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Attempting to root a broken branch aeroponics

shaggs2riches

shaggs2riches

Almost two weeks ago I accidentally broke a large branch off a scotch bonnet plant. I was inspired from Peter Stanley's low pressure aeroponics system, so I figured I would give a try at rooting in a similar method. I cut a hole in the center of a 5 gallon pail lid and mounted a small tomato cage to it for support. From Home Depot, I bought a small pond pump and modified the spray attachment to make it quite short. I filled my pail 1/3 full of water and added a liquid root booster fertilizer. The root fertilizer had mention of root hormones and directions for hydroponics. I cut the branch at a 45 degree angle, close to what looked like a node (bump that looked like a branch or leaves could grow from it). The pond pump is sitting in the bottom of the pail and I added an 80 gallon aquarium airstone to it.
 
 Right now the branch is hanging in the pail out of the water being sprayed constantly with the pump. I removed all of the flowers, buds and large leaves, and have the entire setup off to the side of a t-5 light fixture. The lights are on 16-18 hours a day, and are turned off when I go to bed. The remaining leaves look alive and healthy, but I am not sure how often to add nutrients and if and when roots will start to grow. If roots do grow I will plant it in dirt to continue growing over the winter. When I have a chance, I will post a quick video of it. This is a totally new avenue for me. I don't even know if this will work, but I am totally excited to be trying this.
 
Interested to follow. Is the branch woody rather than green? If so, I think the chances it takes are slim. But best of luck either way, and would love to see some pics when you get a chance.

Depending on how long it's been in there I would also recommend a V cut to maximize surface area (think of it like a sharpened pencil). But I wouldn't cut it more if it seems to be doing anything positive or it's been a couple of days.
 
The branch was basically still green on the outside and was thicker than a sharpie marker, maybe a tad bit woody on the inside. It has been 10 days now, so not quite two weeks. Nothing looks to be happening to it inside the pail. I figured maybe it would be a while with a larger branch. I just learned of a hydro shop in town, and was thinking of asking them if they had any hydro nutrients that would work better to help the process. I figure I would give it a good month and if nothing, then it wouldn't do anything.
 
Yeah get some pics going. I haven't cloned (essentially what you are doing; taking a cutting and rooting it, it will have identical genetic material to the parent plant) anything larger than a 5" green shoot.
 
Ideally you would see new roots in a week. Maybe as soon as 4 days. I would change the nutrients every 7 days at this stage. Not worried so much about the plant depleting nutrients as i am about breakdown of nutrients. The air stone i think breaks down the mixture quicker (thats just my opinion though)
 
Whatever you do, if the top portion continues to look like it's not dying you should continue the process. I think roots will eventually have to grow as long as the plant stays healthy
 
 
Easy deal. I had to make my plants smaller to fit in my winter shelter last year. I trimmed off branches that wouldn't fit. Some had pods in various stages of ripening. I didn't want to waste them or eat them before ripening so I stuck those branches in a plastic pitcher and put it on a south facing windowsill in the kitchen. The pods ripened and I ate them. The branches kept growing leaves and flowering and made more tiny pods. I ate those too. I changed the water once in a while and the sticks eventually grew roots. In the spring, I planted them in pots. Now I have four nice big clones that have been giving me more peppers since July.
 
DWB said:
Easy deal. I had to make my plants smaller to fit in my winter shelter last year. I trimmed off branches that wouldn't fit. Some had pods in various stages of ripening. I didn't want to waste them or eat them before ripening so I stuck those branches in a plastic pitcher and put it on a south facing windowsill in the kitchen. The pods ripened and I ate them. The branches kept growing leaves and flowering and made more tiny pods. I ate those too. I changed the water once in a while and the sticks eventually grew roots. In the spring, I planted them in pots. Now I have four nice big clones that have been giving me more peppers since July.
Click to expand...
 

Do you recall how long it stayed in the pitcher before it started growing roots?
 
I totally was going to take pictures and post them this weekend. The plant stem was turning black, but up to the top where the branch "wye'd" there were a few stringy pieces that seemed to be roots. I decided to put it in a bucket of soil and see what would happen. To my dismay this morning, when I went to turn on the lights, waiting for me was a plant completely destroyed. Our kittens made their way into my grow stand and had a great time murdering my project. Guess it was a good way to find out that they won't play nice with my plants. I'm going to have to completely close it in before I can start next years seeds. After a bit of cursing and threatening to toss the cats to the curb, I am over it now, but man was that not a good way to wake up for the day.
 
Ouch, sorry to hear that Shaggs.
 
Like you said, at least now you know your kittens will make short work of pepper plants. I think the heart break from suddenly finding several dozen seedlings ripped up would be a much tougher pill to swallow.
 
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