when I find my saw--this one is much harder than the previous piece I was given), wrap in paper towels and stuff into a zippy to await "lift off"...er..."life on". I will report my results. If I fail, I'll go get another stalk and try the horizontal method.

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trebor

click on this picture
Plant it on a day when you should get rain the next day. plant late in after noon.

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If ya can't eat it, it ain't growing in my back yard !

I_GROWER

I successfully planted and just harvested cane from cuttings, in less than a year!


I didn't measure but I did as following:

Allow a few stalks to sit in bucket of water for a few days then planted them.

Other stalks I cut into 5-8 inches depending on the "nods" then planted those

Both method work. Planted on in the evening, watered daily took about 4 week for cane to emerge. I will find photos and update as I can..


Good luck!

I_GROWER

Here an example of the first method after I planted it..


From that 1 center cane all the rest emerged

Kat2

I'm a bit disorganized just now (house and job hunting while living minimally and tiptoeing around a very grouchy host) so I'm not sure the bucket method will work for me. I haven't yet cut the stalk so I'm thinking I'll try it 2 ways--most in a bag under the carport where it won't get too hot and 1 with a couple of sections in a pot horizontally under dirt. (They'll get watered when the mini garden gets wet; to be safe I'll stick a saucer under.) We'll see. (Why not just plant them? They're going to a different home if they root.)

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Snookie

Groovy.....

Kind of disappointed when I saw Trebors note to click on the picture for video with a topic like SUGAR Cane I thought for sure it was going to be about a stripper:{

Oh well good video anyway:}

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Mayor of Lizard Creek

kentiopsis

I got a piece of red cane right from the field of a small plantation in NE Thailand. The owner gave it to me. The sections were about 18" were planted shallowly and horizontally, so that's how the pros do it here. I can't answer your question because I haven't tried the bag method, but I have a lot of experience germinating palm seed in Ziplok bags; my suggestion is forget the paper towel and use sphagnum moss, the expensive white kind. Soak it and then squeeze it like hell to get out every drop of water you can so that it's just damp. Then arrange that uniformly around the stalk of cane, seal the bag, and keep it in a warm place until you see serious action, roots or leaves. Then lay it in a shallow trench and cover with soil, leaving just the very top of the stalk exposed. That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.

trebor

I was going to strip but then I figured the mods would be mad at me ..

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If ya can't eat it, it ain't growing in my back yard !

from the sea

I've started dozens of them i cut the cane so it has three nodes and plant it in a ditch, i have also planted them vertically in a pot with the top of the cane about 1 in below the surface

these were planted 8 months before the photo was taken.


these are 15 days old in this pic

Kat2

In Italy they lay fig branches horizontally also; you cut them apart and replant after they root. I assume you don't with SG. I don't have sphagnum moss--I do have a lot of Spanish moss....Hmmm....

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kentiopsis

Kat2,

I don't think Spanish moss would do it, but it might make a temporary substitute. If you can find peat moss, that would work. I'm sorry, but I've forgotten where you are, but there must be local alternatives. Any kind of sterile, natural, moisture-holding medium will do. The point is to imitate natural conditions—and remember, I'm speaking from my experience with palm seeds, but I don't see why this logic wouldn't extend to other plants or seeds—just imagine your seeds, or your cane lying as they, or it, naturally fell into the leaf mold below them. That's what you're trying to imitate. The advantagses. I've used paper towels when desperate or in the field, but as soon as I can get some of the commercial mosses, that's what I use. The important thing is that they imitate natural conditions, and they are sterile—no bugs, no bacteria, no viruses. Paper towels are rudimentary, get experimental, look around, ask professional growers. Please let me know how it goes.

Kat2

Well they rooted just fine in a plastic bag; wrapping them in paper towels was crucial. 9 are now in dirt with 3 more to follow. The initial cut sections were sawed off because they began molding quite quickly. Always up for an experiment (okay, I'm cheap), I tucked them into a pot; the jury's still out on one 1/2" section but the other one rooted and has a healthy green sprout! Fortunately I found it lying on the ground and stuck it back in soil because apparently the coons or armadillos smelled something sweet and dug it up. These were the fat red/maroon ones; what are they?

I helped my benefactress cut up her sticks on Sunday (which she'd let sit in water then let them dry up and they were beginning to ferment). Just for a lark, I grabbed a 2" section of a thin green variety. (What is that?) Came home, wrapped it up, put it in the bag with the others and it's begun rooting. Like me she's never had any success with testing germination on paper towels before things stink and mold so she's unconvinced you can't do sugar cane this way; I'm a believer. She's going to stick hers in water--again. Oh, well.

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