Cuttings

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MikeHardman

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Lavender cuttings
« Reply #15 on: November 25, 2011, 02:43:24 PM »
I had good success with lavender cuttings taken in October, inserted in pots of gritty soil outside; about 90% success rate (planted out in spring).
Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England

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Alisdair

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Re: Cuttings in water
« Reply #16 on: November 25, 2011, 04:54:37 PM »
Fig tip cuttings root easily and abundantly in water, then pot off easily.
Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society

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MikeHardman

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Re: Cuttings
« Reply #17 on: November 25, 2011, 05:12:58 PM »
Ooh Alisdair - that is interesting. ...Or it might be...
Do you mean any figs or Ficus carica or F. pumila or F. benjamina/microphylla/elastica?
Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England

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Alisdair

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Re: Cuttings in water
« Reply #18 on: November 25, 2011, 05:27:49 PM »
I think any ficus would oblige. My personal experience is with the eating figs Black Hamburg and (delicious, many variant spellings) Bourjasotte Grise.
Willows are proverbially easy. In the UK we fill hedge gaps by just sticking a willow twig or branch Salix alba in the soil of the gap in early winter.
The trouble with some other subjects rooted in this way is the difficulty of reconciling them to living in soil instead.
Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society

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MikeHardman

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Re: Cuttings
« Reply #19 on: November 25, 2011, 06:09:37 PM »
Thanks Alisdair,
I will give some figs a try (I recently tried F. pumila in soil, with zero success).
I concur - it can be difficult to wean some water-rooted cuttings off water and onto soil.
Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England

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MikeHardman

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Re: Cuttings
« Reply #20 on: November 30, 2011, 10:46:50 AM »
Another one for the water-rooting list: Jacaranda mimosifolia - very easy and prolific rooter, at least in my experience using small (~1cm diameter) woody stems.

Sambucus nigra, too. But I don't know how well that copes with a mediterranean climate. Perhaps S. mexicana (from the Sonoran Desert) would be better.
« Last Edit: November 30, 2011, 12:14:50 PM by Fleur Pavlidis »
Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England

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MikeHardman

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Re: Cuttings
« Reply #21 on: January 16, 2012, 08:48:52 PM »
Another one for the water-rooting list: Fuchsia.
...prompted by Daisy's posting.

And Sambucus nigra.
... prompted by http://www.mgsforum.org/smf/index.php?topic=661.0.
« Last Edit: January 20, 2012, 07:58:43 AM by MikeHardman »
Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England

David Dickinson

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Re: Cuttings
« Reply #22 on: November 16, 2013, 10:55:28 PM »
Saw these old postings for the first time today by following the link in a posting earlier today. Don't know if the topic has been transferred or abandoned but thought it might be useful to add the following to the list of cuttings rooting easily in water.

Tradescantia andersoniana group (snapping of a cutting just below a node and standing it vertically on damp tissue works best for me)
Tamarix (don't know which species it was but thin hardwood cuttings taken in spring produced roots within days)
Nerium oleander (very easy with green woody stems in summer, roots emerging within a week - autumn cuttings were much less successful)
Hoya carnosa (very easy for me in summer)
Delairea odorata (still Senecio mikanoides?), Senecio macroglossus and  Senecio confusus (good though not total success)

I have a small garden in Rome, Italy. Some open soil, some concrete, some paved. Temperatures in winter occasionally down to 0°C. Summer temperatures up to 40°C in the shade. There are never watering restrictions but, of course, there is little natural water for much of June, July and August.

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MikeHardman

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Re: Cuttings - Ficus carica (fig)
« Reply #23 on: November 17, 2013, 03:38:48 PM »
Alisdair commented on fig cuttings rooting easily in water (this thread, 25 November 2011)

I agree.
Here's the proof.

On 11apr13, I took a 30cm cutting from a local largish tree, cultivated type unknown, but a black one, I think. I stripped most of the leaves and stood it in a plastic bottle of water outside in light shade. Over the ensuing months, I topped it up with water as needed.
By 11jun13, some root-callouses were showing.
By 20aug13, there was algal goo on the stem, but some roots were growing through that into clear water below (and there was a little new foliage at the top).
On 17nov13, I removed the cutting and its roots from the goo + water and planted it out in ordinary unimproved marly soil (cooler day with a bit of rain). The leaves had grown slowly the past three months. I would have planted it out sooner, but did not have the site ready.

My photos show:
01. cutting just before removal from bottle
02. close-up of good roots in clear water (the algal goo layer does not photograph well)
03. cutting extracted from water, showing the good clump of roots
04. cutting, with roots parted to show they all come from near waterline
05. cutting just planted

I considered trying to wash the algal goo off the roots, but I decided not to. The plant had coped well enough up till now, and washing would only disturb and damage the roots.
I also considered removing the bottom -unrooted- part of the stem, fearing that it might lead to die-back. I decided not to, since it would provide anchorage, and since figs are tough plants used to coping with adverse soil (ie. rubble).

Which is all by way of documentation of my experiment.
Thank you Alisdair for nudging me into doing it.
I aim to post an update in due course showing the fig's progress, hopefully.
« Last Edit: November 17, 2013, 03:43:50 PM by MikeHardman »
Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England