Need help with propagating NG impatiens...read inside

 Can someone give me some pointers on how to take cuttings of new guinea
impatiens?

I need some pointers like how large the cuttings should be (1-5"?), rooting
media to use (perlite, water?), etc...

Thanks very much.

 
 new guinea impatiens?

Try 4"; strip all leaves from bottom 3", set in plain sand, use mist.

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 I buy a seed flat with a dome and use vermiculite. Also use Dip-n-gro as a
rooting agent. The most common problem I get is mold. Keep out of direct
sun. Misting might help with the mold.

Sometimes I will also cut the bottom off of a 2 liter Soda bottle and use it
as a greenhouse. It friction fits nicely into a 5 inch pot.

My question is why have the varigated varieties disappeared. THis is the 5th
year in a row that I have been unable to buy a variagated NG impatiens (NW
burbs of Chicago)

 
Wild guess: the newer cultivars bloom earlier, making them cheaper to produce.
And they just happen not to have variegated leaves.  Or your area growers
weren't finding the market for the older forms.

A possible physiological reason for that: when a leaf has less chlorophyll,
it can't produce as much photosynthate as a similar one loaded with
chlorophyll,given conditions for maximum photosynthesis.  So plants
with leaves that are variegated because some cells are missing chlorophyll
tend to be slower growers than similar green-leaved plants, or similar
plants that are variegated because there's another pigment + a full amount
of chlorophyll (e.g. red leaved plants are usually full chlorophyll +
anthocyanin.)

Kay

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