JWP at the Office question(s)

[GrimLore]

At my Wife's Office there is a very old JWP 30-35 foot in excellent health. There seems to be a lot of little 6-8 inch pieces laying all around the base. When you pick one up it "tugs" back as each piece seems to be rooting laying down all along the lenght
Is this odd or normal?
Are they collectable or to sensitive to work with?

 

[Nybonsai12]

I am interested in hearing some educated responses on this as I have no experience with JWP.
I do not think it is normal though. If you pull one up and it has roots I would say to definitely go for it. If not you could always take a small cutting(with permission of course) and try to root it.

 

[daygan]

I am interested in hearing some educated responses on this as I have no experience with JWP.
I do not think it is normal though. If you pull one up and it has roots I would say to definitely go for it. If not you could always take a small cutting(with permission of course) and try to root it.

Same here: both interested in others' input and don't think it's normal, but not experienced enough to know. Also, for clarification's sake, are these small branchlets that have fallen and are now rooting? And are the roots visible or only evident because of the anchor that they have in the ground?

 

[GrimLore]

Same here: both interested in others' input and don't think it's normal, but not experienced enough to know. Also, for clarification's sake, are these small branchlets that have fallen and are now rooting? And are the roots visible or only evident because of the anchor that they have in the ground?

The 2 specimens she brought home appear to be cut of clean but the Landscaper has not trimmed the tree in over 10 years since he took off the low branches so you could walk by it. The roots grow along the stem but are hard to see without magnification and therefore I did not take pictures. The lowest branches on the tree are 6 feet of the ground. It is possible that Hurricane Sandy snapped off a lot of the tender branch ends but these really look clean cut. For now I just have these two in a tray laying on wet paper towels and they seem to be happy and I have no clue why

 

[johng]

Squirrels???? I know that they routinely trim branches of pine trees in the parks and public outdoor areas here... As far as them rooting, that would be awesome, but I am highly skeptical! Please prove me wrong with some nicely rooted cuttings!! Julian Adams is about the only person I know making routinely successful airlayers on white pine and that is only on one particular dwarf cultivar, zuishio, I believe.
John

 

[GrimLore]

Squirrels???? I know that they routinely trim branches of pine trees in the parks and public outdoor areas here... As far as them rooting, that would be awesome, but I am highly skeptical! Please prove me wrong with some nicely rooted cuttings!! Julian Adams is about the only person I know making routinely successful airlayers on white pine and that is only on one particular dwarf cultivar, zuishio, I believe.
John

Must agree on the Squirrels and at the same time "Accept the challange" Afterall it will only take a few more square feet to try

 

[daygan]

I actually think I know what you mean. While I don't want to start any "urban rumors", I feel like back in my home state of Virginia, I would frequently notice small brown silica like structures (like immature roots) growing on the sides of small pine branchlets. At the time, if I'm remembering correctly, I just wrote it off as a normal part of the way they grew and only sort of pondered as to whether they would be effective for rooting a cutting. If I'm remembering correctly, I think I theorized that they would allow a tree to reproduce asexually if its branches swooped low to the ground and a particular branchlet was in contact with the soil for a long period of time while also being nursed by the parent tree to which it was still attached.

 

[GrimLore]

I actually think I know what you mean. While I don't want to start any "urban rumors", I feel like back in my home state of Virginia, I would frequently notice small brown silica like structures (like immature roots) growing on the sides of small pine branchlets. At the time, if I'm remembering correctly, I just wrote it off as a normal part of the way they grew and only sort of pondered as to whether they would be effective for rooting a cutting. If I'm remembering correctly, I think I theorized that they would allow a tree to reproduce asexually if its branches swooped low to the ground and a particular branchlet was in contact with the soil for a long period of time while also being nursed by the parent tree to which it was still attached.

I understand you but in this particular case the lower 6 feet of branches have been removed as it is next to an entry for at least 10 years. That is why it seems a bit confusing.

 

[daygan]

right. That part is a bit confusing