Im new to the forum so I apologize if there was not a better place to post my first topic / question. My name is Josh, live in southern california (Rancho Cucamonga area). I was just curious if anybody has tried using cuttings for the AFL in lieu of seeds. As far as my limited understanding in using cuttings, it appears limes and lemons are very easy, however this is a non-typical lime.

I will probably have a few cuttings leftover after planting the tree and cutting some of the unwanted stems off and wasn't sure if I should try budding the, planting the cuttings, or both. Look forward to your recommendations BTW, thank you in advance.

Also I have unlimited access to Macadamia Nut Tree Seeds, have grown several from seed and very easy to raise in CA like climate. Also most hot pepper seeds (world's hottest). Anybody interested in trading just send me a message.

They will root rather easy, use some rooting hormone.

Welcome to the forum.

Aussie nurseries told me it takes more than 6 months to root them and it is NOT easy at all ... even with hormones ...

I think budding/grafting and air layering are the better way ...

Obviously YOU have not tried.

No, I did not .. but like 20 australian nurseries told me that ...

Well I've got about 10 scions ranging from an eighth inch thick to pencil thick. Five are in a toat box in a shady area that gets mist a couple times a day and five are in a jar of water on the window sill. After a week they still look healthy, five to seven more to go. Im doing just about every lemon and lime I can get my hands on. Fun stuff while my peppers are starting to ripen.

Well, finger limes are just called that way for a similary taste like limes, but have nothing to do with limes.

Anyways I am very curious about your results.

Update after two weeks it appears the star ruby gf, tango tang, marro blood or, and Robertson navel all took very well so far in the jars of water root hormone, but not well in toat boxes with perlite peat moss. Pink lemon, mex lime, and bearss lime all are taking well in toats, but not in jars of water.

Interesting, I'll post pictures if anyone is interested.

yes, post them please.

I guess you mean MORO blood orange, but what are toats ?

Josh that is very interesting that you got hard to root citrus like grapefruit and orange to take root in jars of water with root hormone after only 2 weeks. Could you tell us exactly how you did that please?

How large are the roots after 2 weeks?
Which rooting hormone did you use?
How much rooting hormone did you put into how much water?
How often did you change the water?
Were the jars in shade or sunlight?
How warm was the water on average?

Thanks for your help.

Well I stepped away for vacation for 10 days at the beginning of September and a few of the branches died off in each of the jars with the exception of a few and as a result the dead branches began to decompose into the water and the water became septic and started to kill the rest. The only citrus items to survive were the Aussie finger lime (which is still around with very little root growth to date), bears seedless limes, and the navel oranges. It might be that root growth I thought was occuring was in fact mold or bacteria, it was semi transparent stringy and looked like jellyfish tentacles. Ive flushed the water and added additional root hormone.

They are still going and alive, but not producing roots like the Chardonay and Cabernet grapes planted at the same time. Those on a side note (which were ranging in thickness between a little thicker than tooth pick to pencil and about 6" long) produced great big roots within two weeks and were transplanted about two weeks ago. Already starting to produce new leaves and runners.

So I will try it again when I dont leave for vacation and increase the root hormone concentration in the water, however Id consider it a failure for the time being. Im awaiting my results from rooting the various lemon varieties purchased from UCR two weeks ago in the mean time. Since I did it in the pot and plastic bag method, I will not know until new growth occurs hopefully in the next couple of weeks.

How large are the roots after 2 weeks?
Which rooting hormone did you use?
How much rooting hormone did you put into how much water?
How often did you change the water?
Were the jars in shade or sunlight?
How warm was the water on average?

Thanks for your help.[/quote]

See above for roots, used Green Light hormone, about a teaspoon per 12 ounces (will increase to two teaspoons in next experiment), changed the water every 10 days or so (will increase it to weekly to cut down on sepsis), windowsills indoors so not very much direct sunlight, and room temperature.

Will try it one more time starting as early as this weekend for the Aussie FL, Valencia, and Blood Oranges, and if it fails will stick to conventional methods.

Thanks for the info, I wish you success and keep us posted.