AusBonsai

Hello,

I left home early on Saturday and was away all day. I forgot to ask those remaining at home to open the little greenhouse from about 10 am, and when I returned home to check found that the cuttings I had sitting very happily and progressing nicely, were now in a sorry state. Leaves have wilted and gone brown.

What should I do now? Should I continue with these ones or cut my losses and start again?

From L to R - Wisteria, Variegated Pittosporum, American Hornbeam and Crabapple

Still looks alright to me. Keep on misting the top. I have brought back a cooked water gum to life.

Start over.

I would start over.
Cheers
Kirky

Well 2 of 3 say start over.

I might check to see how the roots have grown. The Wisteria is the oldest of the cuttings, with the Hornbeam and Crabapple only being in here about 2 weeks now.

Thanks for the feedback.

Hi Fruit Fly,

Just for the balance. I know how you feel. Follow the misting advice; and your own —start another lot! And most importantly learn from this.

Regards, Anne K.

FruitFly wrote:Well 2 of 3 say start over.

I might check to see how the roots have grown. The Wisteria is the oldest of the cuttings, with the Hornbeam and Crabapple only being in here about 2 weeks now.

Thanks for the feedback.

It takes a lot of time and effort to develop a bonsai from a cutting that roots.

Don't waste energy on cuttings that in all likelihood aren't alive.

Start over!

Good luck

I think it depends what stage they are at. I was going to advise check to see if there are any roots but you have already pre-empted that advice. If they have roots there is a good chance of surviving but if no roots the cuttings will struggle to root after drying out.
It will not hurt to tip them out of the pots and check. Any with roots can be potted up in potting mix, unrooted ones can be discarded.

shibui wrote:I think it depends what stage they are at. I was going to advise check to see if there are any roots but you have already pre-empted that advice. If they have roots there is a good chance of surviving but if no roots the cuttings will struggle to root after drying out.
It will not hurt to tip them out of the pots and check. Any with roots can be potted up in potting mix, unrooted ones can be discarded.

I did pop them out of the pots, Wisteria is a complete loss, no roots at all. All of the other haven't been in there long enough to develop roots yet, but a scratch showed green viable plant underneath. So I soaked for a couple of hours in seaweed solution and trimmed a couple of each back a little to see what happens. I'll put this down a lesson in propagating.

Watch this space.