Hardwood cuttings question.

[mnjrutherford]

Really? 2 nodes? I can't with some, but I'll re-do the ones I can. Does it matter WHERE the first above soil node is? Should the 2nd node be buried deep as possible or should it be closer to the surface?

It's remaining cool and wet here so I am continuing hopeful.

[hotwired]

I clone Fruit trees for my orchard. I use two methods, rooting in willow tea, and air layering. Here's my technique for rooting in willow tea .



I absolutely love air layering. I use the large Jiffy Coir Pucks, saturate them with Willow Tea, and wrap them up with aluminum foil, sealing the ends with grafting wax. I leave them about 3 months, then cut off the branch just below the root growth.

It is an absolutely foolproof method of propagation with a 100% success rate.

Hotwired NY 5b

[Deleted]

I do something very similar but am unclear on what you're doing with the grafting wax.

[MikeH]

May 3, 2013 20:44:23 GMT -5 hotwired said:

I absolutely love air layering. I use the large Jiffy Coir Pucks, saturate them with Willow Tea, and wrap them up with aluminum foil, sealing the ends with grafting wax. I leave them about 3 months, then cut off the branch just below the root growth.

What time of the year do you air layer? What kind of wood are you choosing - greenwood or hardwood? Last year's growth? Older? Any particular reason for using aluminum foil? When you say saturate, do you squeeze the excess water out to make the coir damp or do you leave it dripping? What have you had success with?

[mnjrutherford]

Degzing - Who is using grafting wax? Is that something that you would purchase or make? I've used bees wax to cover plug holes in mushroom logs and I've also used it to "bandage" wounds on trees that lost limbs during sap flow periods. I've wondered about using it to hold grafts together instead of tape.

Hotwired - That looks like stone fruit twigs in the ice tray? I've been pondering that very thing. I have the same questions as MikeH. I also want to ask:
1. How do you prepare the willow tea?
2. What temperature are you holding the wood in the tea? Fridge? Room?
3. I'm guessing there are holes in the ice tray for the twigs to go through and you put it into another container with the tea?

Just to repeat MikeHs questions (because I'm a nerd):
1. What time of the year do you air layer?
2. What kind of wood are you choosing, greenwood or hardwood? Last year's growth or older?
3. Any particular reason for using aluminum foil?
4. When you say saturat, do you squeeze the excess water out to make the coir damp or do you leave it dripping?
5. What have you had success with? (I'm guessing this refers to what type of plants, right? Like stone fruit, blueberries, apple/pear trees, pecans/chestnuts)

[Deleted]

May 3, 2013 21:33:04 GMT -5 @degzing said:

I do something very similar but am unclear on what you're doing with the grafting wax.

May 4, 2013 10:05:01 GMT -5 mnjrutherford said:

Degzing - Who is using grafting wax?

May 3, 2013 20:44:23 GMT -5 hotwired said:

... sealing the ends with grafting wax.

He is apparently keeping moisture in the cuttings?

[mnjrutherford]

That would make sense! I always equated the use of wax with a human bandaid... keeps the wound clean but also maintains moisture which is essential for regeneration.

[steev]

Yesss. I don't know how many cuttings from NCGR I killed before I learned that stone-fruit and Pome-fruit don't root worth a damn. Well, part of their mission is education, though not actively, apparently. It's all a learning opportunity, and we must appreciate them for what they do, not for what they might do, given our preferences or needs.

[Deleted]

To the best of my understanding, it was our job to educate them, based on our own findings.

This wax thing was a good idea, and i have the opportunity to test it, too.

I would personally like to think of the germplasm repository as a passive instrument, which may be shaped by our offerings of plant material and respectfully-shared knowledge.

I think it would be really neat to make a donation and hear of it being used on an industrial scale.

But, I was treated rudely, more than once, and never once got viable material.

[steev]

I'm sure I've gotten good stuff, but not known how to deal with it properly.

It is true that, of late, rudeness is rampant. I think it's just the result of less generous tax-payer funding, leading to more caterring to industrial desires and less interest in non-commercial use. Too bad, that, in my opinion, as I think it grossly undercuts the historical mission of the NCGR, turning it to just another tool of agribusiness; a tax-payer funded one, at that, which I, personally, am less inclined to support, than to say "fuck 'em". If they aren't to serve my interests, why should I serve theirs?

I have received excellent material, on more than one occasion, from several centers; I've been treated rudely dismissively by others, on more than one occasion; looks like things are run by people; perhaps it will be better when the machines are in charge, but I think it'll be better when I'm in charge.

[hotwired]

Hotwired - That looks like stone fruit twigs in the ice tray?

Actually it is the bottom half of an egg carton that I poke the cuttings through. I use it like a boat, floating in an aquarium of Willow tea. I have Cherry branch Cuttings in the photo.

1. How do you prepare the willow tea?
2. What temperature are you holding the wood in the tea? Fridge? Room?
3. I'm guessing there are holes in the ice tray for the twigs to go through and you put it into another container with the tea?

I have a pdf that explains in detail how I make the tea and the complete procedure. Rooting with Willow Tea

1. What time of the year do you air layer?

I primarily do air layering on fruit trees, and sometimes on nut trees. I will air layer early in the Spring or after the fruit harvest. I'll usually look at the tree in the Spring and decide what will get pruned, and that becomes the air layering candidate. I have air layered in early November before, and cut it free in early April with great results (zone 5b). I did double wrap fiberglass insulation then more plastic around the area to keep it from freezing. Not sure that was necessary. And yes the grafting wax was to seal the ends, though I now use "duck seal" which is a lot cheaper (used to seal fuse into explosives).

2. What kind of wood are you choosing, greenwood or hardwood? Last year's growth or older?

confused? For air layering, any live branch will do. For Tea rooting, it requires at least 2 nodes from a living branch. For the willow branches needed to make tea, I want the ends of young branches since they contain the highest content of Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA).

3. Any particular reason for using aluminum foil?

Nope.. I want to block light, otherwise the moist coir will turn green from Algae growth from light exposure. Same reason I don't re-pot plants into clear plastic cups - algae bloom.

4. When you say saturate, do you squeeze the excess water out to make the coir damp or do you leave it dripping?

I soak the coir puck in willow tea or rooting compound solution. I'll shake it so it is still completely saturated but not dripping. Over time it will lose a lot of moisture even with the best efforts at sealing it tight to the bark.

5. What have you had success with? (I'm guessing this refers to what type of plants, right? Like stone fruit, blueberries, apple/pear trees, pecans/chestnuts)

I air layer Peach, Apple, Cherry, Pear, Plum, etc. I also use my "willow tea boat" to root cuttings that I have collected from others for expanding my varieties. I have a friend that uses my methods for hardwood trees with good results. I have a little over 5 acres, so if I have open land to plant something it better be edible.

I use Willow tea to root Rosemary, Blueberries, grapevines, and berry bushes.

[Deleted]

You taught me something about the foil, too. Lots of good ideas, here.

[mnjrutherford]

Yep, I'm hoping to implement some in the coming season.

Update on my hazel cuttings... I'm not so sure they are going to make it. Some are... at least one or two. Hopefully enough to get compatible pollination going. I'm going to get some nuts this fall though. I think that is ultimately the best way to grow.

[raymondo]

May 21, 2013 4:25:01 GMT -5 mnjrutherford said:

...I'm going to get some nuts this fall though. I think that is ultimately the best way to grow.

I think it's certainly the least stressful way to grow them. Throw the seeds in a pot or in the ground in autumn, start checking in spring, transplant successes to permanent home the following autumn.

[Deleted]

I used the willow tea idea in my layers and got at least one pluot, one plum, and one giant apricot successfully rooted. Will check on cherries an pomegranates, Saturday.