Carlo and Elisa are propagating Phragmites australis

Dennis Konnerup taught us how to propagate Phragmites australis in an easy and simple way… Take a shoot (Elisa grabbed some from the nearby park here in Copenhagen) and place it horizontally in a tray with sand and water. It does not take long until new plantlets are formed from each node! This is so much easier than germinating seeds of e.g., wild rice that often come with a seed dormancy which is almost impossible to break. In a week or two, the plants will be transferred to hydroponics so that the roots will be easy to access.

Carlo has already made some nice pilot experiments to demonstrate the effect of humic acids on plaque formation. In a not too distant future, we will reveal some of the exciting results here on this blog. For the time being, he just has to wait for these young plants to develop a decent root system…

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Stems of Phragmites australis in shallow water with some sand. Give it a few weeks, and nice little plantlets are formed, which can then be separated from the stem and transferred to hydroponic - or to pots, if pot cultures are preferred.