Magnolia

[Anth]

I work as a florist and a few years back we got some magnolia sticks in. After a week or so In a vase one of the bunches sprouted roots . I took the bunch home and kept it in a vase of water and added a bit of root booster. The roots kept growing to about 2 inches long.
I took the stick out and planted them in a pot hoping that I could grow a tree from them. I kept them well watered and gave them some seasol to help them along. After about 4 weeks I didn't notice any change in the sticks and decide to scratch them to see if they are still green. They were dead , I pulled them up and the roots had gone brown and frail. Since being into bonsai I have tried repeatedly to do this again and again but haven't had any luck getting the magnolia to sprout roots. Has anyone herd of or had this happen to them? Has anyone got any tips on what to do to get them to sprout and how should I go about planting them?

[MattA]

Hey Anth,

You got very lucky with the cuttings sprouting root in water, the outcome you experienced is due to the water roots not being able to survive in soil & not enough energy made to carry the cuttings over until proper roots have formed. The only reliable method of propagating magnolia is by layering (ground or air), cuttings will sometimes strike if given bottom heat while the above ground portion is kept slightly cooler to allow roots time to develop.

Matt