Mugo Pine from seed. Any success with the seedling cutting technique?

[Yamabudoudanshi]

Hi everyone,

I know quite a few of you have Mugo's but I haven't seen anyone grow them from seed. I ended up getting a free bag of Mugo seeds with an order I made and decided to sow them as per the included directions. I'm starting to have some seedling pop up and I am wondering if anyone has tried the seedling technique that is often used with JBPs? this one

Has anyone done this with Mugo's? Did you have a strong success rate?

Thanks!

 

[Shibui]

I have not done seedling cuttings of Mugho but have stuck cuttings of older material. You should have no problem with Mugho seedling cuttings or most other pines.
Note that you can take cuttings from the tops of seedlings and still leave the original seedling growing. I've posted that here - https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/shibui-pine-contest-entry.36341/

I have found that not all seedling cuttings produce great radial roots. Some only throw a single root and others only a couple of roots. Maybe that's just my technique or conditions. I actually get better nebari on pines more consistently by just root pruning the seedlings early to stimulate laterals then follow up with another root prune a year or 2 later.

 

[DirkvanDreven]

I have P. Uncinata seedling cuttings. Uncinata is very close to Mugo. No problem rooting them after cutting. Don't expect any problems with other mugo's

 

[Yamabudoudanshi]

I just wanted to post an update on this.

The seedling cutting technique does indeed work for Mugo pines. I followed the technique outlined on Bonsaitonight's article for JBP with 5 Mugo seedlings and 5/5 have survived and developed lateral roots.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

For what it's worth: scots pine and ponderosa seem to do it too.

 

[DirkvanDreven]

I just wanted to post an update on this.

The seedling cutting technique does indeed work for Mugo pines. I followed the technique outlined on Bonsaitonight's article for JBP with 5 Mugo seedlings and 5/5 have survived and developed lateral roots.

Great! But I'm not surprised! But remember: it''s just the start of a great rootsystem!

 

[Vance Wood]

I just wanted to post an update on this.

The seedling cutting technique does indeed work for Mugo pines. I followed the technique outlined on Bonsaitonight's article for JBP with 5 Mugo seedlings and 5/5 have survived and developed lateral roots.

How about posting some pictures of those five Mugos, I would love to see them.

 

[Yamabudoudanshi]

How about posting some pictures of those five Mugos, I would love to see them.

Nothing special to look at really. They have stalled out considerably while forming new roots. The first two pictures are of the seedlings that have been cut, the last one is of other seedlings that came up later on. I started all of these seeds in February and I still have some popping up.

I'm still curious if they'll survive the summer.

 

[Bman7689]

Nothing special to look at really. They have stalled out considerably while forming new roots. The first two pictures are of the seedlings that have been cut, the last one is of other seedlings that came up later on. I started all of these seeds in February and I still have some popping up.

I'm still curious if they'll survive the summer.

Are those little pockets of sand?

 

[Yamabudoudanshi]

Are those little pockets of sand?

Yes. They are little cylinders of fine sand. All of the pots are sitting in a tray of water too. I just mimicked the technique as outlined in a few books I own.

 

[Backwardsvg]

Yes. They are little cylinders of fine sand. All of the pots are sitting in a tray of water too. I just mimicked the technique as outlined in a few books I own.

@Yamabudoudanshi what book do you see that in. I would be interested to read it!

 

[Dryad]

For what it's worth: scots pine and ponderosa seem to do it too.

Can confirm it's possible to use this technique on scots pine, just root pruned a bunch that I took cuttings of last year.

 

[Yamabudoudanshi]

@Yamabudoudanshi what book do you see that in. I would be interested to read it!

It's called 写真でわかる盆栽づくり, so most likely not helpful.

The pictures are pretty self explanitory. The book recommends using a slice of daikon (like a big radish) as a cutting base, but I've seen people use carrots too. Supposedly you want something with some give, that won't dull the razor.

I still have 3/5 of the mugos I did this with and they are 10x the size of the mugos I didn't cut. The ones I didn't cut have barely grown in the two years since sowing.

 

[Backwardsvg]

@Yamabudoudanshi wow really? That is quite the difference. Well I am about to get 300 mugo seeds and will stratify then try to germinate them and then use this technique thank you for sharing it!

Do they sit in the water indefinitely or was it just to get the substrate wet at first then no more?

 

[Yamabudoudanshi]

@Yamabudoudanshi wow really? That is quite the difference. Well I am about to get 300 mugo seeds and will stratify then try to germinate them and then use this technique thank you for sharing it!

Do they sit in the water indefinitely or was it just to get the substrate wet at first then no more?

I kept mine watered that way until I saw that I had roots. After that, I watered them normally.