jeanluc83
Omono
I finely got around to repotting my seedlings. The seedling cuttings I did about three weeks ago and the uncut ones last weekend. I have been happy with the results so far.
The mix I used retained too much moisture. This was very evident with the seedling cutting in the larger training box. I had a few start to yellow in the fall. Most of those didn't make it. Of the 12 I had going into the winter I have 6 that are still going strong. The uncut ones were in a much smaller box. I lost about 4 out of 13. I moved them into a mix of pumice and approx. 20% pine bark. They are also in smaller individual pots so that should help.
I am happy with my decision to start the cuttings in a large flat rather than individual pots. I had a fairly high number of losses, individual pots would have meant good amount of wasted effort. It also gave me an opportunity to see how the roots were progressing.
Seedling cutting results:
All of the seedling cuttings showed good radial root distribution. There was some effect on the top growth but not as significant as I had imagined. I had much lower yield with my cuttings but that is due to my own mistakes and "help" from my children.
Uncut seedling results:
The uncut seedlings showed stronger growth. This was more evident in the root growth. This would be expected as they had an extra 6 to 8 weeks of development over the cuttings. The roots were not bad but did need some work. All had a good number of side roots. Most had at least one dominant tap root where as the cuttings roots were all of fairly even strength.
I have yet to reach a final verdict on the seedling cutting technique for pitch pine but at this pint I am in favor of it.
The mix I used retained too much moisture. This was very evident with the seedling cutting in the larger training box. I had a few start to yellow in the fall. Most of those didn't make it. Of the 12 I had going into the winter I have 6 that are still going strong. The uncut ones were in a much smaller box. I lost about 4 out of 13. I moved them into a mix of pumice and approx. 20% pine bark. They are also in smaller individual pots so that should help.
I am happy with my decision to start the cuttings in a large flat rather than individual pots. I had a fairly high number of losses, individual pots would have meant good amount of wasted effort. It also gave me an opportunity to see how the roots were progressing.
Seedling cutting results:
All of the seedling cuttings showed good radial root distribution. There was some effect on the top growth but not as significant as I had imagined. I had much lower yield with my cuttings but that is due to my own mistakes and "help" from my children.
Uncut seedling results:
The uncut seedlings showed stronger growth. This was more evident in the root growth. This would be expected as they had an extra 6 to 8 weeks of development over the cuttings. The roots were not bad but did need some work. All had a good number of side roots. Most had at least one dominant tap root where as the cuttings roots were all of fairly even strength.
I have yet to reach a final verdict on the seedling cutting technique for pitch pine but at this pint I am in favor of it.
