Chojubai from cuttings!

[Eric Group]

Been trying for a while now to find a little Chojubai to work with.. Took a bunch of cuttings from a friend this Spring and a good many were still holding green leaves and had started to grow when I checked them this week, so I pulled a couple out and sure enough: of the three I pulled, two had roots! Not fantastic roots, but enough to sustain such small cuttings, so I went ahead and moved them from their rooting medium to potting soil mixes. This should encourage stronger growth of both the roots and the top! I know these are slow growers, but I had not seen a lot of discussion of people having substantial success rooting them from cuttings. I know I am not the ONLY one who has done it, just got the impression they are kind of difficult so I am pretty excited they took! Hoping to get enough to take to make a little clump planting...

 

[jk_lewis]

You PULLED them out?

You will get much better long-term success with cuttings of any species if you let their roots fill up the pot into which they were struck. Pulling thm out guarantees root damage.

Patience.

 

[Eric Group]

You PULLED them out?

You will get much better long-term success with cuttings of any species if you let their roots fill up the pot into which they were struck. Pulling thm out guarantees root damage.

Patience.

That is just an expression, I didn't just randomly yank them out of the pots. I do this all the time without damaging the roots- dump the pot out to see if any roots have formed, if they have, transplant to it's own separate container with better soil. Most trees do not seem to thrive in perlite for very long, and will grow better if put into better dirt in my Experience. I was only doing it to check these cuttings I still have the majority of them in a pot waiting to be moved until next Spring most likely.

 

[BethF]

Congrats on your success.

 

[discusmike]

Did you strike these right after bud break on old wood or after new wood extended?never tried quince,but I have some young chojubai I might try in the future,thanks.

 

[Eric Group]

Did you strike these right after bud break on old wood or after new wood extended?never tried quince,but I have some young chojubai I might try in the future,thanks.

It was in the Spring after bud break, I do not recall the exact date.. Late March I think. On old wood- they are such slow growers, you wouldn't get much of a cutting from the current year's growth.

 

[discusmike]

Thanks Eric,mine are tiny right now,hopefully I live long enough to get a decent tree.

 

[Eric Group]

Yeah I agree... They are sloowwwwww growers form what I hear.. I have Not found standard Jap Quince to be slow growers though! They extend LONG shoots in a short period of time but don't thicken up real fast or cover wounds super quick...

The slow growth rate is why people seem to favor clumps with the Chojubai according to what I know of them, but even a nice clump takes YEARS to look good... Maybe I will have something worth posting pics of around the time I RETIRE or so...

 

[RobertB]

That is just an expression, I didn't just randomly yank them out of the pots. I do this all the time without damaging the roots- dump the pot out to see if any roots have formed, if they have, transplant to it's own separate container with better soil. Most trees do not seem to thrive in perlite for very long, and will grow better if put into better dirt in my Experience. I was only doing it to check these cuttings I still have the majority of them in a pot waiting to be moved until next Spring most likely.

Eric, what kind of soil mix do you normally prefer for newly struck cuttings being transplanted out? I am in need of doing this as mine are in very crowed box that need some space and need to come out of the perlite.

 

[Eric Group]

Eric, what kind of soil mix do you normally prefer for newly struck cuttings being transplanted out? I am in need of doing this as mine are in very crowed box that need some space and need to come out of the perlite.

I just make my own kind of “pro mix”- a potting soil with peat and perlite, a little soil conditioner (tiny particle bark) and some fertilizer mixed in... I use it for basically everything I am growing out... once a tree gets to the size I want it to be fore Bonsai, I start the process of transplanting into inorganic souls and shallower pots...