Thanks -- will proceed according to your experience.


"madgardener" wrote in message
...
Ray wrote:
I have a tea olive shrub (osmanthus fragrans) and I would like to root
some cuttings.

I've been told that if I stake a low branch into the ground -- leaving
the outer leaves exposed but the stem still attached to the trunk -- that
it will take root, and I can then clip the connection to the trunk and
repot the new plant.

How long should I leave the plant attached before replanting?

you want to give the stem enough time to develop an impressive clump of
roots, then sever it from the mother shrub, and pot it up, or plant it in
it's own spot. Depending on your location and climate, I'd say a full
season should do it. I've done this with Forsythia branches and fig
trees. I've laid down a lower branch, laid a brick on the stem to keep it
touching the soil, piled up soil over where the branch touches and a few
leaves and what not, and then ignored it through spring and into the end
of summer here in Eastern Tennessee. If the roots aren't as large as I
wanted them by fall, I leave the brick intact, then come true next spring,
I remove the brick, the baby plant is ready to be cut from mama, and there
we go! For my efforts now I have a great grand daughter of a forsythia
bush that was planted over 130 years ago growing in my woods from the
grand daughter that was rooted in the same way of the original just down
the end of the family's road where I live off of. The fig I started I left
growing until the following spring, I severed it, moved it into the edge
of my woods as a lark, and forgot about it and sure enough, there she is,
growing just fine at the base of a Jack Pine! Good luck and keep us
posted on the success of your endeavors.

(resist urges to check, leave the brick pinning the branch against the
soil for at least two seasons and if it gets dry, make sure you water
occasionally to ensure it's not stressing, that's why I pile up leaves on
top to conserve moisture and make a nice cozy little environment)

madgardener up on the quite cold ridge, back in Fairy Holler, overlooking
English Mountain in Eastern Tennessee, zone 7, Sunset zone 36