Ficus cuttings, questions about going from water to soil

Ledbetter

A little while ago i trimmed my ficus and kept some of the cuttings, i put one in water, some in different soil mixes and two in commercial "gel2root" packs. After about a week and a little the one in the water has little white bumps growing under the water so i was wondering when i should put it in some soil?

And could anyone tell me what i should use for the soil mix when i transplant it out of the water?

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bonhe

Hi Ledbetter,
How are the ones which you placed in soils and gel2root? Are they still showing the sign of living?

You'd better to wait until you see more root come out then transfer it to the soil. I did lot of cuttings for tamarix so far (I placed them into the water, after 7 days, I could see lot of root come out, then I waited for 4 more weeks when lot of long roots produced, then I trasfered them into the soil). I used pumice:peat moss with 6:1 ratio for tamarix.

So far I have no failure in this;-) Oops, actually I had one fail at first. Reason: when I transplanted the cutting from the water to soil, I did that in winter time and tamped the soil around the cutting (the roots are so soft and brittle)
Lesson: when you transfer cutting to pot, you should pour the mixed soil into the pot with one hand, another hand to hold the cutting in place, then can use the chopstick to comb out the root to diferrent directions to obtain good nebari later on. After finishing, use the water to settle the soil down (remember using the water can with fine spray) and add more soil as needed.

I also did cutting for ficus but I just placed them into the soil which inluded pumice:fine pine bark:peat moss with ratio 5:1:1. My big cutting so far is about 1cm diameter. No failure. Next year, I plan to do cutting on ficus with trunk diameter about 15 cm.
Bonhe

Ledbetter

The ones in soil arent looking so good, the leaves are curling but they are still really green. I'm thinking it's cause i put one in peat moss and one in a seed starting mix (both dipped in liquid root hormone). The gel2root ones are doing alright the leaves arent curling and i think i can see little roots but the leaves look limp/weak...or something it's hard to explain. The one i put in water rooted the fastest by far but i've read that these roots have trouble adjusting to soil so we'll see how that goes.

Does anyone have any ideas of what i could to save the cuttings that are in the soil?

clrosner

When I take cuttings, I usually cut all the leaves in half. This way you do not touch the cuttings until you see lots of new leaves. Just remember that the leaves above the soil line mirror what's going on in the soil. That way you know roots are developing when you see new leaves developing!

__________________
Carl L. Rosner - near Atlantic City zone 6/7
arteacher3725@yahoo.com

CHECK OUT MY UPDATED WEBSITE AT[B]:
www.carlrosner.com

xmacro

I'm thinking of taking some new cuttings froma tree near my campus and need some advice - when you say put the cutting in water, do you mean literally putting the clipping in a glass of drinking water and letting it develop roots?

also - after I get a clipping, where do I cut on the twig before putting it in the water?

thanks for any help!

clrosner

The only cuttings I put in a glass of water are Serissa. I prefer to obtain coasrse builder's sand, chicken grit or pearlite. I soak the sand , etc and then poke a hole with a chop stick, then I dip the cutting in hormone powder, and place in the hole. Tamping the sand or (?) whateve you use around the cutting. As mentioned above, I cut all the leaves in half and wait until new growth is growing well. I leave these cuttings for at least a season. Cuttings should be started in the spring, however there are many different trees that have different times to take cuttings. For instance, Pomegranates should be taken in the summer (in the northern states.) Investigate the tree you are going to take cuttings, so you will know the best time to take a cutting!

Good luck!!!

__________________
Carl L. Rosner - near Atlantic City zone 6/7
arteacher3725@yahoo.com

CHECK OUT MY UPDATED WEBSITE AT[B]:
www.carlrosner.com