5yr Native Tree Challenge: ShadyStump's

ShadyStump

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Welp, there goes another one. Made a fistful of blossoms and then dried up and died. Read in another thread that this is common with late winter cuttings. Guess I'll just go dig one up then. Learned allot, though.
 

Forsoothe!

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I'm not an expert in this subject, but you know me. Flowers take a lot out of the Lady. No flowers should be allowed when trying to root cuttings. Next, the cutting should be small enough to and leaf out maybe 2, 3, 4 max leaves, and therefore pretty short, too. The roots have to support the whole, and if the roots that form can't support the whole, then everything dies. The whole has to be really small. Even when a pro like @cmeg1 who starts them in his high-tec hydroponic bath with super lights and spray system, they are very small. You need to look at his postings and steal some of them good ideas.
 

ShadyStump

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I'm not an expert in this subject, but you know me. Flowers take a lot out of the Lady. No flowers should be allowed when trying to root cuttings. Next, the cutting should be small enough to and leaf out maybe 2, 3, 4 max leaves, and therefore pretty short, too. The roots have to support the whole, and if the roots that form can't support the whole, then everything dies. The whole has to be really small. Even when a pro like @cmeg1 who starts them in his high-tec hydroponic bath with super lights and spray system, they are very small. You need to look at his postings and steal some of them good ideas.
Problem with many of our cuttings over the winter has been they bloom, but no leaves. Suppose I could use more practice in selecting which branches to cut. I think I keep getting the youngest tips where the new fruit would grow this season, and I need to cut further back on the branch. Not really practical to find out until fall, so shovel it is for now. Maybe some soft wood cuttings in summer.
 

Forsoothe!

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I keep waiting for an expert to chime in here, but in their absence, maybe with that species you should stick to collecting the growing tip of 3 or 4 internodes after flowering. Remove the flower buds to prevent seed production, remove the leaves on lower 2 nodes, dip those in hormone and plant those with just the first two nodes of leaves above ground. I do this under glass in the landscape. I put a 1 gal glass or plastic jar upside-down over the cutting in dappled shade/sun and leave it on for one year. In too much sun put a board or patio block, or something on to prevent too much sun making it too hot. Not very productive, but it works.
 

ShadyStump

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A LOT going on this year, so I haven't been able to catch up this one until now.
IMG_20211024_191514_552.jpg

Latest attempts. Found a wide spread stand up in the mountains while attempting to go fishing this past spring. (I try to go fishing or hunting, then just wind up wondering around looking at trees. This is why I'm a vegetarian, which is an old Indian word for bad hunter. 😉) Finally got back to dig a couple on Sunday.

Same problem as most trees you try to dig around here; within 6 inches of the surface you're digging rock. Consequently, I got very little root on either tree. Another fun fact about our climate is that the top layer of soil often dries out meaning that roots don't really start until 6 inches down.

So I have about 1/3 more trunk than I wanted and very little root to support it. These some BIG cuttings.
I will be trying to get back there again before the first hard freeze, and maybe do better.
 

ShadyStump

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No new pics because it's the dead winter, and February is blizzard season around here, but there's still some good bend in most of the twigs, and green under the bark.
They're as snuggly tucked away for winter as I can safely manage, and we don't have long.
I am hopeful, but consciously countering it by remembering all the trees I've killed in the past.

Hoping these back bud as well in pots as they do in the ground. Then I'll have a whole orchard of them by the time this is done.
 

Gabler

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Last year I managed to resuscitate some trees with too few roots in a little greenhouse that kept the humidity in as things heated up in the summer. A greenhouse that gets sun only from the east would be my approach. I got a cheap cold frame thing from Amazon for about $40. It more or less lasted through the end of summer before falling apart.
 

ShadyStump

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Last year I managed to resuscitate some trees with too few roots in a little greenhouse that kept the humidity in as things heated up in the summer. A greenhouse that gets sun only from the east would be my approach. I got a cheap cold frame thing from Amazon for about $40. It more or less lasted through the end of summer before falling apart.
I'll see what I can come up with. Thanks for the tip. Humidity is definitely a struggle around here. I believe I have the right location in the yard too.
 

Gabler

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Make sure you monitor the greenhouse temperature closely. It can get hot like the inside of a car and literally cook the plants. Steamed bonsai is a little too crunchy for my taste.
 

ShadyStump

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Make sure you monitor the greenhouse temperature closely. It can get hot like the inside of a car and literally cook the plants. Steamed bonsai is a little too crunchy for my taste.
That actually reminds me, Walmart had $1 tiny thermometers but they were out of stock last time I went looking.
I wanted to get a few to put in different places around the yard just to get an idea of microclimates.
 
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