Serissa cuttings

patmac

I purchased a serissa yesterday from my local Bonsai shop. I love the looks of this little tree. Anyways, I had a bunch of cuttings from a much needed trim. They are soaking in water right now. I think I will dip them in hormone and stick them in the dirt. Any chance theese will take this late in the year?

Patrick

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bmor

Hello Patrick. My experience with serissa has found it easy to root them in a couple weeks just leaving them in a glass of water. You should see little white roots in no time leaving them only in the glass with no hormone.
good luck
B

Misspeled_Name

I like to use potting soil for mine, keep it very wet.

- Misspeled_Name

patmac

I'll try some both ways. I was worried about the time of year. But it sounds like theese are pretty easy to root.

Patrick

Vader1824

I've had serissa cuttings root at all times of the year. I usually just stick them into moist soil no hormone necessary

shamrock

I'm currently in the process of planting cuttings, great advice, thanks

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msgvb

I just tried this with a clip I took. didn't work at all; leaves just turned brown, wilted and fell off. I used some leftover bonsai soil though, and misted it a couple of times.

I suppose it just wasn't wet enough?

What kind of soil? "moist" soil didn't seem to cut it for me. can you offer up any more details?

Misspeled_Name

Ya I have that problem most of the time when I use bonsai soil to start them. The key is to use potting soil and like I said keep it very wet. Mine root in a matter of a week or two this way. You don't even have to mist if you don't want to.

- Misspeled_Name

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"When practicing the art of bonsai, Not only are you growing a tree, but the tree is growing you"

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Joanie

I use a mixture of half peat moss (the small stuff) and half perlite. Keep the mixture moist, which isn't hard to do. If you live in a dry area, or are trying to do this inside the house, you might want to put a clear cover over the top. You can make a cover from clear plastic and wire or something. Don't let the leaves touch the cover, or the potting mix. When I used rooting hormone, I killed them all, perhaps because I dipped them into the hormone when they were wet so they picked up too much powder. Serissa seems to do fine without hormone. So does pomegranate and olive. Take cuttings that are maybe three or four inches long, and that are woody. Clip off some of the foliage, because there are no roots to feed them. I also cut off any flowers, and I make sure to cut them cleanly on the bottom, just below a node. Personally, I insert them at a slant, because I want movement from the bottom. If you pay attention to how you cut them, and do a somewhat diagonal cut and then insert them so that the bottom of the cut is now flat and the cutting is slanted, maybe you will have a nicer nebari with movement from the very start.

However, the typical disclaimer, I've only been doing this for about a year and any advice given here should be considered in that light. Read a lot, do research, and ask your local experts for information that applies in your area.

Joanie

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