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Texas Gardening

Need help with Bougainvillea cuttings

15 years ago

I bought some bougainvilleas with lots of extra branches, and I wanted to take green cuttings and grow new plants. Well, I followed instructions I read online and planted them in good soil and kept them moist, but now it's the next day and they are wilting. Is there anything that can be done? What if I take them out of the soil and put them in a glass of water instead?

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Comments (4)

bobbi_p
15 years ago
Did your instructions tell you to remove all but a few leaves (no more than 4)?

If you took a long cutting with 15-20 leaves, it may be way too much for the stem cutting to support AND try to put on roots.

There are many people who root things in water and insist that that's the way some plants should be started, but in Master Gardener class we were taught that the fine, spidery roots that set on under water end up dying when transplanted to dirt and the plant just has to grow them again. It's best to start in moist soil when possible to minimize transplant shock when the time comes.
mikeandbarb
15 years ago
Yes, put the cutting in water. It takes a very long time for roots to start, I'm talking months. I'd try using some liquid root starter.

I did it once but didn't wait long enough for the roots to get long enough to take.
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plants77
15 years ago
putting cuttings in water is never the best way to root them. roots need oxygen and there is a finite amount in water. They are also susceptible to rotting and too much moisture is a good way to rot them.

learning to do cuttings well is part art part science. Check the propagation forum.
mikeandbarb
15 years ago
Here is a link that will be helpful.

Barbara

Here is a link that might be useful: warm climate production guidelines for bougainvillea

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