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.

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?

When rooting crape myrtles how many plants do you need to put together to make one tree? Do you just use one.

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.

I, also, think the cuttings are too wet. Here's what I do. I use a very well draining mix, ý peat & ý 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.)

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.