Root Cutting on P. Mume

[Bonds Guy]

Spring will be arriving soon and I've been reviewing root work from last year. For this mume (it's a 'trumpet' btw) I wanna cutback the large root (circled in red) so the other roots can catch up. I figured since I'm cutting it, I might as well use that root to propagate another mume of that cultivar. Only issue is I'm not sure when to cut it. I never propagated a tree from a root cutting, but from what I learned online is that the tree should be dormant when taking the cutting. However, I would like to see this tree bloom and I know flowers put a lot of stress on the tree.

So if I was to make a root cutting, would it be safe to do it before bloom? Or should I wait until after bloom? Or do I have to choose between flowers and cutting?

 

[leatherback]

I am not sure I have ever heard someone propagating this species through root cuttings!?

 

[Trueblackpercula]

Tagging along as I would like to know if it’s that easy.

 

[Dav4]

Tagging along as I would like to know if it’s that easy.

Pretty sure it isn’t. Mume are very difficult to reproduce asexually and I’ve never heard of using anyone using root cuttings successfully with them.

 

[Bonds Guy]

Whelp I decided to give it a shot

 

[Trueblackpercula]

Whelp I decided to give it a shot

View attachment 359713

Looking forward to seeing your results. Are you placing it in sand or soil? Are you planning to place inside of a sealed clear zip lock bag or root tube? Please tell us more as I am doing a report on my newly acquired mume and can try this as well. I was thinking of taken a small cutting like yours and placing inside a clear plastic tube like the one they place in the ends of a single rose.
Let me know your plan and I will do the opposite so we can see what works.
Michael

 

[Trueblackpercula]

Like this

 

[Pitoon]

Prunus mume is propagated via hardwood and softwood cuttings.

 

[Bonds Guy]

Looking forward to seeing your results. Are you placing it in sand or soil? Are you planning to place inside of a sealed clear zip lock bag or root tube? Please tell us more as I am doing a report on my newly acquired mume and can try this as well. I was thinking of taken a small cutting like yours and placing inside a clear plastic tube like the one they place in the ends of a single rose.
Let me know your plan and I will do the opposite so we can see what works.
Michael

Just your regular organic potting soil in a terra cotta planter buried an inch or so below soil level. I never propagted any plant by root cutting (at least not intentionally) so I'm just following my unintentional actions and stuff I read online - cut it, bury it, allow it exit dormancy naturally, and keep soil moist. Oh and most importantly, don't allow it to freeze!

I know this may sound obvious but since your mume is newly aquired, just make sure your mume has enough roots to support itself. It wouldn't make sense to lose your already established mume for the possibly of a mume.

Prunus mume is propagated via hardwood and softwood cuttings.

Do you know if anybody tried hydroponics to propagate? I tried propagating japanese maples and brazilian raintree softwood cuttings via hydroponics and noticed they leaf a lot sooner than conventional planting. Unfortunately, my water aerator stopped working 3 weeks in and they died

 

[AlainK]

So if I was to make a root cutting, would it be safe to do it before bloom? Or should I wait until after bloom?

I have no experience doing it with Prunus mume, but it works very well with other species of Prunus (Prunus pissardii, Prunus serrulata 'Accolade', ...) so I think you were right to try it. I've done it both before budbreak (late February) and after flowering and the rate of success was very high with the species I have. The latest I've done, last spring and a few days ago (Prunus 'Accolade'), and one that was done about 6-7 years ago:

 

[TomB]

Spring will be arriving soon and I've been reviewing root work from last year. For this mume (it's a 'trumpet' btw) I wanna cutback the large root (circled in red) so the other roots can catch up. I figured since I'm cutting it, I might as well use that root to propagate another mume of that cultivar. Only issue is I'm not sure when to cut it. I never propagated a tree from a root cutting, but from what I learned online is that the tree should be dormant when taking the cutting. However, I would like to see this tree bloom and I know flowers put a lot of stress on the tree.

So if I was to make a root cutting, would it be safe to do it before bloom? Or should I wait until after bloom? Or do I have to choose between flowers and cutting?

View attachment 357453View attachment 357454View attachment 357455

Is your tree grafted? Looks like it is from a couple of the pictures. If so, remember that if you do manage to get growth from the root, it won't be the same cultivar. In fact, some other species of prunus entirely may have been used for the rootstock.

 

[Bonds Guy]

Is your tree grafted? Looks like it is from a couple of the pictures. If so, remember that if you do manage to get growth from the root, it won't be the same cultivar. In fact, some other species of prunus entirely may have been used for the rootstock.

No, its a rooted cutting. Got it from evergreen gardenworks

 

[Pitoon]

Do you know if anybody tried hydroponics to propagate? I tried propagating japanese maples and brazilian raintree softwood cuttings via hydroponics and noticed they leaf a lot sooner than conventional planting. Unfortunately, my water aerator stopped working 3 weeks in and they died

I'm not aware of anyone attempting P. mume hydroponically. If you aware please share. It would be interested to know if it's successful. My take would be to try on softwood cuttings. The key is to keep the cutting alive long enough to callus over and push out roots.

 

[Trueblackpercula]

Any updates on the root cutting ?

 

[Bonds Guy]

Any updates on the root cutting ?

Nothing came up yet. Honestly, I think it failed because my other root cuttings came up. For now I’m going to leave it alone for another month