Re: Clerodendrums

At 09:45 AM 7/8/99 EDT, you wrote:
>In a message dated 99-07-08 00:53:39 EDT, you write:
>
>
>George-
>
>So you have rooted these in water - I would have never thought of
that....I'm 
>willing to try anything at this point.  I've been taking cuttings (4-6") - 
>soft wood, semi-ripe wood and hard wood over the past year trying to root 
>these in a medium of equal portions of vermiculite and perlite.  I stip the 
>bottom of the stem completely of foliage only leaving 2-4 leaves - if the 
>leaves are big I will cut these by half.  The cuttings keep their leaves for 
>awhile and then just eventually die off.  I do have a misting system in my 
>greenhouse that I keep them under.  
>

Kemberly,

Did the leaves turn brown/black? When cuttings die off like this, it
usually is an indication of infection by fungus. You have to use a clean,
disinfected knife and hose down the shoot thoroughly before cutting it off.
Keep the cutting clean and wash the cutting thoroughly before cutting off
the leaves. Make sure all cuts are made cleanly without crushing the stem.

Or you may have to treat the cutting with fungicide. The safest fungicide
to use is a copper fungicide. Dip the whole cutting into a solution of
copper fungicide before sticking into the medium. Copper fungicides also
work against bacterial infection.

If there is a systemic fungus infection already, the copper fungicide will
be useless. In such a case, you will have to spray with a systemic
fungicide that is effective against the culprit. I have tried with success
Aliette, Benlate, or Sweep. At first, it is trial and error, but soon
enough you can tell which will work based on the symptoms you see.
Remember, when working with fungicide, to follow the usual precautions.

You may also have to disinfect the medium by sterilizing it before using.

I hope I have not swamped you and discouraged you with so many options. You
don't have to try them all at once, but whatever you try, I wish you success.

George
Metro-Manila
Philippines

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PROPAGATION
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index