"Drobium" wrote in message
news

FarmI;925856 Wrote:
Has anyone stuck Photinia Robusta and/or Photinia glabra rubra from
cuttings? If so, I've a few questions relating to;
- how did you do it,
- what size cuttings did you use,
- what kind of wood,
- what season and
- anything else that might be considered pertinent to stiking cuttings
that
may occur to you.

TIA

I've taken a few over the years and generlly find that semi-ripe heel
cuttings are the best.

You need to find a good strong shoot around 8" long and pull it off the
mother plant so as it leaves a 'Heel' where it's torn away from the main
stem.
Next trim off the very tip of the heel so it's squarer and less ragged
at the end.
Remove around 2/3 of the leaves up the stem leaving only the very few at
the top, then dip into some hormone rooting powder and place into a 3"
pot to around 3-4" inches deep.
The pot should be filled with a very sandy, loamy mix with a little peat
chucked in for good measure.
A heated propagator is really a good idea when it comes to semi-ripes as
it helps the roots to form quicker, but if you haven't got one, the put
the pots of cutting into a tray and make a little 'tent' out of
polyethene to help retain humidity and warmth.
Make sure that the cuttings are then placed somewhere out of full sun
but with good light and water them just enough to keep them on the wet
side of moist.
Then after about 3-4 weeks they should start to root.

Oh and the time for semi-ripe cuttings is from very late july until
early september.

Hope this helps :-)

Thanks for those comments Drobium - all very clear. I'm assuming that your
mention of late July/early september should be about 6 months later for
where I am (southern hemisphere) - so that would make it early autumn when I
take cuttings.