How do I take cuttings from........

Goji berry and Tamarisk?

hubby is insisting on moving the Goji Berry bushes (the ones he half killed by spraying weedkiller too close) and I want to take some cuttings before he does, in case they don't survive the move.

Also our Tamarisk has outgrown the place its in, but I love it, so I want to take cuttings of it.

Can someone please tell me (in simple terms) how to go about doing this & also how to make sure the cuttings take?

 

I thought tamarisk was invasive, if so it should be easy to propagate but maybe I'm mistaken or perhaps there are different types? I've seen Tamarisk forests in the Middle East and Morocco where they talked much more about keeping it under control than how to grow more. Of course the climate is very different. Beautiful plants in my opinion so can understand why you want to propagate it. Good luck

 

Funny you should ask about the Goji berries RR as I just took some cuttings from my friends' bushes on Thursday. I had a Google and found this interesting video ...

 

That's a really smart way of propagating Victoria. Would work well with a lot of different plants too,
nice one

 

Yes, I thought so too Jenny ... just remember to wear the appropriate hat!

 

thanks Victoria, I didn't realise it was so easy! One question though.............how are you supposed to water them in a grobag with no holes (only the ones the cuttings are stuck into?)

Westwales, our Tamarisk isn't invasive, its more like a shrub. No, more like a tree, cos the trunk is so thick! It's just in the wrong place now (hubby keeps erecting sheds) and there's no way we can move the thing/dig it up, the root system must be very extensive by now. It's over 10yrs old. So hubby wants to cut it down & get rid of it, but I want cuttings so I can put some elsewhere (where he isn't going to stick another bleeding shed!). Will it be as easy as the goji berry?

 

I haven't got a clue .. but my theory is that I wet the grobag (I am going to do my own mini one with a zip-loc bag for my three cuttings) and water it before I put the cuttings in .. that will be tomorrow.

 

I find editing on here strange now so I will speak again about Tamarisk. It is a beautiful shrub here but I do not have room for it. So, as much as I would love it, I do not have room for it. Shame.

 

if it doesnt mind slightly dry and sunny conditions, I would have to make a hedge of it to block off the road

 

Interesting propagating technique, but it raised some questions for me.

Watering, as mentioned, although if something roots quickly the water in the compost at the start may well be enough until it has rooted.

Removing the rooted cuttings? Going to have to carefully cut the plastic away.

Compost. I find stacked gro-bags are like rock - all the compost is heavily compressed. Also, I prefer to make free-draining compost for cuttings (never done Goji berries though), so I like to mix in Perlite (often as much as 50%).

I also like to have my cuttings around the edge of the pot (I don't know why that helps? but I see it often suggested), so I use "pans" rather than pots (by "pans" i mean shallow pots).

Damp the compost. I like it so that when I squeeze it in my fist no water comes out, but the compost clings together as a ball, and then breaks apart easily if I try to "snap" the sausage.

Fill the pans with the compost-mix to the brim, dib holes [I use a pencil] for each cutting around the rim as I go, firm in really tight, and put a clear plastic bag over the top and keep out of direct sun. Probably won't need watering at all until it has rooted, anything that doesn't like that amount of humidity needs the bag opening occasionally and that will allow water vapour to escape and thus it will need some water.

Use rooting hormone if you like (I usually do), but make sure it is fresh (no idea how you do that, it has no Best Before date, and might have sat in the Garden Centre shelf for years!). Keep it in the fridge to extend its life.

 

My friends are making a hedge of it. They had the plants shipped from the UK about 30cm tall last year and they are now 1.5+ meters tall with berries. They are not irrigated yet so are watered every evening by hand. Obviously we are hot and dry here and the earth is like concrete made of red clay.

I am going to make a mini growbag with a ziplock bag as I only have three cuttings and will put it down in my leanto which is shaded. I am not holding out much hope as I am about as useless with cuttings as I am with seeds!

Ah ha, RR, think you mean the Tamarisk as a hedge. Again, it grows beautifully here and I often see it wild so no problems with dry and sunny.

 

yes, sorry, Tamarisk as a hedge. I knew it didn't sound right when I typed it,

Thank you Kristen. How long do the cuttings take to root and how can you tell since they're in the earth?

 

well "it depends"

Cuttings in a pot, in Spring / Summer, probably about 4 - 6 weeks. In the soil, and if taken in the Autumn, 6 months or more ... the Box cuttings I took in October I potted on March (i.e. 18 months) later - and several of those just had one pathetic root, albeit that the top-part looked just fine!

Acid test is usually that first you get some fresh top growth (but that can happen without roots ... and THEN they die :( ) and second that you get roots coming out of the bottom of the pots. That's no help with anything in the ground, but with some decent roots they should resist being gently pulled out of the ground (but of course if they aren't ready you have disturbed them :( )

 

cheers

 

the Goji berry cuttings seem to be taking OK. One is even flowering!!!