The illustration of rooted leaf cuttings is most intriguing. Has anyone had success with this method of propagating citrus? Do you use a softwood rooting hormone? Bottom heat with misting? What was the rate of success?
My friend Dieter has done it. I will ask him how it was done. Have a look. http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=4214778&a=31269062&p=68374483
Thanks, Laaz. I noticed they are cuttings of C. limon and C. medica. Is it safe to assume that, as with stem cuttings, these two species are easier to root than other types of Citrus?
I have had good luck rooting leaf cuttings from dwarf lemon, orange and lime trees. I just cut the leaf across the bottom and dip it in rootone, then place in mixture of sand and potting soil. Gotta keep the soil moist.
Hi, Sammy. Did the rooted leaves eventually produce normal stem and leaf growth? If so, did you notice any difference in the manner of growth of these compared to that of normally rooted cuttings?
This is the only manner I have made citrus cuttings after I had seen it done in the horticulture department of a local tech college. They rooted well. This was three years ago and they are now two+ feet tall.
Thanks, Sammy. It's interesting to hear from people who have success doing things outside of the normal realm.
One reads a lot of things on Internet sites, and what one reads has to be taken at face value as to its validity. Here is a direct quotation from Dr. Malcolm Manners, Ph.D., who is a professor of Citrus and Tropical Fruits at Florida Southern College in Florida. Dr. Manners, possess vast knowledge concerning citrus, and is the finest source of information concerning citrus and the citrus industry that I personally know. Here is what he said on the Citrus Growers Forum concerning the rooting of citrus leaves. >>>> "I know citrus leaves root easily, but the literature (and our experience) with them is that you usually end up with a rooted leaf. No shoots, no tree, ever."<<<<<< - Millet
Thanks for sharing the findings of Dr. Manners, Millet. Now that you mention it I remember reading that thread but had forgotten about it. (Here is the link for those who are interested in reading the entire discussion.) Too bad there was no followup to your last questions from either Dieter or Dr. Manners regarding the long term prospect of rooted leaves. I'd be interested in their responses.
Has anyone tried taking a bud eye with the leaf when rooting a leaf? I would think that with a bud eye attached it would make a plant much quicker.
Dieter has explained to me that the leaf never produced any wood or stem growth and eventually died...
I'm rooting a Lisbon Lemon using leaf cuttings obtained from a current year's growth stem tip. I started with a stem tip with 5 leafs on it and removed the bottom 2 leafs by cutting them off at the point where their petioles joined the stem. I then applied Stim-Root #2 to both the wounded stem and the bottoms of the leaf petioles and planted the stem cutting and the 2 leaf cuttings in a seed starting soil mix in separate 3" Jiffy pots. For the greenhouse, I'm using two clear Rubbermaid storage containers (one inverted for the top cover with a spacer placed along one edge to provide a 1/4" breathing air gap) and there is a small amount of water in the bottom container to maintain constant humidity. Two 15W 6500k compact flourescent bulbs controlled with a timer provide approx. 15 hrs. of illumination per 24 hr. cycle. The cuttings have been misted manually about once per week. After 4 weeks, all three cuttings have rooted, and the leaf cutting roots are now protruding approx. 1" through the sides of the Jiffy pots, so it would appear that for Lisbon lemon the leaf cuttings root more vigorously than the stem cutting (which appears to be rooting at a rate consistent with that of 3 Meyer Lemon stem cuttings I rooted last spring using the same method). So far for both the Meyer and Lisbon lemons, the rooting success rate has been 100% with current-year stem cuttings and the 2 leaf cuttings. I next plan to try leaf cuttings with a Trovita orange.
...will post back at a future time with respect to whether the rooted leafs end up producing any stems...
