Texas Gardening: Gardenias in Houston?, 1 by fancyflea

fancyflea wrote:
Funny you should mention cuttings, Smokette. It's a great time to do cuttings for you. Here are some cuttings I started last year about this time. The yellow leaves are natural and what happens to the older leaves. It was from my neighbors huge old 8 ft. gardenia bush. I took 4"-5" cuttings from the NEW growth(3 to 4 sets of leaves). I stripped the bottom 1 or 2 sets of leaves, dipped them in Rootone and stuck them in prepared moist soil. I used a small 3" yogurt container with holes on the bottom for drainage for each cutting. That way I could transplant the cutting easily into a larger pot in the Spring. Soil was half sand and half potting soil. Then I covered them up with a plastic bag. I took the bag off for a few hours every other day or so, to give them some fresh air. I kept them in the house in indirect light for the first month to 6 weeks. Then moved them slowly into the sun when I saw signs of new growth. I did 8 cuttings and 5 made it. Not bad for my first, I tell ya!