Crape Myrtle propagation

15 years ago

Hello everybody, I'm new here, and I've been searching around on crape Myrtle propagation. I feel like I'm doing everything right, but I'm wondering why it is taking so long for my cuttings to root. Let me tell you about my setup... I have a 95qt rubbermaid clear storage bin, no lid, sitting next to a northeast facing window. I am using a walgreens humidifier with a 1" tube feeding into the storage bin, that is set, by timer, to fog out the bin every 4 minutes, for one minute, from 6am till 9pm. With the lid off, the leaves have time to dry before the next on time. House stays at 75-78 degrees. I haven't had any problems with fungus. All the leaves are staying nice and green. I have pulled a couple cuttings that have been in there for more than 2 1/2 weeks, and they haven't even began to root. Am I just being impatient? The sections of the cuttings in the medium are much darker than the sections above the medium. From what I've read, they should root much quicker. I have about 10 cuttings of muskogee, and about 20 of this nice dark pink crape from work. The medium is quikcrete corse multi-purpose sand.

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Comments (6)

yiorges-z5il
15 years ago
I usecuttings 3-4 inches long of firm new growth 7 one (1) leaf at tip. apply 0.1% IBA (rooting hormone) then use your procedure for keeping humidity high...... takes 21-100 days to root.
chrishark86
Original Author
15 years ago
A few of the cuttings have a very light amount of white fuzz (fungus?) around the base of the cuttings at the medium, and the removed leaf nodes. Is this normal, or are these cuttings wasted? Is there a way to combat this?
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gcalford_ymail_com
15 years ago
When rooting crape myrtles how many plants do you need to put together to make one tree? Do you just use one.
brandon7 TN_zone7
15 years ago
Chrishark86,

It sounds like your cuttings are staying too wet. That's what causes the white fuzzy fungus.

Cindy Alford,

I would usually use only a single cutting per plant. Most crapes sucker easily, so multiple stems form naturally.
john_ny
15 years ago
I, also, think the cuttings are too wet. Here's what I do. I use a very well draining mix, ÃÂ½ peat & ÃÂ½ perlite. The mix is put into regular nursery trays, with holes in the bottom, to allow drainage. The trays are sitting on a wire mesh bench. The mist comes on for only 6 seconds, every 6 minutes. The first picture is with the mist off. The second is with it on.

(I don't know why the second picture came out so small, but you get the idea.) I think what you want to do is cut down on the length of mist, and make sure that what container you're using (pots or trays) has holes in the bottom, and is up off the floor of the tub. (not sitting in water.)
clinda62
15 years ago
When I prune in late, Feb. or early Mar., I just stick the 10 - 12 in. leafless cuttings in either a pot or directly in the ground. By fall they have rooted and are ready to plant. I have done it this way for years and it never fails. Back in 1997 I bought 8 crape myrtles about 6 ft. tall. I planted them along my fence line. I now have another 24 crape myrtles on my property and I rooted each one of them this way. I don't use root hormone.

I won't even try to guess how many I have rooted and given away or traded for other plants with friends. I've even been able to trade a bunch of my potted crapes for other plants at my local nursery. I have saved a bunch of money on plants doing this. Works for me.