Lantana Cuttings For Mini Bonsai

Shrub species : Lantana (Raimuniya)
Collected on : Dec 7, 2015

Before All leaves were removed except  on one branch.

Now 26 days later - Jan 2, 2016

I cut a few branches from this Lantana shrub growing on the road side, next to my car park. It is considered as a weed by most people while some cultivate it as a flowering shrub that attracts butterflies.

After dipping the cuttings in water for some time, they were planted in coarse filtered sand and kept in shade.

Just 7 days later, new leaves sprouted on all stems ! No rooting hormone was used.

 
26 days later - Jan 2, 2016 

They are still kept in shade most of the time. Direct sunlight is too harsh for most of my container plants & has killed quite a few of them. I now use bubble wrap sheet on my balcony grill to filter the sunlight, like a greenhouse. And containers are moved around every few days so they get partial exposure to diffused sunlight.

UPDATE - June, 2016

All the cuttings developed nice roots but I wasn't careful in repotting them and one by one lost all, except one that is still alive but it is not yet stable. Lantana is too sensitive to repotting, even with other specimens that I have.