Cuttings of semi-hardwood in summer, under mist and softwood of certain Betula with fairly strong IBA may give a chance at success, take many cuttings and expect 1-2 to make it. You can try air layering, I'd start in spring and expect some success, many failures. Certainly you can graft. California is problematic for high-water trees unless you have water running thru your property or standing water. That is: expect less water usage in the future as water becomes properly priced in that state. High-water plants will struggle as folk cut back on the landscape water (usu 1/2 of all HH water usage). Dan

Thisisme (AZ), I was just wondering, what do you base your recommendation on? undoubtedly you must have air layered a bunch of fig branches, or maybe you've done some research and have verified that a several inch thick trunk can be air layered without much fuss, or maybe you've seen some other people air layer thick branches and they've quickly rooted without any ill effects? please enlighten us on your reasoning for such a recommendation. Tks Joli, given that you do not air layer (per your post), I take issue with your statement "I do not air layer, Because it take just as long to root 6 inch cutting & grow it to 2 feet. As it does to air layer a 2 foot " I do air layer fig branches and other plants as well and in a couple of months I can have a 3 ft long 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick fig branch well rooted and cooking in full sun in a 3 gallon pot, where as your cutting is still being babied in the shade and hoping that it would not collapse. I air layer cause it's a 100 pct success rate and fast turn around. John, sounds like your on the edge of a rooftop and you can't see how high the jump is and you're being egged on to jump by others who also can't see the ground. ..... don't jump John....take the stairs down...

I have taken two cuttings off my pelargonium. The first is well rooted (ha, I typed 'rotted' at first) and growing new leaves. The second is freshly 'planted' so hasn't had time to grow yet. After I took the first cutting, the mother plant grew a bunch of new leaves, including one further down the stem than had previously had leaves. You can see where I took the second cutting in relation to the leaf. My question is - since these plants can grow from cuttings, can I repot the mother plant and bury some of the stem to help make it less leggy? Will the stem that is buried take root? I plan to repot the mother plant into the 5-1-1 mix (unless it's thought the gritty mix would be better for the plant). Will that cause an issue with rot because it has two (3?) cut-off stems low on the plant? Or - will cutting it back again potentially cause it to start growing new leaves further down the left-over stem, like it did after the first cutting? Thank you!!!

Thanks, Laura, for your input... I've never air-layered or grafted, and quite frankly, the thought is a little scary to me. I don't want to lose this plant. It's one you gifted me with, and I'm enjoying it so much! Thank you! :-) The flowers are a beautiful white, and the scent is wonderful! Coincidentally, it opened its first bloom on my son and daughter-in-law's Anniversary! I do have it staked, but it still seems rather unstable and top heavy... it also needs a re-pot, but when I saw the inflo starting, I decided to leave it alone until it actually flowered. I didn't want to chance that it might abort blooming. It finally has the light it needs, and much better humidity in which to grow during active season. I think I will upgrade the stake to a stronger one, and give it until spring before attempting anything drastic! Thanks, Laura! :-)