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lovesgardening

Tips on propogating Nematanthus gregarius please

lovesgardening
18 years ago

hi... have a lovely Nematanthus gregarius outside. read up on them and discovered they can be cut back to one's liking (mine is getting a bit leggy)

so, please tell me when the best time to cut back and propagate cuttings is and which methods were most successful.

thanks,

dory

Comments (4)

  • jon_d
    18 years ago

    Neamtanthus are very easy to root. I often just take the cuttings and plant them in the soil around the plant or in potting mix in new pots, uncovered on window sills, in the greenhouse or outside. My summers are on the dry side and in the range of high 50's at night with typical highs in the 70's to 80's though we do get heat spells up in the 90's and one or a few days (hopefully not!) above 100. Outside I root them in my shade house which stays fairly cool as it is all open on the sides but with a plastic roof under tall oak trees (high shade).

    Cuttings also root in water. I have had plants live in water for over a year (I was lazy), and even set buds and flower.

    The best way to get healthy quickly rooted plants is to root them in a mix of perlite and vermiculite, enlcosed under domes or plastic bags and rooted in good even light such as on a fluorescent light stand. When enclosed they need good light to prevent rotting, and should be regularly inspected to remove any rotting stems or leaves. The best way to grow nematanthus or any of the vines is to pot many cuttings up in a basket, such as 25 cuttings in an 8" pot. Yes, that many is OK. They will grow into dense symetrical plants.

    Jon

  • starry_night
    18 years ago

    Hi,
    Looks like we have the same name :) !
    I just stuck my cuttings a lightly moist soil and they rooted rather quickly.
    Best of luck,
    Dory

  • lovesgardening
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    hi
    jon- Thanks for all the detailed and clear advice. I have so much fresh growth to choose from off this one plant that I am tempted to try all your methods and see what works! Unfortunately, I can purchase neither perlite nor vermiculite where i live but i do make my own concoction of nice soil for potting with the media I have at my disposal which is: (roughly 2/3 potting soil and 1/3 tuff and to this I add about a trowel or 2 of compost and another trowel or 2 of sand which has been through a winter of rain and mix it all up!) (and if not I use starry night's method of just good fresh soil+tuff. )
    also jon, do you leave ALL those new plants in the basket or remove and replant seperately? and if so, why in the basket?
    sorry for the ignorance but u know, as the old beduin saying goes, if u don't ask, u'll never know!
    starry night (as in me!) thanks for your tip. i will
    try it as well!nice meeting you!
    thanks,
    dory

  • jon_d
    18 years ago

    Hi Dorys! No about planting a basket, or a large pot of nematanthus. I mean, you want to have a pot with lots of starts planted together. You can't have too many rooted cuttings in a pot. Well, I suppose that theoretically it would be possible, but they would have to be packed in practically stem to stem. You can root all the cuttings together or you can root them in smaller pots and then transplant them to a larger pot. But, a lot of starts results in a full basket with lots of stems and lots of separate root systems. Growing a single plant up into a full pot takes much longer, requires much pinching and usually never results in a very full plant. Also, with a single plant you have only one stem into the soil and one root system.

    Jon

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