Propagating Horse Chestnut through Cuttings

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I've been told this is impossible, time after time after time.
I used to think it was impossible, time after time after time.
Anne Franks iconic chest nut was cut down due to it being infected with fungus. Only the seeds have survived, only the seeds have been taken, since cuttings "just don't work" in horse chestnut.

Now, since this past weekend, I have to disagree with my former self and every "tree doctor" that has advised the city of Amsterdam on this.
But, the technique is quite uncommon for most plant species. That's why I'm taking some time to spread the word: Horse Chestnuts can be propagated through cuttings.

Step 1: Cut your branches after the leaf drop in autumn, last years' growth is preferred. I used 2017 fresh branches, from the flower store. They're usually available in Januari. That's mid-winter for us.
Step 2: Close the cut with whatever you have laying around. A piece of chewing gum would suffice.
Step 3: Place the cuttings horizontal in peat moss (sphagnum) preferably alive moss, spray the stuff with water, hose it down, whatever. Put it in a humidity dome. Yeah, the cheap ones you get at the super market.
Step 4: Place dome outdoors. Did you drill holes in the bottom of the dome container? Nah? Well, you should have.
Step 5: Wait until spring. Dig them up from the moss, that has probably overgrown the branches a little.
Step 6: Admire the fresh roots that have formed. Now find a way on how to keep them. This is where I'm at. After that, I need to figure out how to get it back up and growing again. The branches are still in dormancy, but at least there are roots!

20% success rate as opposed to 0% in perlite/vermiculite vertically, as well as 0% succes in peat moss vertically.
The entire hidden message here is: go horizontal with chestnuts! Leave out the rooting hormones, these work inhibiting for chestnuts for some reason.

 

[Tentakelaertje]

Oh shit that's cool! Would love to see the results of that. Thanks for taking the time to post this!
Does it matter if you close the cut?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I suppose it does matter if you close the cut. Due to the moss being moist/wet, there will be a sugar concentration difference between the water in the moss, and the water in the branch. Since there is little active transport (and little healing) in winter, the stored sugars could possibly leak out, and diffuse.
This can cause a setback in energy availability.


Since the roots will emerge straight from the branch and never from the cut, I think its better to close it.

Oh before you ask: yes, these branches have been frozen, covered in snow and actually I have thrown them outside in the moss as being a 'lost batch' of cuttings that didn't root. Somehow that lost batch got roots, and the ones kept indoors in sunlight and humidity tents did not root at all.

Sometimes not caring at all does work! Haha!

 

[0soyoung]

I find this to be extremely interesting. Thanks!
Do you have any explanation of why things are this way or is tree physiology not your thing?


But I have trouble understanding why anyone would want to propagate them by cuttings. The trees in my neighborhood produce seed prolifically and the squirrels plant them everywhere. I have no idea how many they eat, but not enough Regardless, I find them to be a lot of fun if kept small.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Physiologically I could explain i in the following way:
1. Auxin pathways are weird in chestnut. They tend to be inhibited by IBA, whicj means that rooting powder is either overdosing them (creating inhibition due to the plant wanting to restore balance). Or the IBA in rooting powder is not enough.

Chestnuts are very susceptible to water based organisms like fungi and bacteria. They tent to shut down all infected tissue agressively. That's why the wounds don't even produce callus, only dead tissue.

Closing the wound and giving them a sense of gravity, combined with moisture exposure to the bark, induced rooting. That's basically air layering without cutting the bark, a lot of plants have that ability; from junipers to cannabis.

If you want to dive into the cellular processes, that would be fine too. But then I'll need my pc to write.

As for the "why would you take cuttings?"
Around here we have white, pink, purple, and mixed flowering types. I wanted to make sure i had pink mixed. With seeds, that would take 6 years of field growing to find out. From there on back to a pot, and 6 more years into refinement. Right now, I'm closer to 1-2 years before refinement.

 

[0soyoung]

Have you tried air-layering? Per cutting 'behavior', it would seem that the cambium above the girdle should die, which I presume would then lead to the xylem being clogged, and that would be that. Might be interesting to know, but I currently don't have anything big enough to try.
I've noticed that they resprout prolifically from stumps. Much more so than any elm that I can remember.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I haven't tried air layering to be honest. All trees around here are huge, 40+ years old specimens. If the wind does a single sweep, either my air layers come off or the extra weight could cause the branch to snap at the weakest point: the air layer.
Since there's so much dieback in these trees, I'm not even sure if it would work. But I'm always willing to give it a try if one of my cuttings grows out.

 

[GailC]

I have a big old horse chestnut, I'll try a airlayer this year just for experiment sakes. I've thought about trying to bonsai one of the seedlings, they come up in droves in the summer, often being quite twisty.

 

[Sn0W]

@GailC did you ever try the air layer?

 

[GailC]

@GailC did you ever try the air layer?

I didn't, completely forgot about it. Sorry. I'll try to remember this year

 

[Dkdhej]

I've been told this is impossible, time after time after time.
I used to think it was impossible, time after time after time.
Anne Franks iconic chest nut was cut down due to it being infected with fungus. Only the seeds have survived, only the seeds have been taken, since cuttings "just don't work" in horse chestnut.

Now, since this past weekend, I have to disagree with my former self and every "tree doctor" that has advised the city of Amsterdam on this.
But, the technique is quite uncommon for most plant species. That's why I'm taking some time to spread the word: Horse Chestnuts can be propagated through cuttings.

Step 1: Cut your branches after the leaf drop in autumn, last years' growth is preferred. I used 2017 fresh branches, from the flower store. They're usually available in Januari. That's mid-winter for us.
Step 2: Close the cut with whatever you have laying around. A piece of chewing gum would suffice.
Step 3: Place the cuttings horizontal in peat moss (sphagnum) preferably alive moss, spray the stuff with water, hose it down, whatever. Put it in a humidity dome. Yeah, the cheap ones you get at the super market.
Step 4: Place dome outdoors. Did you drill holes in the bottom of the dome container? Nah? Well, you should have.
Step 5: Wait until spring. Dig them up from the moss, that has probably overgrown the branches a little.
Step 6: Admire the fresh roots that have formed. Now find a way on how to keep them. This is where I'm at. After that, I need to figure out how to get it back up and growing again. The branches are still in dormancy, but at least there are roots!

20% success rate as opposed to 0% in perlite/vermiculite vertically, as well as 0% succes in peat moss vertically.
The entire hidden message here is: go horizontal with chestnuts! Leave out the rooting hormones, these work inhibiting for chestnuts for some reason.

So glad I found this thread.
I am definitely gonna try this.
Have you had any further success going back vertically?
Keeping it horizontally, do you think it could be used as a raft?
Thanks

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

So glad I found this thread.
I am definitely gonna try this.
Have you had any further success going back vertically?
Keeping it horizontally, do you think it could be used as a raft?
Thanks

Nope, they all died.

From seed is.. Way easier. And these things grow fast. A thumb thick trunk in year 1.
And they bud from everywhere, so no issues cutting back wherever. Just keep the dieback into account.

 

[Dkdhej]

Nope, they all died.

From seed is.. Way easier. And these things grow fast. A thumb thick trunk in year 1.
And they bud from everywhere, so no issues cutting back wherever. Just keep the dieback into account.

Yeah, I got a bunch of saplings. Still hoping they inherited a nice color of flower, wouldn't have that problem with cuttings.
Thanks again.

 

[penumbra]

Just found this thread and I am very impressed that you found a way. I suspect there are many more "impossible" things that can be accomplished.
Never say never.