"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.

The other thing you could do in addition to this advice is to get a
sharp knife and put a diagonal cut about halfway through in the branch
to be pinned down and hold the nick open with a toothpick or a match
when you pin it down - this forces the plant to start producing roots
rapidly.

The other thing you can do is to get a plastic pot and cut two "V"
shaped notches in the sides at the top. Fill the pot with good
potting mix to which you have added about a third sand. Cut the notch
in the branch as explained earlier then lay the branch over the pot
so that the branch sits in the "V" shaped notches (I then pin it down
with a long "U" shaped bit of wire - usually an old cut up wire
coathanger) and push the wire down to the bottom of the pot -
sometimes I've run it through the bottom of the pot and hooked it
under at the bottom if the branch has a tendency to spring back or
sometimes I've just put the pot up on a series of bricks to raise it
up to the level of the branch being pinned down). Water well and then
cover the pot and the pinned branch (but not the emerging foliage)
tightly with plastic (this is so that you dont' ahve to water it so
often, but if you have ag ood memory and are good at watering then
don't bother, but the branch must be kept well watered but not
waterlogged.