Bulbs from leaf cuttings - a question and a suggestion

[Gail]

I'd read somewhere that you can propagate Eucomis from leaf cuttings, so in November (thinking it was probably too late in the season but worth a try) I pulled a leaf from my Eucomis vandermerwei and stuck it in a jar of water on the kitchen windowsill. About 6 weeks later roots were forming so I started to pot it up but decided to chop the end up to see if I could get more bulbs from the same leaf and sure enough another 6-ish weeks later they are starting to form roots and bulbils are forming on the first bit.

Question; what other bulbs can you grow from leaf cuttings? A google search suggests Hyacinthus, Haemanthus and Lachenalia (http://www.bloembol.info/pdf/knippels.pdf). Has anyone experience of this?

Suggestion; if everyone on the forum stuck a leaf of one of their bulbous plants in a glass of water and reported back, we could build up a really useful picture of what works....

First image shows the results of my Eucomis experiment
Second image new trial with Narcissus pseudonarcissus, Scilla peruviana, Galanthus nivalis, G. elwesii, Haemanthus coccineus, H. albiflos, Hippeastrum roseum and H. seedling. (The violet glob at the base of the tubes is Clonex rooting hormone in the hope this helps).
 

[frits.kp]

As an avid bulb grower I too have experimented over the past years with leaf cuttings. I used to hold the National collection of Eucomis and leaf cuttings is the first method of propagation. I have rooted leaf cuttings with Galanthus, Lachenalia, Begonia, Hyacinthella, Lilium, Muscari, Tulbaghia, Veltheimia are Genus that spring to mind. If I think of other I will post.

[Gail]

Thanks for that Kevin - the galanthophiles will be interested to hear of an alternative to twin-scaling...

[emma T]

How much of the leaf do you need for Galanthus ?

I am very interested to try this now .

Grown Eucomis from leaves without a problem .........never thought to apply it to snowdrops

[frits.kp]

From what I remember I took 10cm long leaf cuttings in March, with my usual bottom heat, in perlite. I never grew on the bulbs that were produced, it was only a student / college experiment to see what bulbs we could root from leaf cuttings. But I remember thinking that if we had a large number of leaves we could produce a substantial number of bulbs.

[emma T]

Well this is some thing i have to try 

[Darren]

As an avid bulb grower I too have experimented over the past years with leaf cuttings. I used to hold the National collection of Eucomis and leaf cuttings is the first method of propagation. I have rooted leaf cuttings with Galanthus, Lachenalia, Begonia, Hyacinthella, Lilium, Muscari, Tulbaghia, Veltheimia are Genus that spring to mind. If I think of other I will post.

I'm told it works for Massonia too but I have not tried it - yet..

[gote]

Lilium are easy from stem cuttings. If you want to grow that gorgeous cut flower someone gave you, you can use a part of the stem for cutting. Bulbils will form from the leaf axils. Only hope it is not virus infected.
Cheers
Göte

[Rick R.]

I've rooted L.ilium primulinum from short stem cuttings, but bulbs never developed.  I would think there must be quite a bit of variability from species to species within the genus, as some produce bulbils naturally and without external stimuli. 
Göte, does such a blanket statement apply to the whole genus?

I would be grateful if anyone could to elaborate on which species they have or have not had success...

[pehe]

I would be grateful if anyone could to elaborate on which species they have or have not had success...

I've tried Muscari without any luck in both in sand and sterile vermiculite. But I'm encouraged to try again, this time maybe in water.

Poul

[Tim Ingram]

Ypsilandra and Heloniopsis will do well from leaf cuttings too. The results with Galanthus are really interesting; this is mentioned in an RHS Propagation Book edited by Chris Brickell, and several people tried to repeat it without success - myself and Joy Bishop, and I'm not sure if Joe Sharman tried it too. We assumed it was a mistake but it looks like it is something that needs persevering with more. The leaves of snowdrops are relatively soft and prone to fungal attack so probably more sterile conditions would be best. This is a very exciting way of propagating plants.

[gote]

I've rooted L.ilium primulinum from short stem cuttings, but bulbs never developed.  I would think there must be quite a bit of variability from species to species within the genus, as some produce bulbils naturally and without external stimuli. 
Göte, does such a blanket statement apply to the whole genus?
I would be grateful if anyone could to elaborate on which species they have or have not had success...

I have only done it on florist's cut lilies myself and it always worked. I have seen it in the literature but with no particular limitations. If you got roots and had some leaf on the stem it is surprising that it did not develop a bulbil. It might be that primulinum needs a different time of the year or a different temperature. Some lilies need certain temperature regimes in order to develop.
I agree that more info would be welcome.
Göte 

[Rick R.]

Sorry for the late reply, Göte.  I've been eagerly waiting for a answer from you, and somehow I missed it until now, when I did a manual search for the thread.

Your clear statement is encouraging, and I had only tried rooting L. primulinum on a whim, because the stem had previously broken.  Incidentally, almost the entire stem broke, and I tested ten cuttings starting from 20cm above the soil level to 20cm below the first flower (about a 40cm middle section).  I did not discern any relevant difference in rooting in regard to their position on the stem.

[Alan_b]

The results with Galanthus are really interesting

I don't entirely agree.  Most Galanthus bulbs produce only two leaves and removing the leaves will severely weaken the bulb.  So unless each leaf can be made to produce multiple bulbs, don't you risk a situation where even if you can make leaf cuttings work you end up with fewer bulbs than you could have achieved by natural division?