New crape myrtle cuttings, to bag or not to bag in zone 8-Atl. GA

13 years ago

Never have had success with cuttings so trying to learn as I go.

I did my research and searches and discovered how to take cuttings from a crape myrtle and root them. So I found my donor crape... nice pretty deep red that was not available at any nurserys when we got our 2 white ones.

I got a ton of semi-hard wood cuttings. Followed the directions from an article I found here:

Cuttings: 4-8 inch range,

striped all but a few leaves at the top,

dipped cut tip in rotting hormone,

used a 50/50 sand/peat mixture in pots,

poked a hole with a dibber,

put my cuttings in,

moistened soil (not too wet) damp,

covered in plastic bag,

kept in location that sees light, but not direct sunlight.

Noticed the soil is staying nice and damp.

2 of the 3 containers seem to have cuttings that are browning and getting white on them (mold or mildew)?

I made sure the bags were not airtight around the base as I know the plant needs to breathe. Hoped that would keep the humidity level about right.

What is happening? Are my cuttings failing? Did they need more or less air getting thru the bags? Do they need more light perhaps? Do I need holes in the bags, or is the humidity too high and I'm rotting them?

HELP! I don't want to loose them!

Thank you!

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Comments (25)

gardningrandma
13 years ago
I've never heard of using a plastic bag. You need some air in there. Something like a clear plastic rubbermaid container with some holes drilled in it should be better for you.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
13 years ago
The use of plastic bags to cover cuttings is very common, just not WOODY cuttings. I'd remove the bag. I assume that this container is outside, correct? They will appreciate the outdoor humidity and warmth.

What kind of container ARE you using? Does it drain rapidly?

We really can't answer your questions very accurately without actually seeing the situation. Your procedure sounds 'okay', though I'd worry a bit about the consistency of the peat and sand. I'd like to see something with some bigger particles...like perlite.
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Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
13 years ago
Your cuttings sound like they are failing from the info provided. You haven't told us what you dipped it in, but you want a low dose of IBA, I'd use a liquid. Cuttings root fairly easily so just a weak formula should be OK. No powder.

I also wonder about the plastic bit and personally if I were to do this I'd use a 4" pot and no plastic surrounding it.

Dan
redraif
Original Author
13 years ago
The plastic bag on top was something I had seen a few times in my searches. Ment to help keep the soil from drying out so quick... Like a mini green house I guess.

What designates a woody cutting? The time of year the cutting is taken and if it has bark? By you saying "Woody" cuttings, mine classify as such???? I'm betting I should not have covered mine. Do you think they are OK?I have so much to learn.

Yes these are outside, but in the garage. So they see light, but not direct light. I noticed any plants I left on the porch or out in the sun would dry out way too fast, so I did not want to risk that for them.

I'm using a plastic planting container with about 5 holes in the bottom. Its a from some plants I bought this year or last year. I mixed it 50/50...sand and peat, but it looks like there is more sand then peat when you look at it. The sand is not the play sand that packs either. It's sharp pool sand. The soil feels quite light and airy. Its very easy to scoop your fingers into to it and stir it around. The sand was damp when I mixed it in and everyday I stick my finger in the soil and make sure it feels damp, not wet. So far its remained damp through out. I have the pots sitting in a pan so if the soil started to feel dry I can add some water to the pan and let it take it up the pot. I read this in some postings on seedlings, used to help control the over sogging of soil that happenes when watering from the top.

The bags just fit over the top of the cuttings and pot. They were not sealed at the bottom, but were not super sloppy either. They are clear. I did not read anything about pooking holes in them, so I did not. However, I did see that (poking holes) when I was reading about winter sowing, so now I worry I should have. I have them placed where they do not get any direct harsh light on them. Since I had what seemed to be mildew in the pot, I pulled the bags. I hoped this would calm the humidity down a bit.

I've tried to use the techniques I found online for this very thing. Please tell me if I've totally misread something and botched it.

I will take some pics of the set up when I get home, so you can better see what I have done.

I think if this attempt fails I will try to get some perlite and try again with some hardwood cuttings. Do they sell it at Home Depot or Lowes?
redraif
Original Author
13 years ago
I will have to get the name of the rooting hormone I used, but it was a liquid not a powder.

Its marketed for use for transplanting new plants from pot to ground or plants ground to new location. Its meant to reduce transplant shock. It said it contains a hormone to stimulate root growth and reduce transplant shock. I was told it would work, so I tried it. I just poored some in a separate cup and dipped the stalks in it before placing them in the soil.
Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
13 years ago
There are softwood, semihardwood and hardwood cuttings. Generally a loose classification based on time of year and hardness of wood. Generally you want wood that has not flowered for most plants, Lagerstroemia too.

Dan
gardningrandma
13 years ago
I think what rhizo meant by woody cutting is cuttings for woody plants as opposed to flowers. I could be wrong.

Redraif,
You're going to have trouble doing this. It's not easy to do this with "woody plants" eg trees compared to flowers.
It sounds like you used root stimulator commonly sold to unsuspecting people to help with new transplants. What you need is IBA rooting hormone. They don't sell it in stores. At least not that I'm aware of. I haven't looked in a long time though.

You need to setup sort of a sandbox with some perlite and it needs exposure to air and it also needs to be kept moist and humid without being totally enclosed or else it will just rot. By the time you get set up, you will have spent many times more dollars than it would cost you for several dozen small plants that are already rooted.
I know that doesn't give the same amount of satisfaction and this dose of reality isn't going to stop you so if your aim is to propagate your own, try seed.
Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
13 years ago
Commercial growers generally use softwood or semihardwood cuttings to propagate Lagerstroemia, albeit in a GH with misters. But it is not hard to do and if you have 10 pots you should get 1-2 out of it no mister and moisture right.

Dan
gardningrandma
13 years ago
Without a mister you'd have to hit it with a spray bottle very frequently. Is that what you had in mind, Dan?
brandon7 TN_zone7
13 years ago
I frequently use plastic bags as moisture tents for woody cuttings. They work fine for me. I've got a few dozen cuttings out on the porch right now that just recently were removed from their tents. Of course, they have to be kept in a shady area or the tents become ovens. I don't usually do this, but a few holes punched with a hole punch wouldn't be a bad idea.
gardningrandma
13 years ago
What are you growing in them?
Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
13 years ago
IME bags cause more problems in some instances, woody cuttings included, as you have to watch to prevent poaching, mold, too wet and sodden, etc.

Really, here, absent having a greenhouse I'd try ground layering and just eliminate all this extra work rather than trying to cut and dip and pot and watch and mist and move and mist and re-pot.

Dan
redraif
Original Author
13 years ago
Ok pics of my poor cuttings... so tell me what I have done wrong here and what I can do better for next time.

the root hormone I used
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Over all layout... You can see the window above, the bags tucked behind, since I'm not using them now.
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The mildew and white stuff
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Close up of soil mix

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Mix in the pot

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Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
13 years ago
No wonder you are not getting success. That product contains zero hormones. That product is a fertilizer.

You want a product that contains a rooting hormone, specifically IBA about 1000-1500 conc. for Lagerstroemia.

Dan
sylviatexas1
13 years ago
I think part of the reason I used to lose my crepe myrtles cuttings was that I tried to root them when the days were getting longer (it seems that topgrowth flourishes during longer days & cuttings do better when the nights are longer) & because I used strong rooting hormones.
There's an enzyme in our mouths that acts as a very mild rooting hormone.

Last autumn I took about a dozen tip cuttings 10" or so long &...licked the cut ends.

I put all of them into 1 pot of "compost" that I bought at the store, which means it was really a cheapish potting soil.

I mulched them, kept them in the shade outside, protected them from wind, & kept them watered.

When our temps dropped to freezing & below, I piled autumn leaves completely ove the tops of the cuttings.

They've leafed out, & so far, I haven't lost any of them.
redraif
Original Author
13 years ago
Dan... What is ground layering? Also I have seen in my searched that some people do not even use rooting hormones with their cuttings. I'm gonna try to make it to a nursury this weekend and get a real rooting hormone though. I don't have a mister, but I do have a humidifier... LOL... will that work? Or is it humid enough in GA right now. Or I can keep a bottle nearby and go spray a few times a day?

Sylvia... OMG I laughed when I read you licked them. But if it works! I think about passed out when I read it allowed. What are tip cuttings? Just tips of existing branches? I tried to get suckers that were growing out by the ground. It's August now... can I try again? Go get more cuttings? Would cuttings now be considered semi-hardwood or hardwood? No bagging this time... LOL.
Also from my pics... are my cuttings too far gone.

Ok the reason I'm even trying to use cuttings is that I found a beautiful red that I have not been able to locate to buy. I just wanted to be sure I got the red I wanted. hense trying to go the cutting route. Heck our landscaper could not even get them. I just don't want to go the read the tag route and who knows what you get...

Thanks all!
Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
13 years ago
Ground layering is a technique whereby you nick a branch and bend it over into the soil and let it root. Plenty of instructions out there for particular locations. My propagation text indicates weak IBA is best success for cuttings. I never did CM cuttings in lab or elsewhere, but have ground layered (my preferred method). With CM and its suckering, shouldn't be hard to split difference with a couple ground layers and few cuttings.

Dan
redraif
Original Author
13 years ago
Oh ok... thanks. the ground layering won't work in my case as the red CM is not mine. So trying to work that out might be hard. :)
sylviatexas1
13 years ago
Yeah, my friends laughed at me too, but I got crepes & I got roses!

The only twig I don't recommend licking is willow;
it is truly bitter!
Luckily, willow has its own rooting hormone.
You can even boil willow twigs & let the water cool & use the water for hydrate & water your cuttings.

don't know if I'm using the term correctly or not, but "tip cuttings" to me are the growing end of the twig;
just snip off the twig & don't cut off the growing end.

I my own self have been eying a beautiful orchid crepe myrtle here in town, & my "snipper finger" is really itchy!

but...
I'm afraid that our heat would kill the cuttings, & I'd feel like an idiot going back to the homeowner for more if I'd killed the first batch, so I'm waiting for cooler weather;
here in the Dallas area, that means November.

My own rooted cuttings are still in their huge communal flower pot;
they look like they could use some elbow room, but I'm askeered to disturb them during the heat, so they'll probably move into their own pots in late October.

Yeah, your cuttings are gone.

I'd go back to the homeowner later in the autumn to try again.

Best luck!
lucky_p
13 years ago
I don't use a bag for azalea cuttings, but other semi-hardwood stuff that I root in July/Aug - like CM, mulberry, serviceberry, etc., get a plastic grocery bag draped over the top, at least for a week or so; otherwise, even though I keep all my pots of cuttings in a shady spot on the north side of the house, where they get only indirect sunlight, leaves will be brown and crispy within just a day or so.
Yeah, the bags can be a pain in the butt - if we have a windy day, the bags do blow off from time to time - and sometimes the leaves wilt or dessicate before I get home to put the bags back on - but with this loose humidity tent, most of those will go ahead and root and re-leaf, and it's not so air-tight that I have any problems with mold.
redraif
Original Author
13 years ago
Ok... so here is what I have done. I went to the Nursey and tried to buy... red red red red... crape myrtles. He said they only have this kind and showed me a purplely pinky red. Same issue we had before finding them. So I'm going to try again with cuttings.

I bought from him a liquid rooting hormone "dip and grow" and perilite. So what are your thoughts... Straight perilite? A mix of per and sand? Per and soil? Or a mix of all 3?

I got more cuttings this weekend. I can also get more later in the season if I need to. I got a mix of new suckers with no flowers, and some flowered tips of branches.

How deep should I have the cuttings in the soil? How much leafy area do I leave at the tip? I will leave off the bags and keep them in the garage in indirect sun as before. Mist with a sprayer and keep the soil just barely damp. Does this sound like a good plan?

I'm gonna pull it off one way or the other... LOL!
redraif
Original Author
13 years ago
Here is a pic of my purchases
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tigerlilly_2010
13 years ago
i would like to transplant 4 3 year old ones that i put in my animal area now pasture area , and i want to know when to move them , can you help me ?
redraif
Original Author
13 years ago
Ok just wanted to post a follow up. I got my new cuttings and used my new products... the perlite and dip & grow.

I got a ton of semi-hard wood cuttings.

Cuttings: 4-8 inch range,
striped all but a few leaves at the top,
used a 50/50 mixture in 3 pots of my old sand and peat mix with the perlite,
poked a hole with a dibber,
dipped cut tip in rotting hormone,
put my cuttings in the holes,
moistened soil (not too wet) damp,
kept in location that sees light, but not direct sunlight.

(only bad thing was due to time issues I had to leave the cuttings in water longer then I planned before I prepared them and got them set up in pots)

This time I left off the bags and instead misted in the morning before leaving for work and when I got home from work in the evening.

The leaves browned on me still and I was about to give up and a few days ago 2 gave me some green leaves. So I have 2 out of about 30.

I guess that is good considering I have no greenhouse and can't mist them more then 2x a day.

The question now is leave them alone and kep doing the same thing and let them get stronger or try to take them out of the rooting pot and into a new pot of their own?

I'm leaning towards leaving them till I know if any others are going to try and throw up some green. I worry about the delicate roots and trying to separate them out w/o damage.

When, or do they even need to be transferred to a new pot with a different soil?
sylviatexas1
13 years ago
tigerlily, depending on your area, you can move them just about any time;
here in Texas, I'd recommend any time between now & hard frost.

Just be sure you put them in an area where the animals can't get them or surround them with a protective structure.

redraif, I wouldn't disturb them until they begin to show new growth next spring;
it's just too easy to pull off or damage those fragile roots.

New crape myrtle cuttings, to bag or not to bag in zone 8-Atl. GA

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