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kris anthem um · 10-12-2008, 03:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justin burns

I tried heaps of cuttings all types of plants using hormone powder and never
got any to work, about 5 months ago I took 5 hardwood cuttings and 3 of them
have rooted and are comming along great and I used honey not the hormone
powder saw a guy on ABC using it and I can say its the only way mine have
worked.
"0tterbot" wrote in message
...
"Linda" wrote in message
...
G'day from WA!
I have several Hibiscus Cottonwood (Hibiscus tiliaceus 'Rubra')
I would like to have some more!
But at Bunnings they're $28 each. I've tried taking cuttings using
hormone gel and for the life of me I can't seem to get the cuttings to
take.
Has anyone had any luck with these plants? I'm wondering if layering may
be the way to go.

Many thanx
Linda :-)

don't know anything about hibiscus cuttings whatsoever, so take that on
board!

however, some experiences i've had with cuttings in general:

* soft cuttings, taken from strong spring growth (i.e. wait a month or
two) seem to take the best. (i've never ever got a hardwood cutting to
take.)
* heel cuttings, taken from a side sprig with the "heel", the point where
it joined the stem, attached, (trimmed if necessary), seem to take the
best. apparently all the nodes have concentrations of hormone within them,
but these are the best nodes of all in terms of striking cuttings. as
terry said you definitely need a node of some sort, heels are the best
ones.
* the entire arrangement needs to stay warm & moist, soil & air included.
if the cuttings can't be kept somewhere naturally moist, use some sort of
arrangement of glad wrap, a plastic bag or a plastic bottle, or something
like that. failing that, you can mist them 3 or 4 times a day with water
but that becomes strategically difficult of course. not too much sun,
either, as it is drying in itself. half-shade is good as long as it's
_warm_.
* short cuttings are better than long ones, even if you have to cut their
tops off. ideally, you want about 4 leaves. it is recommended to cut large
leaves back by 1/2 or 2/3. ime, small-leafed plants take better, large
leafed plants are troublesome. i found that the smaller the cutting (e.g.
5-10 cm) the better they went. 20cm just seems too long ime, but 20cm is
necessary if the leaves are really large (you need to keep the arrangement
to scale ;-).
* soil for soft cuttings should not be too rich. experts use a
low-nutrient mix of sand, perlite & whatnot with almost no nutritive value
at all. this dries out easily of course, so see above ;-) when i was madly
taking cuttings of everything i saw, i used about 3/4 coarse sand & 1/4
potting mix, cos i am too cheap to buy perlite or anything :-) this mix
worked well for me, most of the time, except for where it didn't g.
* it's well worth really packing them into the pot - they seem to like
being close together (whilst still being practical, of course). a few cm
apart is absolutely fine - close that they help each other stand up, but
not to the point of being ridiculously crowded & risking them all going
mouldy. firming them in well is also necessary.

if that sounds like everything you've already done, i apologise for being
patronising, and agree you might as well try air layering. or you can try
again once spring is really rolling along by trying some by each method.
again ime, some plants are simply resistant to striking from cuttings, in
which case, what can you do? :-) also remember you can get a strike
(without realising) which can dry out & then die, so look after them
carefully & keep them cosy and moist. some things strike in a week, others
may take months, so don't give up on them unless you are certain they have
died outright. good luck!!!
kylie

The above is great advice. I would only add make sure your cutting material is bud and flower free, (sometimes this is difficult in all-year flowering plants) and also don't put your hormone rooting powder on too thick, (this creates barrier between cutting and soil which is no good, normal everyday honey works just as well and is still used commercially. Cheers and god bless.