First stop was my brothers house. He has some young olives in his back yard, and I hoped there might be some self-sown natives I could help him remove...
I got some cuttings from the olive, and a few from his bottlebrush. Not sure if bottlebrush works for bonsai, but I was feeling adventurous. Sadly, there were no trees in need of a new home.So it was back home, where I grabbed a few cuttings from the ti-tree hanging over our fence, and a few from the box and the bougy I happened to pick up at Bunnings.
So five species in total. No ideas if it's a good time of year to take cuttings at all, but I ploughed ahead regardless. Sometimes we have to learn the hard way.
Now, I'd picked up a simple flat seed tray, some perlite, seed raising mix and root hormone. When I saw how fine the perlite was, I realised it was going to fall straight through the holes in the tray. My wife, ever the practical one, suggested using some chux we had on a roll. Worked a treat. Weighed it down with some aquarium rocks that we'd never used, and there's a good base.
Next was the rooting medium. I used about one part potting mix (which is mostly peat moss and coir) to about 2-3 parts perlite. Wet the whole thing down gently, ready for the cuttings.
I got all the cuttings, trimmed them down to what I thought resembled the cuttings Mum used to do, dipped them in the hormone and pressed them in.
Now, because it's my first lot, and if I'm successful I don't actually want too many trees, I was aiming for 5 or 6 cuttings a piece. I've got a pic of them below. You can't see much, but they're there.
Now they are sitting in a reasonably sheltered spot, under my bbq. Covered gently with some more chux.
So, feedback, suggestions, etc. should they be inside to start with, where it's a little warmer? I'm in Newcastle, where it's not super cold, but may get to about 5 deg overnight.
Also, how will I know they've struck?
