Expert: Darlene K. Kittle - 8/30/2009

Question
Hello, Darlene.....I live in a country which has no sphagum, and I need to cut back my diffenbacchia as it's almost 6 feet tall! Is there a good substitute that I can use in air-layering my plant? I'd hate to lose this beauty by having it topple over or from bungling the air-layering process.

Thanks for any help you can give!!


Regards,   Carol

Answer
Carol,

My guess would be to try half soil and half shredded paper. The paper will act as a binding agent to hold it all together. If you have axcess to a mild fertilizer such as fish emulsion or a mild manure tea made from aged manure it would be good to use that to water it with after the first week. You do need to open the top of the air layer regularly and add water or fertilizer water to keep it moist. Good luck!

Darlene

Carol,

I have been thinking about this all day and the only ideas I can come up with that you could use quickly would be a mix of shredded paper and potting soil. You could use compost but you would have to make that and that would take time. The shredded paper mixed in with the soil would give it the texture of the spaghnum peat moss and the soil would give the cutting something to root into. Give it a try and let me know how it goes. It should root within for weeks. Good luck.

Darlene