Rooted & ready! Just put the first one up for auction!

🤭

I want to thank you all for being so supportive of my tissue culture adventure when I was reluctant to let anyone know that I was playing with TC. I was afraid of being a failure, a poser, a target on social media… But, ever since the reel I did of me putting the Begonia ‘Izumo no Kiraboshi’ into TC, I’ve been getting a lot of followers on IG. In addition to Laur from Plants in Jars telling me that she follows me, today Francisco from Plant Cell Technology followed me from his personal account. These are the TC influencers who successfully “influenced” me to try my hand at tissue culture so I’m really blown away that they not only came across my stuff, but are showing support by following my IG. I realize I don’t have to show perfection…and probably shouldn’t. I’ve had someone reach out to me from Uruguay who invested all he had into his TC setup and supplies (which are more expensive there) only to be unsuccessful. I’ve been asked if I would accept a commission to clone someone’s serracenia. And all of this wouldn’t be happening if I didn’t get the boost of confidence y’all gave me that one Plant Chore Wednesday. I will always remember that moment and I will always recognize you folks as part of the driving force behind this fascinating new hobby of mine. …and why I feel comfortable sharing the first signs of growth on this Izumo stem! While I’m more than ecstatic, the hard truth is that this is only happening with 1 of 19 explants and a lot can still go wrong at this point. While I hope I’m not jinxing myself, a large part of me feels like this is helpful information for anyone interested in starting to micropropagate. It’s not unattainable but there is a lot of practice and patience required. 💟

So, Laur from Plants in Jars was on Instagram Live this afternoon. For some reason, I received the IG notification today when I never get notifications about IG Lives. Anyway…I joined and let her know how she inspired me to just get started instead of waiting for the perfect setup…and how I purchased her starter kit so I would have access to her protocol library, which I largely follow. She then said…”Violet Pot Designs…I think I followed you today.” I responded, “Really? Wow - I feel honored 💟” Totally fangirled her…and I’m almost 50 🤣

Y’all, I made my first deliberate cuts to my Izumo last night 😳 I was being very stingy but figured…this way, I won’t lose much if the props don’t make it. And these things needed to get into a prop box ASAP after being chopped and potted. The leaves didn’t take long to start drooping. So I quickly got them into a prop box…and this morning…voilà! 🤞🏼 Two leaf cuttings in a 1 oz. cup. I plan to have them rooted before making them available. What would you price these at?