cuttings

HI, I wasnt sure where to post this...SOrry if its the wrong spot...


I tried doing some cuttings from an indoor plant and wasnt successful. Any ideas on how to do cutting from indoor and outdoor plants?


Thanks

Propagation of different plants require different techinques and for some the time of year is significant. Usually, woody plants do best under mist, with rooting hormores and bottom heat...or by 'air layering', 'soil layering' or division. Keeping the plant tissue (with no roots) from loosing moisture that it can't replace is important. Moisture loss can me minimized by covering the cutting with a fruit jar or plastic bag...but keep it out of direct-hot sun to avoid a significant heat buildup and trap. Herbaceous (soft stems) are more apt to root in water, moist sand, perlite or such. Again, mist them...try to offset moisture loss from the plants tissue. If you are trying to root in a container of water...cover the top of the container (tightly) with Saran wrap or similar product..make slits in the cover and slip the stem through the slits. Add a couple of small lumps of charcoal (it is used in aquarium filters). Remove one or two sets of leaves and set 1"-2" deep in water or rooting media. The area where the leaves were removed is where roots will most often form. The lenght of the cutting can be several inches long, probably up to 6"..'tho I've used longer. Splitting the end of the 'cut end' a 1/4" inch or so can sometimes help roots develop. Try to avoid using growth that has or is setting flowers or fruit, if it has them...pinch them off. I'd guess that you could "google" up tons of information about "How to root cuttings". I have just 'scratched the surface' about how to root cuttings. No doubt other members can and will add their experience(s). Good luck and keep us posted with your progress.

Most citrus can be rooted from cuttings. Limes, some lemons, calamondins are quite easy, oranges and grapefruit are more of a challenge, but still certainly possible. While it's possible to root almost any age stem, the ideal would be new-flush growth, after it has hardened off -- full-grown, dark-green leaves and stiff stems, but still young. I like a cutting about 6 inches long, with 2 or 3 leaves at the top. We wound the base and dip it in a rooting hormone compound, and root them under mist. When rootted under mist, successful rooting is near 100 percent. If you don't have a misting set-up, they can still be rooted under a jar or 2 L Coke Bottle, if necessary. This type of rooting is approximately 50 percent successful. A good rooting medium is one part peat moss and one part perlite. Once rooted, you have a new citrus tree of the same variety.

Advantages of a rooted cutting: quick, relatively easy, no need to raise a rootstock seedling and bud it.

Disadvantages of a rooted cutting: all common scion varieties are susceptible to Phytophthora foot rot. This is the single major reason that rooted cuttings are almost never used commercially, throughout the world. Also, rooted cuttings are less wind-resistant than plants budded to seedlings (with a taproot).

As would be true with a budded (grafted) plant, assuming you took the cutting from mature wood (capable of flowering), your new plant will also be immediately mature, and may begin to flower and fruit the same or next season. Of course, if you root juvenile wood, the resultant plant will be juvenile as well.

Micah:
Newton gave some great advise on rooting Citrus'..I guess I missed something when you asked about rooting indoor and outdoor plants. My assumption was that you were talking about plants in general, not specifically citrus. If you still have unanswered questions...call me and I'll talk you through them. Good luck.... CJ

In our area figs and crape myrtle were rooted this way:
Early in the dormant period cuttings were taken and bundled in a bundle with the length 6 or 7 inches in length. A hole was dug in a wlll drainged location. the cuttings were place in the hole inverted with the basil end about an inch below the soil surface. In February the were dug up and planted with the basil end down about 3 inches below the soil surface. They had an excellent rooting take. Learned this from an older friend that died in the early 70s. Joe, the old gentleman was Fletcher Granberry.

Thanks Bonnie, that's great info and might be the type plants that Micah was referring to. You told me about Fletcher on our 'field trip' about a year ago.

I used to work for a greenhouse that got all of its stock from older plants these were outside plants... we would snip only the tips of the young new growth. then we would put them in peat moss mix in plugg trays sometimes if we had to take cuttings from older plants we would dip thenm in growth hormone first.... at home I usually do the same things.. I have used those syran wrap bowl covers to place over new cuttings and that seems to help get them off to a good start and makes like a little greenhouse but as Joe stated keep them out of the direct sun and do not over water....

Bonnie

For the best success in rooting cuttings the maximum energy level needs to be attained before the cutting is taken. It is important to keep in mind that energy levels in plant tissue typically reach a maximum in late summer or early fall. With the first flush of growth in the spring, the plant energy level drops abruptly. This is because the plant's energy was spent in support of the expanding bud and new growth, and with some species the plant's energy was spent on the development of flowers and fruits, especially spring flowering shrubs and trees such as crab apple and pears. As the development of the new growth progresses, energy levels in the new tissue build. With species that only make one flush of growth, the build-up of energy proceeds over the entire growing season. With species that make several flushes of growth, such as citrus, the energy build up progresses, then drops again with the next flush and so on. With species such as sycamore, where growth begins in spring and continues over much of summer, the build-up is more gradual. The key to softwood cutting, such as citrus, propagation is to wait until the energy level in the cutting tissue has recovered to some moderate level to support root development, yet not wait too long and lose the responsiveness and ability of young tissues to produce roots. On the other hand with some species such as lilac, the window of opportunity may be as short as 10 to 12 days. With semi-hardwood cuttings, the window of opportunity is generally wider, but still deserves attention. Most broadleaf evergreens, some tropical trees, and many conifers reach their peak energy in plant tissues by late summer.

Well, here we are at the "nth" degree/level on cuttings so I might as well add another comment. Some will call it "ho-cus~poc-s" but I know a couple of professional propagators that pay attention to the moon stages. Both these folks wait till the full moon to take cuttings on difficult to root plants. Hummmm???

I've tried several different mediums for rooting cuttings including peat pellets and soil mix and perilite.. all seem to work well.. I think key thing is keeping the cuttings in humid environment..
I've used mini greenhouse.. Ziploc baggies work well also.. in fact Ziploc baggies are my favorite.. I use BBQ skewers at the corners to keep the baggie upright and off the cuttings.. I cut skewers in half when they are too big for baggie..
When the cutting has rooted (resists when tugged at) I fully open the Ziploc and keep the container in the Ziploc baggie for a couple more weeks for insurance..

There might be something to doing stuff according to moon phase etc..
[Only Registered Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...] Too bad grafting and rooting cuttings isn't on the list.. but they probably are doing popular seasonal stuff.. Though I hope to get lost of use out of 2008 calendar with Farmers Almanac "Best Days" marked on it.. Shows best days for harvesting, planting, propagation, etc.... Who knows?? maybe next yr I'll have better luck with some of my plants?

Gina *BabyBlue*