I posted a few weeks ago about a cistus which had suffered badly
during the winter and was wisely advised by Janet Baraclough to a)
leave the plant in case it recovers and b) take some cuttings.

Success on both counts, the old cistus is struggling but definitely
not out but more surprising for me - whose previous cuttings
experience extended no further than hopefully sticking prunings in the
ground - the cuttings seem to be coming on ok. Of the random and
careless snippings I dipped in rooting powder and stuck in some seed
compost pushed to the edge of the pot, half are definitely showing
some new but very tiny leaf.

My question is, what is the next stage? More specifically:-

Do I leave them in the pot till the leaves get bigger?
Do I remove the plastic bag they've been covered in these last few
weeks?
Do I give them some direct sunlight/heat?
Should I put them in separate pots and with which compost? Or can
they go straight into the ground now?

I'd be most grateful for some advice. My total lack of experience
with cuttings leaves me fearful that the new growth may not yet
indicate enough of a root structure and so any action now would be
premature.

many thanks for any input....

so, without replies and in desparation, I re-did my google search but
am none the wiser. Janet had suggested taking cuttings (I think this
was a month ago) but because the plant was looking a bit stiff, there
was nothing plump and new to use.

That said and as I mentioned in my OP, there is definitely tiny fresh
new growth on a couple of my twigs. So, as several websites counsel,
I gave a gentle tug on one of these and sure enough - resistance!

It was only after I pulled it out (very gently) that I realised the
resistance was due to a significant crick in my cutting...no roots!

So, I've pushed it back and will hope for the best. In the meantime I
am still eager to get some feedback if anyone could oblige.

Does fresh new growth - new leaves - necessarily bode well, or is it
possible that my cutting is now doomed?

There is one more which I've left undisturbed. Is there an inherent
problem in leaving cuttings for an extended period in the gritty
compost?

thanks to anyone for a crumb of help in saving my feeble charges.

On Sat, 22 May 2010 13:09:45 +0200, bob wrote:

so, without replies and in desparation, I re-did my google search but
am none the wiser. Janet had suggested taking cuttings (I think this
was a month ago) but because the plant was looking a bit stiff, there
was nothing plump and new to use.

That said and as I mentioned in my OP, there is definitely tiny fresh
new growth on a couple of my twigs. So, as several websites counsel,
I gave a gentle tug on one of these and sure enough - resistance!

It was only after I pulled it out (very gently) that I realised the
resistance was due to a significant crick in my cutting...no roots!

So, I've pushed it back and will hope for the best. In the meantime I
am still eager to get some feedback if anyone could oblige.

Does fresh new growth - new leaves - necessarily bode well, or is it
possible that my cutting is now doomed?

There is one more which I've left undisturbed. Is there an inherent
problem in leaving cuttings for an extended period in the gritty
compost?

thanks to anyone for a crumb of help in saving my feeble charges.

Your post does not say what you have taken cuttings from.
Its behaviour depends on what it is.
New leaves may show before roots form, other plants do the opposite.
I have a houseplant, brunfelsia, which is quite hard to root. One 4
inch cutting I tried years ago developed a flower. Maybe I should
have removed the flower, but I left it. After a year it died and I
realised that no roots had formed at all.

Pam in Bristol

On Sun, 23 May 2010 12:24:53 +0100, Pam Moore
wrote:

On Sat, 22 May 2010 13:09:45 +0200, bob wrote:

so, without replies and in desparation, I re-did my google search but
am none the wiser. Janet had suggested taking cuttings (I think this
was a month ago) but because the plant was looking a bit stiff, there
was nothing plump and new to use.

That said and as I mentioned in my OP, there is definitely tiny fresh
new growth on a couple of my twigs. So, as several websites counsel,
I gave a gentle tug on one of these and sure enough - resistance!

It was only after I pulled it out (very gently) that I realised the
resistance was due to a significant crick in my cutting...no roots!

So, I've pushed it back and will hope for the best. In the meantime I
am still eager to get some feedback if anyone could oblige.

Does fresh new growth - new leaves - necessarily bode well, or is it
possible that my cutting is now doomed?

There is one more which I've left undisturbed. Is there an inherent
problem in leaving cuttings for an extended period in the gritty
compost?

thanks to anyone for a crumb of help in saving my feeble charges.

Your post does not say what you have taken cuttings from.
Its behaviour depends on what it is.
New leaves may show before roots form, other plants do the opposite.
I have a houseplant, brunfelsia, which is quite hard to root. One 4
inch cutting I tried years ago developed a flower. Maybe I should
have removed the flower, but I left it. After a year it died and I
realised that no roots had formed at all.

Pam in Bristol

Pam, thanks for your reply, it's always leaves one feeling a little
insecure when no-one responds.

I mention at the beginning of the opening post that it's a cistus.
After this bitter winter the plant was stiff, twiggy and I thought
dead but in fact it seems to be recovering so I'm going to have
another crack after it's flowered a bit and when there'll be some
softer new growth - I'm assuming that's the best sort.

Still, I'm interested in your own result and have noted what you say
about order of development - sometimes leaf, sometimes root first.
Clearly in my case it was a bit of leaf, so I've stuck the twig back
in the compost and nothing will be lost by leaving it there until it
either expires or shows further signs of life.

Bad luck with your brunfelsia, it's probably doubly disheartening when
initial and conspicuous success isn't carried through. I'm
anticipating a lot of that!

Meanwhile, I'm turning what little space I have for this sort of thing
into a mini-laboratory and will continue to experiment.

Any further insights would be very welcome.

Leave them in the pot until you can see roots coming out of the hole in the bottom. This may take a year. Until that time, leave the plastic bag over the top to keep a moist atmosphere, and keep the soil moist. Keep them out of direct sunlight. The whole aim is to prevent the cutting losing moisture (because until it's got a good root system, it has no way of replacing lost water).

Once you can see roots coming out of the bottom of the pot, start by opening the bag at the top, and get the plant used to a slightly drier atmosphere, than you can remove it altogether. After that, you can tip out the cuttings, gently separate them, and pot them up separately. I would keep them in pots for a while so you can look after them, then plant them out once you feel they're big enough to cope by themselves.