Apologies if this post is repeated .......... watered well but posts
not appearing !!

Hi All.

A friend had a great small bay tree, in a big pot, stands about 5'
tall.

Will it be possible to take a 'cutting' and prepare it with rooting
compound, and pot up etc etc.

Any advice please, where to cut, when to cut, what to pot up in, and
success rate ???

Thanks in advance

In article m,
AndWhyNot wrote:

Apologies if this post is repeated .......... watered well but posts
not appearing !!

Hi All.

A friend had a great small bay tree, in a big pot, stands about 5'
tall.

Will it be possible to take a 'cutting' and prepare it with rooting
compound, and pot up etc etc.

Any advice please, where to cut, when to cut, what to pot up in, and
success rate ???

Thanks in advance

Didn't reply the first time around as I decided there
must be others out there with more positive experience
than I have had. Possibly not!

I tried cuttings, with rooting hormone and without,
in sharp sand plus compost, in potting compost
and simply stuck into the pots of other plants
(my favourite method). No luck. I tried layering
(not easy but with a sunken patio I could peg the bay
out on the soil of the level above). No luck. I tried
air layering - moss, plastic bags the full works. No
luck. I tried grumbling. This, after a fashion, was
the successful technique. The one bay tree became
three, because two members of the family then
bought me baby bay trees as birthday presents. So I
gave one of the new bays to my friend, which was what
I was hoping to achieve in the first place.

Don't suppose this helps (DSTH - could become a useful
new acronym)

JillT
--

In article ,
(gmt) writes:
|
| Didn't reply the first time around as I decided there
| must be others out there with more positive experience
| than I have had. Possibly not!

My experience is similar.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article , says...


In article ,
(gmt) writes:
|
| Didn't reply the first time around as I decided there
| must be others out there with more positive experience
| than I have had. Possibly not!

My experience is similar.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.


I have successfully taken cuttings with no problem but then I didn't know it
was hard so I would probably fail now.

--
Jonathan Ward
Remove the 'X' when replying

(gmt) wrote in :

I tried grumbling. This, after a fashion, was
the successful technique. The one bay tree became
three, because two members of the family then
bought me baby bay trees as birthday presents.

Your grumbling technique must be superior to mine.

I've tried leaving seed & plant catalogues about filled with bookmarks and
red pen, giving other people's names and addresses to the catalogue people,
and talking endlessly about plants, and what do they say?

They say : 'Ooo, I never know what to get you!'.

Bah!

(waves hand dismissively in the manner of Dogbert).

In article ,
(Jonathan Ward) writes:
|
| I have successfully taken cuttings with no problem but then I didn't know it
| was hard so I would probably fail now.

The alternative hypothesis is that I am no good at taking
cuttings - which is true :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
Victoria Clare wrote:
(gmt) wrote in :

I tried grumbling. This, after a fashion, was
the successful technique. The one bay tree became
three, because two members of the family then
bought me baby bay trees as birthday presents.

Your grumbling technique must be superior to mine.

I've tried leaving seed & plant catalogues about filled with bookmarks and
red pen, giving other people's names and addresses to the catalogue people,
and talking endlessly about plants, and what do they say?

They say : 'Ooo, I never know what to get you!'.

Bah!

(waves hand dismissively in the manner of Dogbert).

I think I got a bit obsessive about propagating bays
and they were at their wits ends to shut me up!

Way back in '87 a friend came to dinner, bearing
not a bottle of wine, nor flowers, but a trailer of
well rotted FYM. I enthused about this for ages
hoping others would take the hint.

I discovered the hard way that if you ask
hubby for something see-through you can slip into
he never thinks of a greenhouse ;-(. So subtlety
isn't the answer - we need T-Shirts bearing a
variation of 'If in doubt buy me the biggest
blue plant pot you can afford!' On second thoughts
make that a sweatshirt - then I can wear it in the
cooler weather just before Christmas.

JillT
--

On Thu, 03 Jul 2003 17:36:44 GMT, AndWhyNot wrote:

A friend had a great small bay tree, in a big pot, stands about 5'
tall.

Will it be possible to take a 'cutting' and prepare it with rooting
compound, and pot up etc etc.

Any advice please, where to cut, when to cut, what to pot up in, and
success rate ???

Bay tree cuttings are best taken in the late fall. They are
fairly slow to root, but eventually will do so.

However, the plant is no rarity and unless your friend's is some
special form -- golden leaved or willow leaved or 'crispa' or
something like that -- you'd probably be better off just buying a
small start. This comment, of course, does not take into account
any sentimental considerations.

--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

On Thu, 03 Jul 2003 17:36:44 GMT, AndWhyNot
wrote:


Apologies if this post is repeated .......... watered well but posts
not appearing !!

Hi All.

A friend had a great small bay tree, in a big pot, stands about 5'
tall.

Will it be possible to take a 'cutting' and prepare it with rooting
compound, and pot up etc etc.

Any advice please, where to cut, when to cut, what to pot up in, and
success rate ???

Thanks in advance


Thanks for all the advice Guys ........... I guess that is why Bay is
so bliddy expensive ...........

As for grumbling (a favourite pastime) what about walking to the end
of the garden and shouting loudly for 4 mins ...... any good ??

AAAAAAAAAaaahhhhhhhhhhhh

(practice)

"AndWhyNot" wrote in message
s.com...
On Thu, 03 Jul 2003 17:36:44 GMT, AndWhyNot
wrote:


Apologies if this post is repeated .......... watered well but posts
not appearing !!

Hi All.

A friend had a great small bay tree, in a big pot, stands about 5'
tall.

Will it be possible to take a 'cutting' and prepare it with rooting
compound, and pot up etc etc.

Any advice please, where to cut, when to cut, what to pot up in, and
success rate ???

Thanks in advance


Thanks for all the advice Guys ........... I guess that is why Bay is
so bliddy expensive ...........

As for grumbling (a favourite pastime) what about walking to the end
of the garden and shouting loudly for 4 mins ...... any good ??

AAAAAAAAAaaahhhhhhhhhhhh

(practice)

Alternatively, locate a mature tree.
My small collection of bay trees came from a friend's garden.
His mature bay tree was surrounded by hundreds of little seedlings, which
just needed gently uprooting and then potting up.

On Thu, 03 Jul 2003 17:36:44 GMT, AndWhyNot
wrote:


Apologies if this post is repeated .......... watered well but posts
not appearing !!

Hi All.

A friend had a great small bay tree, in a big pot, stands about 5'
tall.

Will it be possible to take a 'cutting' and prepare it with rooting
compound, and pot up etc etc.

Any advice please, where to cut, when to cut, what to pot up in, and
success rate ???

Thanks in advance


Hi

We have a big tree in our front garden and growing.

So I thought I would take cuttings. The first time I did it, it was
sharp sand and potting compost (all I had), no rooting powders, into
the shade with a clear poly bag on to and left them for over a year!!!

They worked, well two of the six. They are now potted up and growing
away.

Tried putting some into potting compost without the bag. Result: after
many months with the leaves still green, they suddenly fell off and
experiment failed..

will have to try again with the poly bag treatment and see if I can
repeat it. The leaves were kept from contact of the poly by a number
of sticks.

Hope it helps

Yours

Andrew J
Dundee

The message m
from AndWhyNot contains these words:

A friend had a great small bay tree, in a big pot, stands about 5'
tall.

Will it be possible to take a 'cutting' and prepare it with rooting
compound, and pot up etc etc.

Any advice please, where to cut, when to cut, what to pot up in, and
success rate ???

Thanks in advance


Thanks for all the advice Guys ........... I guess that is why Bay is
so bliddy expensive ...........


Not always. Our local nursery/garden centre (which is called Baytree, so
perhaps they're making a point of some kind) regularly has small ones
for £1.99 and I think sometimes £1. It might be worth shopping around.

Janet G

On Fri, 04 Jul 2003 20:40:21 +0100, wrote:

We have a big [bay] tree in our front garden and growing.

So I thought I would take cuttings. The first time I did it, it was
sharp sand and potting compost (all I had), no rooting powders, into
the shade with a clear poly bag on to and left them for over a year!!!

They worked, well two of the six. They are now potted up and growing
away.

Tried putting some into potting compost without the bag. Result: after
many months with the leaves still green, they suddenly fell off and
experiment failed..

will have to try again with the poly bag treatment and see if I can
repeat it. The leaves were kept from contact of the poly by a number
of sticks.

I usually put a plastic bag over cuttings of woody material. I've
been doing it for a long time and it seems to work.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

In article , David W.E. Roberts
writes

"AndWhyNot" wrote in message
ws.com...
On Thu, 03 Jul 2003 17:36:44 GMT, AndWhyNot
wrote:


Apologies if this post is repeated .......... watered well but posts
not appearing !!

Hi All.

A friend had a great small bay tree, in a big pot, stands about 5'
tall.

Will it be possible to take a 'cutting' and prepare it with rooting
compound, and pot up etc etc.

Any advice please, where to cut, when to cut, what to pot up in, and
success rate ???

Thanks in advance


Thanks for all the advice Guys ........... I guess that is why Bay is
so bliddy expensive ...........

As for grumbling (a favourite pastime) what about walking to the end
of the garden and shouting loudly for 4 mins ...... any good ??

AAAAAAAAAaaahhhhhhhhhhhh

(practice)

Alternatively, locate a mature tree.
My small collection of bay trees came from a friend's garden.
His mature bay tree was surrounded by hundreds of little seedlings, which
just needed gently uprooting and then potting up.


This is what we have found. They almost grow like weeds, but when I
mentioned this before on this newsgroup, someone said that they were not
the edible/seasoning Bay but something else, even Laurel, but 'er
indoors, the cook' said no, they are the edible ones.

So there is the answer, find someone with a mature tree and soldier on
with little seedlings.

(Now Joan has fully retired, nothing grows more than a millimetre above
ground level, so ALL seedlings, bay and all get the chop!!)

Mike
Who never knowingly lies
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
British Pacific Fleet Hayling Island Sept 5th - 8th
Castle Class Corvettes Assn. Isle of Wight. Oct 3rd - 6th.
R.N. Trafalgar Weekend Leamington Spa. Oct 10th - 13th. Plus many more
National Service (RAF) Association Scarborough. Nov 7th - 10th (Nearly Full)

In article ,
Mike wrote:

This is what we have found. They almost grow like weeds, but when I
mentioned this before on this newsgroup, someone said that they were not
the edible/seasoning Bay but something else, even Laurel, but 'er
indoors, the cook' said no, they are the edible ones.

Boggle. I have never seen them set viable seeds in the UK, and they
haven't naturalised. Bean says that the sexes are on different trees,
so it is possible that most of the ones grown in the UK are of one
sex (like gingko).

So there is the answer, find someone with a mature tree and soldier on
with little seedlings.

No - a breeding pair :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.