Ginkgo seedling roots

Joe2758

Yamadori
Messages
77
Reaction score
32
Location
Central PA
USDA Zone
6
Bear in mind this is in regard to making mame ginkgo, which I know will look out of proportion.

I have some 5-7 month old ginkgo seedlings. I planted the seeds way too shallow and now most of them have tap root above the soil; like an extension of the trunk.

Will the root thicken to the thickness of the stem/trunk, or will there always be reverse taper at the base collar?

If that is the case, can I just replant deeper? Maybe even with a cute little tourniquet below the collar?
 

Wires_Guy_wires

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
6,408
Reaction score
10,630
Location
Netherlands
I cut those kind of roots straight away.
I have torniquetted a couple on some oaks but they just popped through half a centimeter wide zip ties.

I found that ginkgo does pretty OK from cuttings so I assume that seedling cutting can be performed with ease. Maybe cut a couple, torniquet a few and leave the rest.
 

Joe2758

Yamadori
Messages
77
Reaction score
32
Location
Central PA
USDA Zone
6
Cool, thanks. You mean the oaks grew and broke the zip ties before it could work!? That is amazing, were they just seedlings?
 

Joe2758

Yamadori
Messages
77
Reaction score
32
Location
Central PA
USDA Zone
6
Here is what I ended up doing. I oriented the collar horizontal to the ground, put a zip tie and some rooting hormone. What could go wrong *shrug*? Anyway, that's probably only 1/10th of them--I wanted to get them out of potting soil.

Some were so weird I just went with it (3rd pic)
 

Attachments

  • 0BD2F497-D391-48EA-815D-4EAE10852116.jpeg
    0BD2F497-D391-48EA-815D-4EAE10852116.jpeg
    79.7 KB · Views: 32
  • E0F83BA3-59EE-4792-A7F0-1C7BFB58C557.jpeg
    E0F83BA3-59EE-4792-A7F0-1C7BFB58C557.jpeg
    94.1 KB · Views: 33
  • E7771617-3702-4F28-AB69-3B42D5E4DF3D.jpeg
    E7771617-3702-4F28-AB69-3B42D5E4DF3D.jpeg
    42.7 KB · Views: 33

Shibui

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
7,545
Reaction score
15,210
Location
Yackandandah, Australia
USDA Zone
9?
Seedlings will generally thicken up faster near any lateral roots so those seedlings would probably turn out OK eventually.
As trunks age there is very little difference between exposed root and trunk. Check out some exposed root bonsai and root over rock - difficult to tell where original trunk meets original roots.
I've also found ginkgo very easy to strike so have no doubt your ziptie layers will work.
I would probably have snipped the tap roots short and planted deeper. Most seedlings respond well to root pruning no matter what time of year.
 

Joe2758

Yamadori
Messages
77
Reaction score
32
Location
Central PA
USDA Zone
6
When you say planted deeper, does that just mean I can put another 1/4-1/2" of soil on top?

Put it this way, what depth distance should there be between the soil surface and the layer?
 
Top Bottom