Rhododendron?

Is there any way to take a piece off a rhododron and put it in water to get a new rhodoendron? Any advice or comments will be appriciated

Rhododendron?
Try this way.....take a branch of the rhododendron Ieaving it attache to the shrub, rub a open spot on the bark down to white wood, then push it down into the dirt (still attached to the shrub) and cover (bury) the wounded area with dirt. YOu might have to place a brick or stone to hold it in the dirt. Come back in a year and you will have a well rooted plant!
Reply:Yes but it is hard to get it to grow roots. You might try some root hormone sold at your local Wal-mart. You can try to bend a branch down %26amp; put some dirt on it. The you could cut it lose this fall %26amp; see it it will take off on its one.
Reply:This is a vegetative method of propagation which produces plants that are identical to the mother plant. Cuttings (sometimes called scions) are taken off of semi-hard wood any time between less than a month after the new growth is made, to about six months after growth. In the northern hemisphere this would be somewhere between the months of May through November. Generally, softer wood roots more readily than harder wood, though the softer the wood, the more likely it is that problems will occur with fungus diseases. So sanitation is important. For planting use new bark, sawdust, clean (coarse if possible) peat, perlite, or coarse clean sand mixed in practically any combination. The main thing you want is a medium that has some humus (bark sawdust, peat) to hold moisture and an inert matter (perlite or sand) to provide air spaces and drainage.





The cuttings should be made from the tip growth, cut from 2.5 cm to 10 cm (1" to 4") long, depending on the growth size of the plant you are trying to propagate. The lower leaves should be removed and often the ends of the top leaves are shortened to provide more space between the cuttings, to allow air circulation and to lessen the amount of foliage the scion has to feed while it is rooting. Wound the cutting with a cut on each side, about 12.5 mm to 25 mm (1/2" to l"), just deep enough to cut through the bark. Dipping the cutting in a rooting hormone containing indolebutyric acid wll make rooting easier. The exact formula depends on the hardness of the cutting and the difficulty in rooting the cultivar you are tying to propagate. Experience is the only good teacher as to the strength needed, though most commercial rooting hormones will give some instructions.





Preferably the rooting bed you use for these cuttings has some form of heating to keep the soil temperature near 21°C (70°F) (though many cuttings will root without heat) and some type of mist system that comes on and off to keep the foliage moist.


You must be sure that the mist system does not put too much water in the soil, as soggy conditions will rapidly promote disease. A variation on this moisture supply is to build a frame over the cutting bed, cover it with plastic, and make sure it is not in direct sun. For summer propagation the simplest method may be a small wooden flat with a plastic cover set in a shaded location. To root one or two cuttings, even a glass jar filled half way with the above mentioned rooting soil, lightly watered, sealed with a lid and left in a north window may do the trick.





Remember, some rhododendron or azalea cuttings root easily, often within 6 weeks, while others may take 3, 6, 9, or 12 months to root, or may not root at all. Don't be discouraged by your first attempts. However, don't expect to cut a limb off of your plant, stick it into the ground next to your plant and have it root. It may stay green for several months, but has virtually no probability of forming roots.





An example of rooting cuttings in a pot in a plastic bag. A simple home method used to root a few plants.