By Jana Strathmann

•      Gel2Root Dispenser Bottle
•      1 ounce solo cups
•      Razor blade or Xacto knife (scissors & kitchen knives crush the cells)
•      Sticky Tack
•      Household Bleach
•      AV leaves
•      Tray with dome or cover (I found ‘Hefty EZ Foil’ pans at Wal-Mart w/ nice clear domes in assorted sizes)
•      Paper towels
•      Paper plates (or other surface to trim petioles on)
•      Kitchen timer (optional but helpful)
•      Waterproof marker
•      Large cup or tub (for holding bottle of gel inverted)

   1.   Rehydrate:  If your leaves arrived my mail you may need to rehydrate them. Place each leaf into separate labeled cups or tubs and cover with tepid water. I use 1 quart of water with 1 tablespoon of sugar & 5 drops of SUPERthrive.  Leave them in this solution up to 8 hours if necessary to regain firmness.
   2.   Disinfest/Disinfect:  Prepare a 10% bleach solution by mixing 2 ¼ cups tepid water and ¼ cup of household bleach.  Place each leaf into bleach solution for 3 minutes. I find that my electronic kitchen timer is very helpful with timing.  Remove from bleach water & rinse well in plain tepid water.
   3.  Trim Petiole & Leaf:  Using a Xacto knife or single edge razor blade trim petiole at a 45-degree angle about 1 to 1 ½ inches from the leaf. Also remove the upper ½ of the leaf to stimulate root production & inhibit growth of the mother leaf (there is some disagreement among growers whether this helps or not. Use your own judgment or experiment  yourself). Use a protected surface such as a clean plastic cutting board or paper plate for cutting.    4.   Dry:  Place trimmed leaf on folded paper towels and write the AV name on the paper towel next to the leaf. Leave the leaf on the paper towel until the leaf & cut edge are dry, about 15 to 30 minutes. Air dry only – DO NOT pat dry since this could damage the leaf or petiole. Leaf & petiole must be dry to prevent a layer of water from collecting around the petiole instead of gel contact. Label 1 ounce solo cups with corresponding AV name & date.

   5.   Dispense Gel2Root: Shake bottle very well. Invert bottle & tap contents down. Fill 1 ounce solo cup approximately  ¾ full.    6.   Insert Leaf:  Insert petiole into gel and swirl gently (as if stirring) to remove any air pockets and ensure complete contact with the gel. Take care to keep gel off of the leaf, since this seems to cause the leaf to rot. In general, I only place 1 leaf in each cup but when starting mini’s 2 or 3 leaves do fit nicely. If you do place 2 leaves in a cup & one   should rot, remove the leaf & scoop out all discolored gel PLUS about ¼ inch of gel around the area that looks clear  – to remove all traces of rot. Then add more gel to the cup to replace the removed gel.    7. Affix to tray: Place a small ball of ‘Sticky Tack’ to bottom of solo cup & affix to tray. This step is necessary to keep the cups from sliding around & tipping over into the water thus diluting the gel. ‘Sticky Tack’ is the stuff teachers use to put papers on the wall.

   8. Place Tray:  Place the tray wherever you will keep it – under lights or in a bright location, and then add plain water to the tray until it is about ¼ to ½ inch deep. The humidity created prevents the gel from evaporating.
   9. Cover:  Place cover securely on your tray.

Whenever using the gel, you must have water in the bottom of the container that holds the cup and a dome or cover of some kind (Press‘n Seal?) to prevent evaporation. Condensation will form on the inside. This is expected & normal.  Remember to wash your hands after use & do not eat or smoke while handling the gel. It should not be taken internally.

I purchased my gel from Charley’s Greenhouse:
http://www.charleysgreenhouse.com/catalog/index.cfm?page=_ProductDetails&ProductId=8145
The website for Gel2Root is:
http://www.gel2root.com/
The cost for the gel from Charley’s is $9.95 plus shipping.

NOTE: The instructions that come with the gel & on the website say to use 4 ounces of gel for each cutting. This is
unnecessary & very wasteful – but it would greatly add to the sales of this product!

Feel free to copy, post, print or share this information with whomever you wish but please list me as the source. I do not  receive any compensation for any of this information. I did find another US supplier for the gel that charges more but have  since lost the link.  As with any changes you make, ONLY try this with a few of your leaves until you are certain that  it works for you in your growing conditions.

Happy AVing!
Jana Strathmann
(AKA Jana in Indiana)

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copyright  2005 Jana Strathmann
Please contact author if you wish to use this information.  Thank you.