Crepe myrtle babies

Question

I have 2 baby crepe myrtles coming up near a larger crepe myrtle. Are they coming up through fallen seeds or from a root from the mother tree? How do I transplant them? They are about 6-8 in tall.

Answer 1

Most likely they are suckers. You can simply dig up the suckers (the term commonly used for these shoots) and pot them up in potting soil. When you dig them, up, make sure some of the roots come with the sucker. Keep them well watered and in the shade. When you see new leaf growth, they are ready to be transplanted into the ground. This process will not hurt the mother plant.

I will warn you though that the suckers will not likely look like the mother. Often, crepe myrtles will be grafted trees. This means they take a pretty but weak variety and graft it onto the roots of a hardier but not as pretty variety. The suckers actually grow from that rootstock. It will be a crepe myrtle, but just will look different from the mother tree.

Answer 2

Thank you so much. I’ll be disappointed if it’s not the red rocket that I love, but it’s not like I had to pay for it, I guess. Thanks for the heads up.