nless you stuck it in clay, you shouldn't rip off any new roots. If in a loose media you shouldn't have any issue. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell just by top growth. Many plants have enough reserve food/moisture to push a little growth even before roots have struck. I once saw a cut red maple log about 18" in diameter sprout a 2' long shoot, that didn't die until nearly a year after it was cut, without a single root on it, just from what was stored in the log. You have to tug on it. GENTLY.

Any time I do a crepe Myrtle cutting I remove the majority of leaves. I want the plant not to try to support the leaves with its sugars and chlorophil as they are very taxing for the plant. They also can fall off and cause mold conditions and rot in the soil. I use a rooting power dip like hormodin 2. I use a cutting that is still green but older green not fresh baby growth , I nip the tender tip off again its alot for the plant to support when I want it to focus on making roots and not keeping its appendages alive. if they wilt its too much heat or too little water but by removing the tips and leaves you have less wilt which is the plants way of saving itself during dehydration. so mist them and keep them out of direct sunlight a shady place is better when rooting plants , just to keep them from drying out

Immobilus, I don't know what zone you're in. I am in zone 7a/7b. I root my crape myrtles in coarse construction grade sand from tip cuttings in warm weather (late spring through early fall). I mist the leaves frequently and they are usually well-rooted within 3-4 weeks. Softwood seem to do better for me. For crape myrtles I strip the bottom 3/4ths of the leaves. If the sand starts to dry out I water it as well. The coarse sand allows water to drain and the cutting is less-likely to rot, however you have to make sure to water the sand itself occassionally and don't let it dry out, it should be moist. Mostly you focus on keeping the leaves misted, that's how you keep them happy until roots can form. The moist medium is mainly so the cutting stays upright. Some successful cuttings will still lose all their leaves only to sprout new ones if a root system was able to develop. I've never tried the bag method or sticking cuttings straight into the ground unless something already has a small root attached. As for vermiculite, whenever I used to work with it I found it compressed too much and retains way too much water which again is more likely to promote rotting of the cutting. Maybe some folks have had success with it but I haven't. That was the first method I tried when I got into cutting propagation years ago. I found it to be unreliable and costly when compared to sand or some other more coarse media. Some people also use Perlite. Now if you mixed the vermiculite with something that has larger particles it might work better With crape myrtles, I have probably an average of 85 - 90% success with the sand and misting method. Depending on the time of the year and conditions sometimes I'll have 100% success with some batches. But if you do try the sand it should be coarse builder's sand to properly drain, not that really fine stuff you buy in bags at the store. Good luck, all I can say is keep trying. Danielle

I would just slice through the roots. I think you should have started with 3.25 gallon crape myrtles. They are smaller but will establish faster and they are also fast growing anyway. Do what you are gonna do now. Dont dig them back up in the fall. I planted 2 of them last july and they are growing very well. Also, the trunks with multple branches emerging will always be like that. If you prune them down they will grow back like that. If you dont like it you ccan cut that leader out. As they grow and get bigger they will fill out. I might post a pic of mine later on tonight when i get home. Also, do you know what variety they are?