how to grow griselinia hedging

bored and tired

hi does anyone have any experience in rooting up greselinia cuttings,

i need a shed load so have opted for growing my own from cuttings, i have tried twice now and only 1 in 10 seem to have taken,

i believe this is a good time of year to start them off again, so if anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated, as im not sure what i was doing wrong,

tinofapples

I tried this earlier in the year using cuttings from my Dads hedge. Didn't work for me.

bored and tired

i read somewhere they are supposed to have 70%+ success rate,

that obviously applies to the best conditions and green fingers, but my success rate of 1-10 is not going to help me, i need over 170 to start my hedge, plus extra for gaps,

going to start again,:mad:

bmaxi

Perhaps if you tell us how and when you took the cuttings, we might be able to suggest why you had such a poor success rate.

bored and tired

i took them this time last year and during the spring,
how is basically going out to my mothers and pulling a load of their hedge.
once home i brake the ends again, remove lower leaves, put them in water for a day and pinch the tips, shake off excess water and dip them in hormone rooting powder and stick them either straight into the ground,

the winter group took a bit better than 1/10, around 4/10, but then himself ran over them with the lawn mower:mad:, the cuttings were only about 8", this time they are roughly 16"
At the present i have about 5 growing at the back from my winter planting, the spring ones were at the side and didnt take at all, put in over 200, and got about 15 plants,

im trying 10 with hormone in pot of earth and compost mix at moment - broken off and planted within 20mins so didnt put them in water,
and another 10 broken yesterday are sitting in a glass of water at the moment and im going to pot them up with rooting powder tomorrow.

Does anyone know how long before you should start to see some roots, was thinking of trying to root one up in a jar with cotton wool or something so i could keep an eye on it, also would they do better inside or outside, i was thinking the warmth inside would dry them out and promote growth instead of root formation,

i will be out at mothers at weekend and plan on getting a load, will plant as many in pots as i can, and put some in situ and see what takes, but if i dont have enough of a crop in the spring, if going to admit defeat and buy them bare rooted,

dh0661

bored and tired wrote: »

but then himself ran over them with the lawn mower:mad:,

Also keep the strimmers away from them. Any little nick on the main stem kills them.

The Sweeper

When I do rosemary cuttings they can take up to three months to show roots. I go straight from plant to powder to wet soil in a pot, where they start their little lives off. I usually get 100% with rosemary, but you have to be careful of cuttings - can't overwater, but don't dry out; you can't knock them about, they're very vulnerable - would you consider starting a bunch off in pots until they've got a root system and are a little stronger?

bmaxi

Attacks by lawn mowers are never a good idea . If you want to grow them in pots then I would suggest a 50/50 mix of sand and peat rather than soil or compost and don't make them too long, 4" should be enough. The jury is out on rooting powder, with some experts suggesting it does more harm than good. It is usually better to keep cuttings in a sheltered spot until they root. If it were me, I'd save myself the hassle and buy and plant whips in the autumn, they are very cheap and you'll get nearly 100% success with them.

muddled

So would this be a good time of year to take the cuttings to root?

artieanna

Try this take your cuttings and place them immediatly in a plastic bag have your container ready, root them in (nice clean angle cut at the ends) pop them in and again cover them with plastic. You can remove the plastic after about a week.

The reason the plastic is important is the slips lose moisture quickly and as a result wilt and die.

Hopefully this will increase your success rate.

Hort101

Hi, Im studying horticulture so hopefully ill be some help to you.

Take your cuttings from mid october to december.. november being the best time.. this is known as the dormant season for most plants.. i see your talking about spring cuttings.. they may work but as far as i know they dont succeed as well as winter cuttings.. take a cutting of this years growth.. not old growth.. you will see and notice the younger flesh over the last years growth.. use a secateurs to cut a flat cut on the bottom of the slip just below a bud.. remove any leaves above this area until you reach roughly 1 third the way up the slip.. then use you secateurs again to cut a sloping cut on the top just above a bud.. the energy from the buds will then shoot out and give new vigorous growth.. if you cut a flat cut on top the water will penetrate the slip and rot it.. water runs off the slope.. you vcan buy some rooting powder in for less than 5 euro.. yet if you dont wanna go down that road its fine.. this just helps and aids rooting a little.. just apply a small bit if you use it.. over dosing the bottom of the slip ion powder will result in excess callusing and the slip will not root.. strike the cuttings into peat or fresh soil and frim thenm in.. make sure they are in a sheltered area with roughly half shade and half sun.. wild wil losen the cuttings and they wont settle and root.. keep the soil or peat frim around them.. in a few week or a months time just give them a light tug to see if they have rooted.. after about 2 months you will know..

I know thats a lot of info but its what i learned so i thought id share it..

Hort101

The whole idea of putting cuttings in water is good yet people make the mistake in the final step.. if the water starts to go blurred take the cuttings out and refill the glass with fresh water after about a week or 10 days you will see small root hairs.. after they appear you have to be gentle.. these root hairs will brake very easily.. fill your pot with compost or soil and use some sort of a small shovel to cut a gap in the growing medium and gently place your cutting into it.. the small roots will brake easily so be very careful when you transplanting them..

As the cuttings develop more be sure to take away any weeds as they will dramatically reduce the growth rate..