Thanks to your advice and the Greek sun I am proud to
announce that I have started developing my own nursery
stock from my Serissa.

I used 3-4 inch softwood cuttings which I placed in
very small glasses with water. It took them about 3
weeks to develop roots.
Then, I planted them in small plastic transparent
pots, so I can watch and examine their roots grow.

All of them are doing fine, but I worry a little about
the coming winter. Usually the weather is good enough
until the end of November with a good amount of
sunshine. From December onwards, I think I will bring
my Serissas inside.

Dealing with the nursery stock I developed a way to
check whether they need water or not.I am not a big
fan of the stick/finger in the soil method so I
decided to use a balance to measure each pot's weight.

I weighed them when the soil looked dry enough, eg.
100gr. Then I watered thoroughly and measured again
eg. 200gr. So now, I always check each pot's weight
before I water, to make sure is about 100gr.
However, with the transparent pots I find it easier to
check the soil's condition anyway.

best wishes to all,
Dimitris.

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Dealing with the nursery stock I developed a way to
check whether they need water or not.I am not a big
fan of the stick/finger in the soil method so I
decided to use a balance to measure each pot's weight.

I weighed them when the soil looked dry enough, eg.
100gr. Then I watered thoroughly and measured again
eg. 200gr. So now, I always check each pot's weight
before I water, to make sure is about 100gr.
However, with the transparent pots I find it easier to
check the soil's condition anyway.

This is a good method. When you get to the point that you have a
LOT of trees, though, you will learn to do it by feel. You will
KNOW what that tree and pot weigh when dry and when wet and
merely lifting them will tell you what's needed.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Sent via
rec.arts.bonsai since Isabel's visit has affected LSoft's service
(they're running on generator power, but it's spotty and this
wouldn't go through, earlier.)

(Dimitrios Kalderis) wrote:

I used 3-4 inch softwood cuttings which I placed in
very small glasses with water. It took them about 3
weeks to develop roots.

I had a 25% "strike" rate just sticking a bunch of prunings in the garden;
the results would doubtless have been better if I'd remembered to water
during a dry spell but hey, I'm letting Darwin pick the strongest ones!
I've got a dozen healthy young plants, some with flowers, that I'll need to
pot up and take indoors soon.
Success rate indoors with better watering is close to 100% Not letting a
larger tree dry out, thereby killing it, is another matter. As a friend
who knows about these things said "A dry Serissa is a dead Serissa."
We'll see over winter... gonna retrofit a shop light with solid-state
ballast and high-efficiency tubes.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at www.albany.net/~gwoods
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1200' elevation. NY WO G