bonsaiTALK Community - View Single Post - Schefflera not rooting?!

Max,

Wait. About 8 months ago, my cat chewed a large piece of my schefflera and I had to cut it off. Since I was going to throw it away, I decided to try to root it in a glass of water. If it took...good. If it didn't, well I hadn't lost anything. I had already tried to root some in a peat/gravel mix, like I root everyting else, and they just rotted. So I put it into a small glass of water, placed it on a shelf in my dining room, out of direct sunlight, and forgot about it. Two or three weeks later, it was still green, and apparently healthy. However, it still had no roots. Since it was still green, I simply changed out its water and left it alone. Another two or three weeks went by, and I checked it again. It had started to produce "root nodes" and and was still green and healthy. I changed its water and began to check it weekly. About three weeks later, it had a nice root system. Total time to root...about two months.

After it had plenty of roots, I added some bonsai soil to the cup. I kept it in the cup, with soaked bonsai soil for another two or three weeks before removing it and planting it into a small nursery pot of bonsai soil. It adapted well, and has prodeced many new leaves since.

I currently have about twenty cuttings of various sizes sitting in glasses of water. I pruned my big schef about a week ago and decided to try to root the leftovers. If they take...great. If not, well, nothing lost. The difference is now I know that it is possible and will just wait until they either root or rot.

This is just my experience, and I offer no guarantee that you will have similar results. Good luck!

Regards,
John

P.S. I just noticed that you are trying to root a single leaf. This may not work...my successful cutting was a piece of stalk with three leaves on it, as are my current cuttings. But as long as it is not rotting, why toss it? Let it be until it either roots or rots. If it does root, it will grow FAST!

4-Apr-2005	#4
jloeschner Archbonsaist in training Join Date: Aug-2004 Location: Wynne Country: United States USDA Zone: 7 AHS Heat Zone: 8 Posts: 479	Max, Wait. About 8 months ago, my cat chewed a large piece of my schefflera and I had to cut it off. Since I was going to throw it away, I decided to try to root it in a glass of water. If it took...good. If it didn't, well I hadn't lost anything. I had already tried to root some in a peat/gravel mix, like I root everyting else, and they just rotted. So I put it into a small glass of water, placed it on a shelf in my dining room, out of direct sunlight, and forgot about it. Two or three weeks later, it was still green, and apparently healthy. However, it still had no roots. Since it was still green, I simply changed out its water and left it alone. Another two or three weeks went by, and I checked it again. It had started to produce "root nodes" and and was still green and healthy. I changed its water and began to check it weekly. About three weeks later, it had a nice root system. Total time to root...about two months. After it had plenty of roots, I added some bonsai soil to the cup. I kept it in the cup, with soaked bonsai soil for another two or three weeks before removing it and planting it into a small nursery pot of bonsai soil. It adapted well, and has prodeced many new leaves since. I currently have about twenty cuttings of various sizes sitting in glasses of water. I pruned my big schef about a week ago and decided to try to root the leftovers. If they take...great. If not, well, nothing lost. The difference is now I know that it is possible and will just wait until they either root or rot. This is just my experience, and I offer no guarantee that you will have similar results. Good luck! Regards, John P.S. I just noticed that you are trying to root a single leaf. This may not work...my successful cutting was a piece of stalk with three leaves on it, as are my current cuttings. But as long as it is not rotting, why toss it? Let it be until it either roots or rots. If it does root, it will grow FAST! __________________ Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement. QUI ME AMAT, AMAT ET CANEM MEAM