Mike Haych

So all things are not equal. Due to health reasons, I will not be offering comfrey this year.  Perhaps next year ..................

After about 10 days. So far 6 of 12 have roots like this or are just emerging.

Album

1) If you are doing extended blue-water sailing, you have to sail since you can't refuel.  You'll do a fair bit of tacking but that doesn't really matter.  If you are doing short-jumps where you have to make an anchorage or marina, you will do a lot of motoring or motor-sailing. You cannot afford to tack since you won't arrive in daylight. You cannot afford to be on the move in the dark.  Everything is different at night, even if you know the anchorage.  Marine fuel is expensive because, after all, if you have a boat, you must be rich and able to afford it.

2) Keep your boat as simple as possible.  Boats are sentient - they know when you are in a location where parts aren't easy to come by and that's when things break.  Think DC not AC.  Wind generators are generally useless since there are many days when the wind doesn't blow but solar panels generate lots of power. Do not hard mount them since at anchor you will swing to the wind and/or tide which may not have the panel directed at the sun.  To get the most out of a panel, it needs to follow the sun.  If you plan to do long blue water passages, you need a single side band radio to get NOAA weather. Think about a registered EPIRB.  You definitely need a good VHF with an antenna at the top of the mast.  You need to be able to talk to other boaters and, if needed, the Coast Guard.  Think about no refrigeration. It's expensive and a real energy hog. And it like to break a LOT.

3) Blue water = heavy boat with deep keel unless you have a non-existent fear gene

4) Coastal cruising, island cruising = shallow draft. Think catamaran or trimaran.

5) Before you make an offer get  yourself a really good boat surveyor. S/he will find things that are deal breakers that you would never find.  

6)  It's a fun life but not an idyllic one.  Shit happens really quickly. Filleting a fish and having an accident even in an anchorage with other boats is no small thing.  There's no 911.  I'm not trying to scare you here but things get real very fast.  Having said that,  people go out of their way to help you.  I think they like the stories.  

Thank you to everyone who place orders.  I am COMPLETELY sold out so please don't ask if I have any available.  All things being equal, I will be offering again next year.

Thank you again,
Mike

WOW. The response has been great.  Thanks to all who have placed orders.


I am getting close to being sold out so if you are thinking about ordering, I'd suggest that you might want to decide now.   When I'm sold out, that's it until next year.

Once again, thanks to everyone who placed orders.

Regards,
Mike

I use 3 1/8" deep cells (1801 tray inserts) filled with Pro-Mix BX but a 3:1 perlite to peat moss mix would work just as well.  I use a tall humidity dome and keep them really well watered.  With the perlite, they won't be waterlogged and rot. I insert the cuttings vertically with the top exposed. The first growth I see is usually callusing which then produces leaves. Sometimes I see green growth from the other buried end. My grow lights are just above the humidity dome.

To stimulate root growth, I water with a liquid fertilizer with a high phosphorous number 9-45-9, micronutrients and seaweed.  I also use it as a foliar feed.

I get around 100% of my root cutting to turn into plants.

I want really good root development (it will be fibrous rather than woody) to I let the plants get pot bound.  If the top growth gets to be a jungle, I'll cut back the leaves to an inch or two. They resprout very quickly.

When I plant out, I wound the roots and correct the pot bound growth by slicing a cross about 1/2" deep across the bottom of the root mass.

Jerome Lee wrote:What are the advantages of crown over root cuttings? You mention that root cuttings takes more work on our end. How so?

Crowns already have leaves and fibrous roots.  They are essentially very small comfrey plants.  If I send someone 10 crowns and they follow the instructions that I provide, they should have 10 plants to plant out.  To get a root cutting to a ready-to-plant-out plant requires more time, attention, and knowledge to get a 100% success rate.  Or you can stick the cuttings in the ground and take your chances.  If you already have established plants and want more, the second random approach will work even if it's not a 100% success rate.  If you don't have plants and are trying to establish a good size planting, then the second random approach is not the way to go.

I start my crowns from 1" cuttings in 18 cell flats under high humidity domes under grow lights. This year I've gone to 50 deep-cell flats which will produce even more root mass. I use liquid fertilizers to boost root growth and then liquid fertilizers to boost leaf growth. I get 100% success rates.  Could one get 100% success without doing this?  Maybe. Perhaps. But why fiddle with what works? LOL

Regards,
Mike

Andre Dewalski wrote:Will you have any 1.5 inch pieces available again this year?

Please email me at the address in my profile - https://permies.com/u/155880/Mike-Haych

                                                                                            >>>>>>TAKING ORDERS NOW<<<<<<


I don't usually post about taking orders until the spring but I've already started receiving orders. So rather than disappoint people be being sold out early, I figured that I should post that I'm taking orders now and people can plan accordingly.

I'm offering rooted Bocking 4 and Bocking 14 cuttings again for 2019 delivery. All plants are inoculated with mycorrhizal fungi. You all receive instructions on how to get the plants to recover quickly from the shipping shock.

The price is unchanged at $4.00/plant + Xpresspost shipping. I ship by Xpresspost bubble mailer on Mondays only which means that you'll have the plants in 3 days or less depending on where you live and avoid weekending in the post-office.

Payment is by Paypal or Interac.

eMail me at the address in my profile.  Please do not PM me as I have problems getting PM notifications and you may not get a response.

https://www.ic.org