RobertB
Chumono
So I finally brought myself to purchase a bougainvillea this summer with plans on propagating some cuttings for bonsai training. I had always heard that bougies were some of the easiest to propagate. I haven't done anything to the mother plant yet besides snip some branches off on 7/22 to make cuttings. I was thinking of repotting but wanted to first learn about and wait to repot till next year. The plant itself isn't anything really that special besides the really nice white / pink flowers it puts out.
So my plan is to propagate cuttings from the plant to train as bonsai. I took 9 cuttings on 7/22 and planted in a med size bonsai soil. I cut 2 branches off the mother tree once the flowers has faded and the plant had moved back to veg growth. The two branches were cut into about 4 inch cuttings, cutting right below a node on the bottom, dipped in hormone and trimmed the old bracts off and leaves up to the top of the cutting leaving only a few leaves. If they were large, I cut them in half. I then left on my table which has a shade umbrella (whole table is under a large oak tree). The cuttings received about 1.5 hrs of direct sun in the early morning then shade the rest of the day. I handed misted these (my wife when I was at work) about 4 times a day. I should also mention that the humidity has literally been close to 100% every day so I didnt cover them with anything. Within a week, most of the leaves started to fall off and I moved the cuttings to my back porch in full shade. By now, all the leaves have fallen off and I moved them back on my patio where they will start getting a little sun again. There are still a few cuttings with buds partially opened but not looking great. Half of the ones that have the half open buds have turned brown.
I decided to pull a cutting out yesterday (the one the dropped leaves first) and exam it. There was no callusing at the bottom but when I broke the stem in half, it was still green.
Do these take some time to root? Is it normal for them to drop all their leaves before they root? Do they need some sunlight to root?
This weekend, I plan on starting more in pure pearlite. 100% pearlite seams to be the only medium I have success with for cuttings. I will probably prepare the cuttings exactly the same but plant in pearlite then cover with a plastic tube, while still misting 4 times or more a day.
If these done work, I will probably wait till next summer and start trying cuttings and some air layers too.
Any recommendations?
So my plan is to propagate cuttings from the plant to train as bonsai. I took 9 cuttings on 7/22 and planted in a med size bonsai soil. I cut 2 branches off the mother tree once the flowers has faded and the plant had moved back to veg growth. The two branches were cut into about 4 inch cuttings, cutting right below a node on the bottom, dipped in hormone and trimmed the old bracts off and leaves up to the top of the cutting leaving only a few leaves. If they were large, I cut them in half. I then left on my table which has a shade umbrella (whole table is under a large oak tree). The cuttings received about 1.5 hrs of direct sun in the early morning then shade the rest of the day. I handed misted these (my wife when I was at work) about 4 times a day. I should also mention that the humidity has literally been close to 100% every day so I didnt cover them with anything. Within a week, most of the leaves started to fall off and I moved the cuttings to my back porch in full shade. By now, all the leaves have fallen off and I moved them back on my patio where they will start getting a little sun again. There are still a few cuttings with buds partially opened but not looking great. Half of the ones that have the half open buds have turned brown.
I decided to pull a cutting out yesterday (the one the dropped leaves first) and exam it. There was no callusing at the bottom but when I broke the stem in half, it was still green.
Do these take some time to root? Is it normal for them to drop all their leaves before they root? Do they need some sunlight to root?
This weekend, I plan on starting more in pure pearlite. 100% pearlite seams to be the only medium I have success with for cuttings. I will probably prepare the cuttings exactly the same but plant in pearlite then cover with a plastic tube, while still misting 4 times or more a day.
If these done work, I will probably wait till next summer and start trying cuttings and some air layers too.
Any recommendations?
