Planted New Cuttings - Did I do it Right?

Shambhala

I finally took off the suckers on my quince and a few of them looked like they had some potential. *I dipped the tips of them in some root hormone and planted them in soil with some vermiculite on top (about 70/30 of each). *They are in those peat pots. *I was told that for cuttings it would be wise to use something like a 2-litre coke bottle cut in half to put over the cutting to keep the moisture in.

Any suggestions, or am I doing it right? *Another question is approximately how long am I looking at for a flowering quince cutting to root?

Thanks

Advertisement

TreeBay

The two-liter bottle is a great idea. Some folks used to take the older style bottle that had a plastic sleeve on it and use it as a bottom to make a mini-propagator, but you rarely see that style bottle any longer.

When the leaves on the cuttings increase in size and you start to see some growth, it's a good sign that rooting has taken place. Hopefully your mix drains really well.

Bottom heat does wonders on cuttings. If you can keep the soil media warm without drying out the cuttings, it really accelerates root growth



Here is an example of a type of heating mat that you can find at nursery supply centers and a link to ***CHARLEY*** (enter 8025) where it's priced about USD$25

Regards,

Matt

__________________

Want to be a seller on bonsaiAUCTIONS? Get authorized today!

bonsaiTALK: Over 100,005.36 Megabytes Served this Month!

Shambhala

Thanks for the info! I have noticed that a few look perfectly fine, while two (in the same pot) have wilted leaves. It has been only four days and they look pretty bad. Is this sometimes normal until they grow sufficient roots, or are they dead?

Thanks

Bonsainut

Quince will lose their leaves when you make cuttings of them. But Watch for new buds to form in the next month or so, be patient.
Warm and moist, warm and moist thats the ticket lassie...

__________________
Keep growing,---'Nut



Lethal Use of Farce

Shambhala

Why is warmth so important? Eek I guess I should close my window then

I don't have one of those heating mats and blew most of my money on a few bonsai-related things... know of any makeshift way to heat them up?

ripsgreentree

Shambhala: Relax a little, You need not worrie so much. I do not know what part of the world you are in or what your climate is like but quince wants to grow. Quince often will have rooted suckers that you can seperate from the parent plant, also if when you cut the sucker away from the parent plant you take a little heal with it it will root better. It also helps to cut the sucker back to three or four leaves to incourage budding. When I first started in bonsai I would just push limbs that i had cut off of my bonsai into the soil around the tree that I was working on and give the normal care of water and some of these limbs would root up with out any added help, plants are suprising.
Good Growing.......ripsgreentree

__________________
ripsgreentree

It requires an open hand to give and to recieve.