Hardwood cuttings question.

[Deleted]

Why are they planted upside down?

[YoungAllotmenteer]

I don't think they should be..?

[Deleted]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-pymQCQTx4

He starts them upside down. When roots come out, he turns them right side up?

[diane]

I just watched the video. How peculiar. Some of the plants he suggested are ones that have rooted when I used branches to hold up my peas, so I would never have to go to so much fuss.

[raymondo]

I am also wondering why they're done upside down. Anyone know why?

[olddog]

for putting the cuttings in the ground, someone told me, because the closer to the soil surface, the warmer the temperature, and the faster the rooting.
and i am thinking, more oxygen?

[diane]

The surface would be warmer in summer, but he was doing it in winter - there was snow on the ground - so the surface would be colder.

[steev]

He's rooting plants native to Australia.

[12540dumont]

yeah, and Raymundo will tell you that he stands on his head when planting peas.... Oy Steev, we're still laughing.

[hotwired]

He's not planting them upside down, just putting them in the bucket that way. Roots grow downward, so logic would tell me that if the rooting end were resting on the ground at the bottom of the bottomless bucket, then the roots would grow downward into the hard soil, so he would have to dig them out. By turning the bundle upside down, the roots have 4-5 inches to grow before reaching hard ground.

[YoungAllotmenteer]

I cant watch the video and am struggling to picture this ;D

Is there a bottomless bucket with 'hard ground' on both ends?

[Drahkk]

Hotwired has it right. He's burying the bottomless bucket most of the way so ground heat will insulate it, then putting the bundled cuttings in upside down and covering with potting soil. They are terminal cuttings, not mid-branch scions, so the only exposed cambium to form roots from is at the bottom of them. Being upside down, those roots will have to form in the loose potting soil instead of the hard packed ground beneath. He's then moistening the soil and putting the lid on to hold both moisture and warmth, then just digging them up when it's time to transplant. Pretty ingenious, really.

MB

[mnjrutherford]

OK, so, I'm trying this with hazelnuts. I received cuttings from GRIN of 5 varieties, Daviana, Hall's Giant, Barcelona, and 2 other that I can't think of at the moment. I've been agonizing how to get them going because hazelnuts are notoriously difficult to start from cuttings. Finally, what have I got to loose? I need these to get things going here. I have some mature bushes, but though they "try" to produce a couple of nuts each year, "try" is all that's happening. So, my bucket is in the ground with the scions, upside down, and surrounded with Bacto... Here's to nuts kids! c[] <--- mug o' brew

[MikeH]

If you have some mature plants, I'd graft onto them. You can get them on their out roots later by layering the grafted material when it's got enough growth. If hazel is anything like apple, you only need 2 to 3 buds per scion. If GRIN has given you longer sticks, cut them into smaller 2-3 bud pieces. That'll increase your chances of success.

I wouldn't cut the host down as is usually done but rather I'd graft onto the end of branches. Match the diameters of host and scion closely and use a cleft graft. Here's some pix of apple grafts that I did last year on the ends of branches using cleft grafts - picasaweb.google.com/PortagePerennials/AppleGrafting. Try to do as little whittling on the scion piece as possible because it will result in an uneven rippled surface. You want to make the surface as even as possible so that you have good contact between the cambium on the host and the cambium on the scion.

You don't need a grafting knife; a sharp box knife will do. You can use white plumbers tape but it's kind of finicky to work with. A roll of parafilm tape won't set you back much. I've bought from these folks and been satisfied - www.orchardvalleysupply.com/ovsstore/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=278

You can try sticking them but the %'s aren't good. See www.midwesthazelnuts.org/assets/files/Conference_presentations/Propagation%20from%20Stem%20Cuttings.pdf

[mnjrutherford]

Well.... To begin with, they are already buried in the bucket, so I'm kinda committed to that method at present. As for grafting, well... I suck mightly. I tried it and the results were 100% death. Got LOADS of pear root stock though!!!! I DO need to try again, but I'm not ready to commit the precious hazels to that process.