Hi,
I was wondering what is the best way to root cuttings. In water or compost?
I have a very big brug that needs cutting as it is getting int he way. i am thinking of cutting two or three big branches near the ground.
Can I use every bit of the branches for cuttings? Even the hard woody bit a the base of the tree?
Thank you:o)
best way to root cuttings
Hi Spider07,
You can take a very big cutting and make the cut close to the ground. I took several early this summer. After cutting, I removed the large leaves leaving the smaller ones and placed the cuttings in a bucket with about 4" - 5" of water and a little bit of hydrogen peroxide. When the cuttings developed white nubs I planted each cutting into a 12" pot. The pots were slightly large considering that the cuttings didn't have roots, but I needed the height for the stake I put in the pot with the cutting (tied the cutting to the stake for stability)
The important thing is to keep the soil barely moist to keep the cutting from rotting.
Here's a link you might find interesting:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/661617/
Betty THANK you for posting this link. It was an excellent tutorial for me, although I still don't really know what a "standard" means. All my brugs were given to me as rooted cuttings, I guess standards....
Standard = tree like = one main trunk. Standards made from shoots that arise from the ground or lower branches that have not produced a "Y" grow straight and make the best standards. The fastest way to get one is to leave the shoot on the mother plant until it produces a "Y" before removing it from the mother plant. You can't control where the shoot will form the "Y". When you remove the cutting, you can cut part of the bottom off if you don't want such a tall standard.
Bettydee, thank you very much for the article. i am going to do that. will keep you informed.
thank you:o)