Shimpaku cuttings

BrightsideB

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Too much auxin inhibits rooting. So it makes sense that if runners produce a bunch of it already, and we feed them more, they downregulate their response to those auxins and root poorly as a result.

However, junipers - and conifers - in general don't seem all that responsive to auxins. Most literature states that they benefit from very low doses or short exposure to high doses (shock exposure) combined with full depletion afterwards.
That’s interesting. I am going to take like 7 more cuttings and not use any hormone. See how they do. I wish I could take more but it’s still a small tree. I understand why people just plant cuttings randomly and forget them. It’s not fun getting hopes up or spending time on failed experiments. It’s nice to be able to be successful at a technique and then fine tune it. I’m still trying to just be successful at clones from junipers. Haven’t yet lol persistence.
 

JesusFreak

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Didn’t want to start another thread so I’ll post here. I have some shimpakus that are woody and about pencil thick that are my sacrificial branches at the moment. Do these root easily or shoul I air layer?
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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They "can" root, easy is relative. Set up right, there's not much to actually do, which makes them "easy". The larger the diameter the lower the success rate of rooting. If you can hang an air layer without damaging the source plant, I would go that route for at least one cutting. I used to root autumn cuttings of shimpaku all the time. I'd just stick them into a flat that was kept in bright shade outside, all winter. Usually about half would root. No hormones, no tenting, just very bright indirect shade. Mix was my blueberry mix. The junipers got struck in with the blueberry cuttings. Bark, peat, perlite and hort grade charcoal, all top dressed with a tablespoon of powdered lime sulfur. Water was 225 ppm, 180 mg/lit as calcium carbonate municipal tap water. Which is medium hardness and the 180 mg/liter of total alkalinity means the pH buffer capacity was not an issue.

Juniper cuttings typically root "right away" when struck anytime in spring through early to middle summer. But it is not unheard of for some cuttings to take longer. I have had some juniper not root until the following summer after being struck. Just leave them outdoors, in the flat, so they get a nice cold winter's rest. they will root when they get around to it. Typically you will see long new growths, that will be the sign you have new roots. Give them 2 years, they may root much quicker, as long as they are still green, they still can root.
 

leatherback

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Didn’t want to start another thread so I’ll post here. I have some shimpakus that are woody and about pencil thick that are my sacrificial branches at the moment. Do these root easily or shoul I air layer?
I would layer. Big stems root much slower than younger tips that are just turning yellow/brown and you have to keep the foliage hydrated without soaking. Layers take well.
 

one_bonsai

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Shimpakus are so easy to propagate. I just put the cuttings in potting mix and keep it moist and that's it.
 

JesusFreak

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I’ve rooted over 20 cuttings but never pencil thick. It’s straight as a board so I was debating whether to twist it up first while still connected or afterwards. Any idea which would produce better results?
 
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