"SyrianPrince" wrote in message
...
Hi all,
I want to strike a few quince trees from a couple of good trees I have.
Could anyone give me some nice and slow directions about how to go about
it please? or Point me in the direction of some information? I would
appreciate some tips and advice from folk who may have experience
thanks
SyrianPrince

not "experience" exactly as i've been successful so far with soft & medium
cuttings from smaller plants, but i'm right in the middle of a propagation
course (which i am doing for a reason, g) & we did cuttings the other
week, so take from this what you will g (and my own hard-wood cuttings
will be much more successful next time, i'm sure, hehe):

use seed mix, or make your own (3 parts coarse sand, 1 part coir or similar
water-holding medium). make sure it is well-packed in the pot & use shallow
pots ("squat pots") or seedling trays so that you have good drainage (from
the sand element) but the cuttings can stay moist without there being a
great deal of cold media under the cuttings as it's not necessary & you
won't be able to look for little roots. make your holes first - (you don't
want to shove or force the cuttings in & dislodge the rooting goo).

use rooting powder or gel, to the right proportion for what you are doing,
according to the packet (i'm assuming you're doing medium-hardwood? just the
tips?) pack the mix firmly around the cuttings after putting them in. be
sure to include at least one "node" below the soil surface, and that your
cuttings were taken with a node at the bottom and perhaps 0.5 cm or so of
wood beneath that node but no more, (and 2 pairs of leaves is about right;
cut off neatly, rather than pull, excess leaves from the bottom of the
cutting before you put it in). water in well afterwards, without dislodging
the cuttings, they must be in firmly. and the cuttings mustn't be too long -
max 10cm or they are less likely to survive, it's too hard for them. be
gentle with the stems of cuttings when holding & manipulating, to avoid
further stress on them.

keep the cuttings moist, in shade or in indirect light (no full sun!), and
not too hot and not too cold. don't allow them to dry out or become loose in
the seed mix. you may want to rig up little "greenhouses" around them
depending on your area, such as a p.e.t. bottle top (you can take the lid
off when it's warm & put it back on when cooler.)

and that's all there is to the basic procedure for cuttings & as i say works
a treat for soft to medium and medium-hardwood in autumn. i'm certain the
experts would have more specifics to add :-) we have in our course been
encouraged to operate by "feel" & i back that - you can use your own good
sense & observations to work out how the plants are going, if that makes
sense. (although i concur it's completely obvious when your cuttings
_haven't_ survived ;-)
kylie