Rooting a Michelia Alba branch?
angelsmell
19 years ago
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Clare_CA
19 years agocloob
19 years agoRelated Discussions
Michelia x alba cutting
Comments (2)It's worth a celebration for rooting alba. I was told many times that the only way of propagating alba is by air layering. The alba can be kept in a container for sure, I live in Ottawa, Canada. Far colder than your zone. I am keeping an 8 feet tall Alba in a sunroom, growing like weeds and the fragrance is overwhelming. I have to prune it soon. It blooms profusely in a relatively small size. If you have a green house, it's going to love it. The only trick is the perfect drain, use clay pot if you can. Don't overwater and don't let the root gets too cold. If the mother plant has reached flowering size, I would say you are going to see flowers next winter time. What did you do to get it rooted? I am to lazy to air layer so many twigs....See MoreAir layering my Michelia Alba.... What am I doing wrong?
Comments (12)Hi! I am new at air layering, but I have had success nonetheless. The best time of year for me has been right before they leaf out, in the spring. They have rooted quite quickly and I severed them from the shrub/tree in the fall and potted them. I would scrape the branch all the way around so that the shrub doesn't try to heal it self over if I only scraped one side of it. Pencil thickness is good, but make sure that it isn't old wood. I do put rooting hormone on mine, the powder kind, although honestly I am not sure if I need it. Then I wrap it well with moist (not wet) moss that I found in our woods. Holding the moss it place with my hand I completely covered it with aluminum foil. I think foil works best because it helps it not to dry out as fast, because the sun bounces off of it. If you were to use, let's say plastic wrap or something, then you would be making a mini greenhouse. Check your air layer in about a month to see how it's coming along. If you are too eager you may hurt the roots that are coming when you unwrap the foil. Some people wrap the moss in plastic wrap, then put the foil over that so that when they unwrap the foil they will be able to see if there are any roots without disturbing them. Hope that helps a bit!...See MoreMichelia Alba 911 EMERGENCY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comments (6)amberlin, I suggest you repost your thread to the Fragrant Plants forum. You'll receive lots more replies there as 'Michelia Alba' is considered one of the 'benchmarks' of fragrance in the 'Fragrant Plants' forum. Anyway, to answer your question, rapid and widespread falling and yellowing of mature leaves especially when it starts at the bottom of the plant and upwards, is a sure sign of overwatering and root rot. Did you do anything to the plant like transplanting it? If you transplanted it, make sure the rootball is at the SAME or HIGHER level in the soil as in the original pot/container. Burying the rootball deep into the soil CAN kill it especially when overwatered. I can tell you now that based from my experience, once ALL of the mature leaves of 'Michelia Alba' turn yellow and SAG or DROOP, DEATH is almost as SURE AS THE SUN RISES. Any emergency procedures you do now will be of little help. In case however, you have that 'fighting spirit' to try to save the plant, (there is 30% probability that it could still 'survive'), you should dry the SOIL to the 'CORRECT' moisture level within 24 hours before the 'exponential' root rotting and decay becomes irreversible. If you can't dry the soil to the 'CORRECT' moisture level within 24 hours, better repot or transfer the plant into DRY SOIL and water VERY LIGHTLY afterwards. (DO NOT soak the soil especially soil near the rootball area). DO NOT fertilize a stressed plant like this. If you do decide to TRANSPLANT or REPOT, do take note of the proper way to position the rootball as I mentioned above. Avoid putting the stressed plant in FULL SUN while it is still in critical condition. (Especially avoid the NOON or EARLY AFTERNOON sun). Michelias are *VERY SENSITIVE* to OVERWATERING and are very succeptible to root rot. Good SOIL DRAINAGE and good WATERING HABITS are of PARAMOUNT importance. I hope you save your Michelia Alba. It hurts to lose such an excellent fragrant plant. tropical...See MoreUrgent! Michelia alba slowly dying after being planted in the ground
Comments (5)I would clean up the weeds and small plants around the trunk and give the tree more space. And then, I would add some fresh and clean top soil or potting soil on top of the roots to cover the roots up, about 1/2 to 1 inch, and sprinkle some water to work the soil into the roots. Air bubbles and empty spaces between roots can kill the root hairs on the roots. The soil will fill up those empty spaces. Root hairs are the main tissue to absorb water and nutrients to the tree. Do not add too much of water as we want to avoid water log and root rot. I avoid using organic top soil or organic potting soil as most of them contain manure or other unknown organic substances, especially when the tree is weak right now. If I have some potting plants, I would move them near the tree to create micro-climate to keep it warm in winter, but not too close. Too close could create too much moisture, which promote fungal growth. I also would not let their branches touching each other to avoid scratching each other to create wounds. Move those potting plants away in other part of the year for fresh air and sun light. I would feed it with half strength of Miracle Gro solution for the tree to reduce the transplanting shock, just for one time at this time. Winter is not its time for fertilizing. Too much of fertilizer will promote new growth, which will be killed by cold weather. I agree with Grant Yang's assessment. Michelia alba is a tropical tree. The tree drops some leaves is responding to the cold weather. The roots of Michelia alba are quite brittle. Once it was planted in about the right level with the ground, do not dig it up again. The roots should not be exposed to the air too. Cover the roots up with clean top soil. Bay Area is in rainy season right now. We do not need to water them unless the top soil is dry by a few sunny days. Good luck. I transplanted my 5 years old Michelia alba from pot to ground 3 years ago. It is under a tall Russian Olive tree. I live in East Bay. It is hot in summer and cold in winter. From time to time, it is quite windy too. I have to stick it to keep it straight. I plan to prune it next year to keep it about 12 feet tall....See Morekukiat
19 years agocloob
19 years agoangelsmell
19 years agokukiat
19 years agoMickey Kwok
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