Itoigawa juniper cutting advice

[Robertji]

So I took these cuttings in June of this year and put them in perlite about 2" deep in a shady area of the garden. Not much seems to be happening yet, I have been misting almost daily but I am starting to wonder about winter. I have done a veeeery gentle pull test but it didn't tell me anything. In October I plan to gently tease a few out to see if roots have developed which leads me to 2 questions.

1) If I have no roots at all should I leave the whole thing as is until next year and let it spend the winter under a blanket of snow? (Spring for us starts in May in Ontario...)

2) If I have roots do I need to bring the newly rooted cuttings in and provide winter protection or can I leave them out over winter under the snow as well? I have read that the new roots can't freeze but I'm not sure.


Thanks for any advice, Jim

 

[Eric Group]

Should have started them much earlier... Next year try early Spring= Feb or even Jan around here, probably closer to March or even April for you I guess?

They should still take though if you keep them wet enough through the heat of the summer. From June to now, you oughta have some roots on some at least.

It is harder to tell with juniper sometimes as new growth is t as big and plentiful as it is with D trees.. A Maple for instance starts sending new shoots out when it is well rooted... A Juni just swells some new growing tips, turns a light bright green on the tips.. But the best indicator they are taking generally is that they DID NOT DIE! That is encouraging... So, I bet you have some roots now.. Did you use a rooting hormone on them! The ones you lightly pulled on, didn't come out of the perlite? If so, was there callousing?

 

[Robertji]

Eric, some that I tried to pull didn't move at all, some of the smaller ones moved easily but I didn't pull them right out to have a look for callousing. I did use a rooting hormone, if they do have roots should I pot them up and build a cold frame? Maybe late April or May next year for better luck...

 

[Eric Group]

Man... You are asking the wrong dude about cold protection... It almost never gets below 20F in our winters here... I have never had to protect a Juniper from cold in my life.

If it was me, this time of year in my climate- a cutting with roots is repotted into a pot it will stay in and allowed tog row through the Summer/ Fall to prep for Winter and they do just fine. In your climate, it gets cold earlier and gets A LOT COLDER, so I'd ask someone closer to you... Probably best to plan on just wintering them in the pot they are in and providing some protection.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

I'd overwinter the cuttings in the same place as your junipers.