Serissa foetida from Cuttings?

simsorbartin

Can somebody help me on how to propagate serissa softwood cuttings? Thanks

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Tiberious

This is an easy one (IMHO!) Serissa grows well from cuttings.

Select a suitable branch, usually about 3-4 inches in length. Clip it off the main tree and remove the leaves from the bottom .75 - 1 inch of the branch. Dip the newly defoliated end of the branch in some water to moisten and then into a powder rooting hormone. Remove excess rooting hormone and plant in your choice of well draining rooting medium. I use bonsai soil/vermiculite/river stones as my medium. Saturate the pot with water, and spray the cuttings lightly. Place inside of a greenhouse type enclosure, or anything else that will allow you to keep relative humidity high, and seal. Give it indirect sunlight and you should have a new fully rooted plant in 3-4 weeks. You may also find using a heatpad to induce better roots a benefit.

I have also heard from some people that get roots by placing the cutting in a glass with just enough water to cover the bottom of the cutting, and indirect sunlight. Maybe the use of 'SuperThrive' may help? I have never grown a 'tree' using this method. I have found that it works great for vine/climbing plants.

Best results will be cutting the selected branch during the main growing season, ie now. Select one that is growing strongly with a lot of green leaf buds.

If anything is unclear, let me know and I will do what I can to clarify. Good Luck.

simsorbartin

thanks for your help - i did exactly as you told me!

msgvb

Tiberious, what kind of heating pad, specifically?
Can you detail this method? I'm just picturing putting some cuttings/plantings on a drugstore heating pad, but that can't be safe to run all the time, can it?