Hi, I'm looking for a Ficus Melany to buy - can anyone help? I've Googled it but all I get are office decor sites or scientific pages. I already have one (bought from a garden centre years ago and it's now looking rather tatty - I've asked them and they say it must have been a one-off), and I'm nervous of taking cuttings because I dont have a propagator, and you can't really depend on British summers to be warm!!
Thanks, Jaycee

You don't necessarily need a propagator. Take your cuttings, dip into fresh hormone powder and stick into pans with damp sand. Cover with a clean glass jam jar and put on the northern side of the house. Every so often lift the jar to let in fresh air. check to see if the cutting is holding [when the rootlets have started to grow]. My father used this method for 35 years and rarely lost a cutting.

The message
from jaycee contains these words:

Hi, I'm looking for a Ficus Melany to buy - can anyone help? I've
Googled it but all I get are office decor sites or scientific pages. I
already have one (bought from a garden centre years ago and it's now
looking rather tatty - I've asked them and they say it must have been a
one-off), and I'm nervous of taking cuttings because I dont have a
propagator, and you can't really depend on British summers to be
warm!!

Is there a low enough branch to peg the tip down, or at least, some part
near the tip?

Ficus usually layers enthusiastically.

Cut a peg from any old shrub

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Make a shallow trough and pin a bit of ficus into it.

Cover with soil and keep well watered.

Otherwise, cut a bit off and poke it into the ground in a shady place,
and keep it well-watered.

--
Rusty
Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk

Rusty_Hinge writes
The message
from jaycee contains these words:

Hi, I'm looking for a Ficus Melany to buy - can anyone help? I've
Googled it but all I get are office decor sites or scientific pages. I
already have one (bought from a garden centre years ago and it's now
looking rather tatty - I've asked them and they say it must have been a
one-off), and I'm nervous of taking cuttings because I dont have a
propagator, and you can't really depend on British summers to be
warm!!

Is there a low enough branch to peg the tip down, or at least, some part
near the tip?

Ficus usually layers enthusiastically.

Cut a peg from any old shrub

||
||
| \
||\\
|| \\
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
Make a shallow trough and pin a bit of ficus into it.

Cover with soil and keep well watered.

Otherwise, cut a bit off and poke it into the ground in a shady place,
and keep it well-watered.

Or air layer it, ie damage the bark a little on the underside of a
branch, wrap some moist fibrous compost around it, wrap the compost in
cling film to keep it moist and secure it to the branch. When you can
see good strong roots trying to burst through the cling film, you can
cut the cutting off and pot it up. If it doesn't work, just remove cling
film and compost and your plant is still as it was before you started.
--
Kay

Thanks, I'll try what you suggest, so - fingers crossed!!
Jaycee

Thanks, I'll try this one too - though I use cut-off lemonade bottles instead of glass - progress (?)I suppose! I also suppose using west-facing windowsills is too hot?