Just add water

It all started when Jack and I were celebrating a special occasion at Kyma, a wonderful Greek restaurant close to where we live. While Jack was exclaiming over the really great food, I kept staring at the large glass vase which held a tree – with an infinite number of roots, all grown in water.

The roots looked like an intricate weaving, coiled and curled on each other. I don’t know how long the plant had been in the vase but it was there to stay – like a pear in a bottle, there was no way to extract the rootball through the narrow neck of the vase. But why would they want to? The tree looked healthy and the entire effect was beautiful.

I decided right then and there that I would root plants in water in interesting vases to give to my friends for Christmas. What a great gift for someone who may not remember to consistently water a houseplant . No watering necessary! Changing water every couple of weeks is a good idea but not entirely necessary, and adding a drop of liquid fertilizer helps too but for the most part, this is a maintenance – free living gift. And, in the meantime, they make a truly delightful holiday decoration.

Most of us know that ivy and sweet potato vines will root readily in water but there are so many other plants that put out interesting – and sometimes colorful – roots. One of my favorite is lucky bamboo which produces an abundance of bright orange roots. Philodendrons, too, seem happy to live in water.

For many plants you can take a stem or leaf cutting and just put it in water and they will take root. This was a popular method of propagation for my grandmother’s generation and I can remember a shelf of jelly jars with rooting from all kinds of houseplants. It takes a while for the roots to start growing, I thought my stem from a fig tree would never root, but after several weeks, I saw a tiny hair emerge and from then on it continued to grow steadily.

Being a little impatient – and knowing that Christmas is only a month away (how can that be!) I decided to hurry up the process by dividing both philodendron and anthurium plants, cleaning the roots the best I could and putting the divisions in water. This has worked great and my plants are all vased up and ready to give.

This isn’t exactly the science of hydroponics, but it’s the same idea. I’m wondering now if I can grow big, beautiful heads of lettuce in water under the grow lights. Or tomatoes! or…. wow, the possibilities seem endless. The idea of hydroponic farming is a far off dream. For today I’m glad to have my little row of living Christmas gifts and to be firmly rooted in the here and now.