Cutting Season Begins

CWTurner

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Wow! I really like those cutting racks. Are they made for that purpose? Where did you get them?
CW
 

jmw_bonsai

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Completed another two racks today. So that's 392. Ill take some pictures of my mist setup this weekend. Set it up Wed in prep and we had tremendous winds and blew it over, LOL. Always something. I didn't glue some of the PVC last year thinking I might want to disassemble it at times. I also used 3/4 PVC. Thinking ill build a frame with 1" PVC in the next few weeks. My misters I got I really like but....... I am finding they are still spraying every minute because of the pressure left after the valve shuts. Thinking I am going to need to run a line from below the mister levels and have a valve that I can crack open and drain after every cycle. But at least I got the plastic up and they are getting mist.

As for the racks, yes I like the high number in a small space with a nice tray to handle and move. Last year I used 10 in bulb pans and just stuffed 50-75 in each one. By summer, it wasn't easy to test them for roots and/or evaluate progress for each one. Then end of summer, I didn't feel like digging thru the whole pot of them. Plus keeping track an labeling was impossible also. Now they will all be individual, so I can pick them up, move individually, and repot individually if I think they are ready. And if it fails, I can pull and do some more.

I am using a 50/50 perlite/vermiculite mixture. Basically trying to stay as inorganic and sterile as possible. Last year I started foliar feeding once I thought some roots were being produced.

I am thinking I will like the long pots so roots can develop and go down. I know I want radial but since these wont be hardened at all. When I repot I can then spread radially and prune to length I desire to start developing a good root base. Ill probably go with 3-5 in 5" bulb pans the first season of growing out. Then pull them, root prune, and pot individually in the same 5" pots radially the next spring. The mixture I went to with last years batch, is 33/33/33 Perlite/Vermiculite/PineBark

I am also trying a water solubile IBA rooting hormone.

Ok, I need a beer!
 

Bonsai Nut

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Don't get me wrong - I love the racks. However cuttings for bonsai you want to grow exactly the opposite way as cuttings for landscape propagation. There they are interested in narrow nursery tubes to throw long deep tap roots for fast growth and quick marketability. For bonsai, we want shallow root systems with no tap root and lateral root development.
 

jmw_bonsai

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Yes, I see your point. These are just for getting rooted. This fall I will remove all of them, trim back roots, and then spread them out horizontal and pot up for growing on the next few years. If I was home more I would probably already have taken the ones out that are pushing roots out the bottom and done this. The roots are still flexible and most often still white after the first summer. Basically going to be working the roots the first few years. Just a balance between that and getting some top growth. A lot of last years are 1 -2 ft tall, skinny. Once I feel like I have a good base of roots, they will be cut back hard also. If I was home more, I would probably mix in something similar to what people do with pine seedlings (Germinate, then sever roots, then grow radials) I also tend to get some roots on diff levels, so last year I had to pick a level and trim roots from the other locations off.
 

jmw_bonsai

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20170711_180644.jpg
Don't get me wrong - I love the racks. However cuttings for bonsai you want to grow exactly the opposite way as cuttings for landscape propagation. There they are interested in narrow nursery tubes to throw long deep tap roots for fast growth and quick marketability. For bonsai, we want shallow root systems with no tap root and lateral root development.
Here you can see last years batch. I used bulb pans so I had more horizontal than vertical space to spread the roots. I plan on redoing them again this fall or spring.
 

KiwiPlantGuy

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I am very impressed with your set up. I think I need some lessons in propagation lol.
It definitely looks like your media of perlite and vermiculite is doing great and as for those deep prop pots. Not a problem as these babies got a few years to develop roots.
How much open ground have you got? Seems like you might need a few acres.
One question- I see you are using semi hardwood cuttings? Is that the best timing for good rooting percentages?
I have done a whole load of hardwood cuttings lately as I was too keen to get my season started.
 

jmw_bonsai

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I am very impressed with your set up. I think I need some lessons in propagation lol.
It definitely looks like your media of perlite and vermiculite is doing great and as for those deep prop pots. Not a problem as these babies got a few years to develop roots.
How much open ground have you got? Seems like you might need a few acres.
One question- I see you are using semi hardwood cuttings? Is that the best timing for good rooting percentages?
I have done a whole load of hardwood cuttings lately as I was too keen to get my season started.

I have under 2acres. The question is how much of that is available to me that the wife allows, LOL

As far as cuttings, yes my best luck has been with semi-hardwood taken a month or two after leaf out.
I have done limited hardwood cuttings and plan on diving deeper next winter.
I am now pruning a lot of maples hard before leaf out to induce new strong juvenile growth for the cuttings. So the pruning clippings I have tried to root. I get them leafing out, but since it can turn back cold and I am afraid to set up my mist system for fear of freezing, they tend to wilt away. This year I am planning on following the same timing but once they start leafing find away to get under mist and also provide some bottom heat. I think the hardwoods will do much better with some bottom heat. I took what had leafed out of the hardwoods but not wilted when I set up my mist tent and placed them in there. 10-20 of them are still going 6 months later. Actually I put them in for a 6 weeks or so then moved to an irrigation area. So they have been out of mist for a few months.

Yes the mix seems to be working good. Although after repotting about 25 of them last week, I think they might be a little wet. So might lower the amount of vermiculite. Maybe 25 Verm and 75 Perl

As far as rooting percentages, especially for spring/summer cuttings, the key to me is regular misting. Mist tents, hand misting can work but regular 10sec every 10-30 min of mist will keep them from wilting allowing the time for them to root.
I found some pretty simple Timer/SolValve all in one that work off battery so I didn't require any electrical work. And then I found some simple misters that can be set up using basic PVC. If you ever think about setting up a tent let me know and ill send you the links of what I tried.

Really liked the pots. Easy to see if rooting out the bottom. Don't care how long they get in the vertical direction, because when I repot them I then trim back and pace the roots in a radial pattern. Since they are so young they haven't hardened into something that is hard to fix.
 

CWTurner

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If you ever think about setting up a tent let me know and ill send you the links of what I tried.
Maybe you could post that here? I'm looking to take some cuttings from old azalea and mid-summer and misting is recommended.
Thanks!
CW
 

jmw_bonsai

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Maybe you could post that here? I'm looking to take some cuttings from old azalea and mid-summer and misting is recommended.
Thanks!
CW
Ill try and post what I am doing this weekend. Haven't done azalea but I think they root a little easier than maples. Assuming evergreen azalea? I'm not home this weekend but when I get back ill check out my copy of Michael Dirrs Propagation of Woody Plants book and see what it is says about azaleas.
 
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