Crape Myrtle Propagation

Felicia

I am starting some Crape Myrtles tomorrow from cuttings. Can they stay indoors? What kind of starting potting mix is best? What kind of root hormone is best?

Thanks,
Felicia

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Tony

I doubt it Felicia. Crape Myrtles are deciduous cold hardy shrubs. I don't think they would make it very long inside. You would probably have better luck taking hardwood cuttings in early spring. If you do it now don't bring them inside, put them in a sheltered but cool location, like an unheated garage. Rootone or whatever kind of rooting hormone you find at the garden center should be fine. Most of my cuttings go into a mix of 60% coarse sand and 40% sphagnum peat moss. Many things will work but you basically want a soiless mix that will drain well yet stay moist. If the mix stays too wet or you use soil you'll have fungal problems.

Tony

Felicia

Thank you tony! I planted 5 of them today with coarse sand and peat moss. I put a plastic bag over them so they can get humidity and I stuck them in the unheated garage. Do they need a light? How much do I need to water them?
Thanks again!

Felicia

I cut and planted 5 crape myrtles, I put them in coarse sand and peat moss, I put plastic baggies around them for humidity, and then I put them in my unheated garage. Do they need some kind of light? How much should I water or spray them?

Thanks,
Felicia

TreeBay

I haven't propagated Crepe Myrtle, but I do grow them. When I read your first post it seemed a little weird to me to be doing this in the winter, or what I thought might be winter because I didn't know your location then.

I probably would treat these like crabapple, which you typically would take cuttings from in the early summer and keep in a high humidity environment.

I checked out a couple links and this seems to be pretty common for crape myrtle, too:

http://www.ces.uga.edu/pubcd/L331.htm#Propagation

So for your specific question, , I have no idea how to prepare Crepe Myrtle winter cuttings. In very early spring you need bottom heat, not too much water, etc. But this time of year you'd need to keep them from becoming dessicated while still ensuring that they don't freeze, and they have no roots. So, I don't know where you'd go with that.

Good luck. Maybe try again in the summertime.

Regards,

Matt

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Tony

Felicia, I would take the baggies off. I think that will lead to fungus problems if you leave them like that all winter . It should be plenty humid in your unheated garage. The cuttings won't need light during winter, [not for growing anyway] they are just resting for now until growing conditions become right and they can start producing roots. Next spring get them outside in bright indicect light. Bottom heat would help too. Check them often and water when needed. They shouldn't be kept wet, just barely damp, like a wrung out sponge.

Take some more cuttings in spring and treat them the same way and see which do best. I'm thinking you'll have better success rates with less fuss by taking them in spring. By the way. I'm glad to see another Okie around here, I'm close to OKC.

Tony