Hi All;
I have a question? how do i do cuttings from a rhodendron, looks like a minature.here is a picture of the leves & blooms, these are cuttings. any help would be greatly appreciated.
mrsbonnie
rhodendron
oops here is the picture
here is another of the leaves
Bonnie,
I would try softwood cuttings (new growth).
Cut at an angle (like an AV leaf), remove a few sets of leave exposing a few "nodes", dip in rooting hormone, insert in a moist but not wet mixture of perlite/vermiculite and dome :)
In about a month or so you should have some nice rooted cuttings :)
OR, you can layer
If there are some nice new shoots on the bottom of the shrub, pull a branch low to the ground and cover the middle of the branch with a "mound" of moist soil. Once rooted (may take a month or more), you can cut the branch from the mother :)
Hope this helps :)
Pretty plant by the way :)
Kim
I am trying softwood cuttings for Bonnie, but I don't know if a plant that normally suggests semi hardwood cuttings will work. I am going to look it up and just what I can find. Kim knows what will and won't work, but I am curious myself.
I wish we had soil which was acidic enough to grow them.
Be back
***edited to say that this is what I found..........
Most rhododendrons are now grown from tissue culture plantlets or from cuttings. Cuttings are usually rooted in August to October, in peat moss and sand or peat moss and perlite, under mist with bottom heat and with the use of root inducing hormones.
Propagation
The beginner will normally secure his plants from a nursery and so the subject of propagation is relatively unimportant here. However, rhododendrons frequently become a hobby plant and many hobbyists want to do some propagating for themselves.
Rhododendrons may be rooted from layers. A low branch is pegged down into a trench and covered with two or three inches of soil. Usually, cutting a tongue on the underside less than halfway through the branch on the part of the branch which is buried, thus leaving the end of the branch partially attached to the mother plant, will hasten rooting which may require several months. The "tip" of the tongue should be nearest the mother plant.
This message was edited May 4, 2008 6:52 PM
thanks so much for all the help.My son in law went to his mom's home & fell in love with this plant & took some cuttings, so i will give it a try.thanks again.
mrsbonnie