Raising bonsai - from cuttings

Bonsai can be made from existing trees or from trees that are raised from scratch. Those that are started from scratch can be grown from seed or from cuttings.

Today I focus a little on cuttings.

Cuttings can be broken up into three types, softwood cuttings, half-ripe cuttings and hardwood cuttings.

Softwood cuttings can be up to 6 inches in length but 2-3 inches seems more likely to form roots. These soft cuttings are taken from the new shoots of the tree and are best taken when it is actively growing.

Equal parts of sharp sand and peat moss are placed in fresh bowls.

Using sharp instruments sever the shoot at the desired length just above a leaf shoot on the mother tree.
Trim the shoot to just below a leaf joint and trim the lower leaves.

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The tip of the cutting can be dipped in rooting hormones to speed up root development. Place this in a hole that has been made with a dibber or chopstick in the mix in the prepared pot.

Suspend the cutting in the hole by holding it by a leaf and firm the mix around the bottom inch to one and a half inches.

Settle the mix around the cutting by gentle overhead watering.

Since the cutting has no roots it can dry out very quickly, a nice trick is to suspend a clear plastic bag over the tree and its pot using suitable supports on the inside of the plastic bag and an elastic band to seal the plastic bag around the base of the growing pot.