Airlayers and Cuttings....what's got roots?

Jeff Searle

Well-Known Member
2,354
26/08/08
79
88
Here in south Florida, were in the midst of a fantastic growing period of time. Why? Temperatures are well into the 90's during the days, and still in the 80's at night. And to top it off, were in the middle of a good rainy season. I recently put some cuttings in the mist house, but I also put a few airlayers on my bigger plants at the house. These have now been removed from the "mother plants" and potted up into 3 gallon pots. They are exploding with new roots.

Anyone else sticking some cuttings or thrown some tinfoil on their plants? What varieties if so ?



Jeff
 
A little more advice for a newbie please.

i will be traveling around town with clippers more often now, and will be returning with some cuttings of the many different crotons I see here and there. Should I let them "scab" over for a day? Should I stick them in a vase full of water for a day or two before putting them in soil? Do I really need to use any rooting compound.? If I can, should I take a bigger stemmed cutting? Most things over here just seem to grow no matter what I do, so do I really need to even worry about it?

Any tips would be appreciated.
 
Dean,

I sit new cuttings in a vase of water for a day so they can suck up some extra water. They next day, I peel the bark off the lower tip and dip the cutting in root tone. The cuttings should then be stuck in some good potting mix. Don't worry about planting too deep as this is not a problem for crotons. To finish, I put water the cutting and then place a plastic bag over the pot. The bag is kept in place by a rubber band I wrap around the container. If you have a misting bed, use that and disregard everything above. Good luck and welcome to the madness!!

Ray
 
I've done a few airlayers over the years, but find my mistbed to be the most efficient way of starting cuttings. Of course, I can't compare my 5' x 2' spread to the massive operation that Jeff has, but I do crank out quite a few plants when I put my mind to it.

Best results for cuttings? Cut gray wood only, no green, and cut on a 45 degree angle. 1/2" above the cut make two slashes, on opposite sides, just to remove some outer bark. Either remove all the leaves or cut them all in half. No rooting hormone. Put the cuttings into fast draining, organic potting mix and either mist daily for a few weeks or water several times a day for a few weeks. I take plants off the mistbed as soon as I see new growth and move them from 1 gallon to 3 gallon cans as soon as root start poking out through the bottom holes.
 
I took most of my air layers to the meeting at Rick's. The only thing still attached is King Of Siam, Glen Roof, Dr. Alexander (Bender's creation not the original Dr. Alix), Veitchii and Bimbo.
 
For two years I have been watching this limb and the leaves stay yellow with a small red vein,under side of the leaves have a pink blush. Is this what is called a sport? Should I try to root it from the parent plant?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0280.jpg
    IMG_0280.jpg
    196.6 KB · Views: 164
  • IMG_0281.jpg
    IMG_0281.jpg
    188.5 KB · Views: 169
Scott,
Yes this is a 'sport' and since crotons are genetically unstable, sometimes the new growth resorts back to the original parent plant, or some percentage thereof. This is what makes crotons so cool.

Once a bit larger, I would cut it off and root it out. It would make for a cool sport from the exisiting parent plant (which looks a bit like red excurens).
 
Dr. Brown mentions the 'all yellow' leaves in his book. They lack chlorophyll - bad news for plants. I see them on a few of my crotons also. They stagnate for a year or two then die or defoliate. I've never bothered to try and air layer one. However, the worst you can do is kill it by air layering or taking it as a cutting.
 
Dr. Brown mentions the 'all yellow' leaves in his book. They lack chlorophyll - bad news for plants. I see them on a few of my crotons also. They stagnate for a year or two then die or defoliate. I've never bothered to try and air layer one. However, the worst you can do is kill it by air layering or taking it as a cutting.

I agree, don't waste your time. No chlorophyll. No grow.....
 
Jeff the croton that Judy is holding in the photo is gloriosa. We got the 35 additional air layers potted up yesterday. Our total for the year in the Keys alone is 118 with many more to go. These things grow like weeds down here.
 
Florida Botanical Gardens was astounded with our success rate of 100% at air layering crotons. We did Buddy, Lord Belhaven, Queen of Siam, Andreanum, Bravo, and a couple others. We were very happy since this was the first time we had even tried air layering anything. That is a much better success rate than I get when I try to propagate cuttings at home where I don't have a mist table so I use the bag method. We get excellent results using a mist table at the gardens. So I am going to do more air layering at home. The only problem we had was in handling the newly rooted croton we had cut off. Without proper staking, they were a little top heavy and broke just above the roots. When talking with Dr. Brown last year, he told me that air layering was his preferred method for croton propagation.
 
I did right around 175 airlayers this past spring through the summer. I also got great results, and actually didn't loose one plant. I had about 10 or so that were in excess of 3' tall with a large head of leaves. Jungle Queen and Captain Gilbert Cutler were some. But I watered them in right away and placed them in my shadehouse,which helps with the wind blowing them over. I did have to use some stakes on a few of them to keep them up while they got established. It's amazing how fast the roots explode in growth when potted up. Within a month, their pretty firm in the pot usually, where you could pick them up and they don't come out. I agree with Frank, this is the best way to propagate if you have large plants.
 
Top