I finally tried rooting in DE

TorontoJoe

TorontoJoe

Administrator
I have mixed feelings. I've been wanting to try this for ages. A friend send me some cuttings of varieties I've been wanting to try. My initial thoughts

It's kind of messy - I sifted it outside to get as much dust as I could off of it but when I soaked it to get it hydrated, it turned into a real sludge. I ran water over it several times.

It's heavy - It holds a lot of water... I know this is the idea but I'm trying to imagine how the roots wont shear off when I attempt to pot this up. I'm going to need a plan for that.

It really dries out the skin - I'm really wishing I'd worn gloves. My hands feel like I've been working with concrete.

Normally I like burying my cuttings to just below the soil line, but all my deeper pots are buried outside and all I could get my hands on were these 24 oz cups so I wrapped the tops in parafilm

Fingers crossed

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Oops, I just sent you a few DTE cuttings. lol
Just pitch them...looks like you have enough.
That's what you get for not asking someone if they have it yet. :ROFLMAO:
 
Is that straight DE? It looks like concrete.
Not the larger type that most seem to use for rooting.
I bought a bag of it and was not very successful rooting with it.
I now mix it with my veggie potting mix,
 
Lol....good lord, my daughter is telling me a story the same time I'm reading the post and somehow I thought that said you were rooting DTE but its DE... :ROFLMAO:

I'm old and can only focus so much, gah.

Ok, I'm sending you some DTE, don't throw them away. :p
 
GoodFriendMike said:
Is that straight DE? It looks like concrete.
Not the larger type that most seem to use for rooting.
I bought a bag of it and was not very successful rooting with it.
I now mix it with my veggie potting mix,
Click to expand...

Yeah... straight DE. Optisorb. And sifted for the larger bits too.

Now you have me wondering if I should swap them for my old faithful pops...hmmmm. I hate doubting myself :cautious:
 
ktrain said:
Lol....good lord, my daughter is telling me a story the same time I'm reading the post and somehow I thought that said you were rooting DTE but its DE... :ROFLMAO:

I'm old and can only focus so much, gah.

Ok, I'm sending you some DTE, don't throw them away. :p
Click to expand...

Well... I have killed DTE in the past.... :)
 
Mine looks like this. Something is wrong with yours.

Edit: I did have to rinse it a lot because I have OCD tendencies. But it will never get perfectly clear. What I did was fill a 5 gallon bucket halfway with DE, and kept pouring water, shaking around the solution with my hand, and then dumping the murky water. I did this like 10 times and then I used it. I do share the same concern about shearing roots when up potting. It's my first time trying this. I think I remember Gina saying not to let it root too much? But I don't remember tbh.
 

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TorontoJoe said:
I have mixed feelings. I've been wanting to try this for ages. A friend send me some cuttings of varieties I've been wanting to try. My initial thoughts

It's kind of messy - I sifted it outside to get as much dust as I could off of it but when I soaked it to get it hydrated, it turned into a real sludge. I ran water over it several times.

It's heavy - It holds a lot of water... I know this is the idea but I'm trying to imagine how the roots wont shear off when I attempt to pot this up. I'm going to need a plan for that.

It really dries out the skin - I'm really wishing I'd worn gloves. My hands feel like I've been working with concrete.

Normally I like burying my cuttings to just below the soil line, but all my deeper pots are buried outside and all I could get my hands on were these 24 oz cups so I wrapped the tops in parafilm

Fingers crossed

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Click to expand...
I think I remember on OF Gina mentioned she uses DE to root cuttings.
 
GAfigs said:
Mine looks like this. Something is wrong with yours.

Edit: I did have to rinse it a lot because I have OCD tendencies. But it will never get perfectly clear. What I did was fill a 5 gallon bucket halfway with DE, and kept pouring water, shaking around the solution with my hand, and then dumping the murky water. I did this like 10 times and then I used it. I do share the same concern about shearing roots when up potting. It's my first time trying this. I think I remember Gina saying not to let it root too much? But I don't remember tbh.
Click to expand...
Are these wet?

Is this of a particular brand you recall?
 
I had the same experience as @TorontoJoe in terms of too much dust when I tried rooting in Optisorb. I spent over two hours rinsing outside (didn’t want this stuff clogging my sinks). It seemed like 1/3 of the product washed away. I was concerned about sifting it while dry because the dust isn’t good for you. I wondered if my bag was extra dusty because I bought online and may have been tossed around a lot in transit.

My end results weren’t as good as the bagged treepot so I didn’t repeat the experiment.
 
I did rinse it a lot like I said. What I do is fill a quarter to half of a 5 gallon bucket with the DE and add water and stick my hand in to spin it around and mix it up so that all the dirt and smaller particles become suspended and then I slowly pour out the water leaving the DE behind. I do this like 10 times. It never really becomes clean it seems to be infinitely dirty but at least you get a significant amount of the smaller particles out.

However, yours appears dark like it has some type of sludge or mud.
 
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