Greetings; I have received a small cutting of a Gardenia. I was in a florst chop and a hanging basket got blown off its hook and landed on a Gardenia bush in bloom. The Florist gave me a small branch to put in water to enjoy the blooms on it. How can I root the cutting to have a plant to enjoy? TCW
Mix up some perlite with (if you have a small bag) the smaller, rough aquarium gravel from a pet store, or with 1/3 peat moss. If you do the peat, mix in little bits of water at a time and keep turning the whole thing til it's all slightly moist because peat is very hard to 'wet' and needs to be well mixed. Take off the bottom leaves of the cutting, dip the bottom of it in rooting hormone powder (if you have it - it's helpful, but not essential), and stick it in the mix about 1-2" (no more) down. Cover it all with a clear plastic baggie {propped on a chopstick to allow for growth and put it somewhere warm (70+) - top of the fridge is good) but out of direct sun. Check every day and if necessary add just a little trickle more of water, but also keep a very close eye out for signs of mold on the soil or cutting. If you see any, immediately take off the bag and see if you can spoon out just the top of any on the surface without disturbing the cutting. Once it dries (if there's any on the cutting) you'll have to just give it a few shorts sprays of water daily instead. And then wait - could take quite a few weeks to see new growth (not just current buds opening tho') and then you can very carefully transplant it to a mix of Schultz tropical soil plus a bunch of perlite or the gravel, keep it in a cool place and mist well.