This plant is usually propagated by taking the side shoots, or from a ROOT cutting, or by seed. I suggest you speak to an expert at your local nursery, or do WWW searches, for instructions on taking a root cutting.

You know that this is a tree which can get to around 6 metres (20 feet or so), don't you? Potting will stunt it somewhat, but I hope you have high ceilings!

It is very difficult to propagate this plant from cuttings.It is very easy to germinate fresh seeds. I had explained earlier how to do this in one of the postings on GW.You may search this posting under chaman or Murraya Koenigii using GW search facility.
For the plant to develop the suckers one must trim the plant heavily. If the plant is more than 10 to 12 feet in height trim the branches to keep 6 to 10 inches in length.Suckers will develop in about 4 to 6 months.
Plant in the container will not grow tall as the tree.
Another way of propagating this plant is by burrying about 2 inches long pcs. of thick roots in the soil.Shoots will develop in about 2 months but it will take longer time for the roots to develop.This method works well in hot summer.

Hi, pocketsquirrel69. I have started this plant from leaf cuttings I purchased at the grocery. I just strip the lower leaves & put it in the ground in moist dense soil. The density & consistency resembles a "dry mud." If the soil is too porous the leaves will drop. Mine did not do well in a pot because the soil dried too quickly. They will not root well in peat, water, or Perlite  I tried all those. Also, they root best in shade. I did place the cuttings in water prior to planting them but I have not tested to see whether that makes a difference or not.
I use a chopstick to make the hole, put the cutting stem in, & tamp down the soil.
The seeds of this plant are not easy to obtain &/or the plant is expensive. Furthermore, unless they are fresh, there are viability problems. I can get about 20 or more leaf cuttings for a couple of dollars, & from now on I will propagate this way. Within a short period of time I have a small tree.

Doeos anybody have murraya koenigii seeds that they would be interested in sharing with me..

Since this thread talks of various success stories, let me post a "help!" message for a change. My murraya koenigii almost threatened to die some time back, after repotting. I began feeding fish emulsion to it and now it seems to be on its path of recovery.

During this time, I discovered that my plant seems to have extremely small root ball for its overall size. Is this normal? Do these trees have small and shallow root system with only a cluster of hairy roots? Or does this mean they lack something for developing strong roots? What can be done to give them good roots?

Info is greatly appreciated! Thanks.

First to answer homey_bird's question - I don't know much about its roots but I do know that Murraya Koenigii does not like to be transplanted. The best thing to do is to pot it in a fairly large pot and leave it alone. Top dress as needed.
Secondly I have seen several of these plants/trees that have suckers but mine which I got from logees.com as small plants and have had them for about 8 years have never had any suckers, I am almost wondering if there are 2 different varieties.
Third the seeds germinate easily if they are very fresh and once they dry up do not germinate at all. I have never tried to propagate from cutting so I do not know about that.
These are tropical and they are finicky sometimes in the winter and drop some leaves. I personally think it reacts to low humidity. I trim mine pretty heavily in the spring and keep them about 4 or 5 feet tall.
Hope this helps
Hlily

I have had my plant for about three years. It has never produced seeds or any off shoots. It is quite bushy and healthy, I use the fragrant leaves all the time. I heard that there is a male female of theis plant, is that true?
Simmy

Hi Simmysanantonio,

Your Curry leaf plant does not bloom because u keep pinching the fresh shoots (leaf buds) and so it has the lovely bush healthy growth. I envy u.. This is the right way to grow the curry leaf plant. It usually blooms in summer. If u leave the fresh leaf bud part on it this year for a particular stem u should be able to see the flowers before the end of summer.
Mine i got from a friend some 3-4 months back and from day one everything went wrong with it..:( I am still trying to save it. Maybe I will take homey birds advice and try fish emulsion.

Padma

I have been trying to save my Murraya Koenigii plant which has lost all the leaves and branches, only the trunk remains. It is only 18" tall and the trunk is the size of a
pencil.
Can someone please tell me what to do to make it come back to life?
Its in a pot and I am afraid to plant it in the backyard.

Hello

I am trying to propagate several Murraya Koenigii cuttings from fresh stems bought at a grocery store. One of them (about a month old) is showing new leaf growth. Should I remove new leaf growth to let the cutting use the energy to produce roots or leave it alone?

Thanks!

As this seems to be THE Murraya koenigii thread, I will add my questions. I have tried a number of times to grow this tree in containers. One year I got one for an Indian friend and one for me; hers is still alive and several feet tall, while mine died and I've started over. She potted hers in a large pot--and I noticed one person said this plant does not like to be transplanted, so that may be one of my problems--using what appears to be soil from her yard. I've always used Metro-Mix or Pro-Mix in small pots, upsizing as recommended by Logees, my source for these plants.

So, my current issue: I started again just a few months ago. The plant I received was about 2.5-inches tall and in a 2-inch pot when I received it. It had a main trunk that was cut off with a side shoot coming out of the main trunk. I put it into Metro-Mix in a 7-inch pot (after observing my friend's success using a large pot, I decided to go up to the somewhat larger size). It now is 4 inches tall (so it has grown a little, but not much?).

Oddly, my plant has been blooming! A flower stalk appeared at the top of the side shoot; seeds now appear to be developing.

My questions:

1) Can this plant continue to do well (grow much taller, I hope!) given that its main trunk was cut off?

2) Should I pot it up in a larger pot after it finishes blooming?

3) I can't find anywhere that says a male and a female plant are required; is that necessary with this plant?

4) Should I cut the bloom/seed portion off, or should I let the seeds develop?

5) One website says let the seeds dry; another says take them off fresh to plant. ???

6) Instead of 100% Metro-Mix, I'm thinking maybe I should add perlite & sand or use something like African Violet or Cactus mix. Suggestions?

I'm also eager to read the answers to the previous poster's (NCTropics) question--I've never tried starting curry leaf plant from a stem (scratching head--now why didn't I think of that!), but I could easily try it, as there is an Indian grocer not too far away where I can get fresh Murraya koenigii stems!

Thanks for all your insight!

Sandy

Update.. The longer new leaf growth fell off on its own, so I removed the other small ones. The mature leaves are still holding strong. I have covered the cup with an inverted cup to retain high humidity levels.

Sandy,

My take on ur questions are below:

1) based on what other plants do with their main stems cut off I think it will grow stronger roots and there by a healthier and bushier plant.

2) I would wait for the plant to grow some more before repotting.

3) I don't think so. One of my first ones did bloom and bear fruit while it was the only plant in the house.

4) upto you what you really want. Cutting the bloom off will divert the plants energy into developing more leaves vigorously then you lose out on seeds. Keeping the bloom allows you to start new plants with the seeds and keeps your current plant growing at its pace.

5) I have not tried it either ways. If u do decide to get seeds.. It's worth trying both ways.. I guess removing the flesh carefully around the fresh ones may help. I have found the ziplock wet paper towel method works great for many types of seeds (lemons, mango, turmeric)

6) I would add some compost and vermiculite along with a good quality potting mix. I have not tried perlite and sand, but that would also do a good job at drainage.
Do post a picture of ur plant if possible.

Good luck!

Thank you for your answers! I have plenty of aged compost in my compost tumbler, so I will definitely add some to the soil.

Interesting that some of your new leaf growth fell off on its own; my curry leaf dropped a branch a few days ago as well. I started misting it along with my other high-humidity need plants in hopes of preventing that very thing.

I'm in the process of setting up an upstairs bathroom as a humid room for chameleons and those plants that need higher humidity. Not as good as a greenhouse, I know, but all our $$ is going into remodeling right now, so a greenhouse is sometime in the far future! That bathroom has south and east windows in a corner, so I think I will move the Murraya koenigii up there as well to see if that helps with leaf/branch dropping.

As the blooms are already drying out and seed development is going well, I guess I'll just allow that to finish and try planting them for more M. koenigii, as we cook with it a lot (We LOVE Indian food!). Then the plant can put more energy into root development and growth after the seeds have been removed.

Wishing you all luck with your propagation efforts!

Sandy