HI Brent
very interesting explanations I could keep my Penta alive just for 7
months in a north position but not more , a side question
I wish to make come cuttings from my Prunus mume to make some gifts to
friends, as it has grown some long twigs and need to be trimmed soon
how could I proceed? I have no green house but could make a small one
for them
Thanks for your feed back
Theo
Evergreen Gardenworks wrote:
At 07:21 PM 2/5/04 -0500, Jim Dolce wrote:
Hello Brent,
I have always heard that it was pretty much impossible to take
cuttings
of pines, except for the Zuisho variety of Japanese White Pine. But
reading
your message certainly seems to suggest this may just be another bonsai
myth.
I would like to ask you if you have a special technique for taking pine
cuttings, if there are specific varieties that work for you or whether
you
simply follow the same approach as you have documented in the article on
your web page.
Jim
Yes, it is possible to grow pines from cuttings, but in general it is more
difficult than other species. Timing is important, as well as maintenance
of a suitable environment. Rooting times are also generally longer than
other species. I suppose it could be done without automatic mist and bottom
heat, but it would be even more difficult. There is fine balance in keeping
the environment humid enough to keep the cuttings alive and avoiding a
saturated medium that will rot the stems.
Personally, I have rooted Pinus mugo 'Valley Cushion', Pinus thunbergii
cultivars, and Pinus parviflora 'Zuisho'. All three were rooted from wood
grown late the previous season and started in mid spring. The timing
depends more the condition of the wood rather than the calendar and will
even vary from year to year. Early April works well for me.
Pinus mugo and P. thunbergii seem to do better with a high IBA hormone
(3%), and from what I have seen so far for 'Zuisho' (only one
attempt), hormone strength doesn't seem to make a lot of difference.
Cuttings taken in April are usually rooted by the end of August. That's an
awfully long time to keep a pine cutting alive without either drying it out
or having it rot from too much mist. If they aren't rooted by the end of
August, they seem to be doomed. Very few have overwintered and rooted out
the following spring. I now just throw them out if they haven't rooted and
start a new crop the following spring.
I don't see much advantage to rooting P. parviflora since the species
itself is notoriously prone to fungal root problems, at least in this
country. I think the better route is to graft them to P. thunbergii, which
is an excellent understock. If grafted very low, there are no unsightly
union problems. If grafted high (to the first branch) you get a fat trunk
and nice scaly bark. This is often done in Japan. The trunk usually is
trained to take a turn at the first branch (at the graft union) to help
make the bark transition less jarring. Bill Valavanis has made some
interesting comments on this practice. In Japan it seems, this practice of
grafting high on P.t. is not taken seriously and they are never seen in
shows, but grown mainly for export, or end up as exports.
Rooting P. thunbergii cultivars, especially the cork bark types is very
exciting. Grafting them is problematic. Unless they are grafted absolutely
just above the existing understock roots, the corky bark will appear to
'float' above the smoother bark of the understock. Cutting grown plants
avoid this problem, with the added benefit of having corky surface roots as
well. Rooted cuttings of P. thunbergii are also very vigorous.
As with any species, there are differences in various cultivars in their
ability to root. I haven't tried a great many P. thunbergii cultivars, but
the Nishiki types seem fairly easy. This may have something to do with the
corky bark. I have found this to be true with other species (Cork barked
Acer palmatum comes to mind). P.t. 'Akame' seems exceptionally easy to
root, but is less tolerant of water, so it is difficult to keep them alive
while they are rooting out. Unfortunately 'Brocade' ('Hayabusa') has been
very difficult, and I have yet to root a single cutting.
I haven't done any pine cuttings for several years now. Things were put on
hold while the nursery move was taking place, but I hope to have a new
greenhouse set up this spring so that I can start again. I would like to
expand the Nishiki types grown from cuttings in particular, but it would be
nice to have the dwarf types on their own roots too, such as 'Yatsubusa',
and 'Koto Buki'. Grafts work so well for most 'regular' size P. thunbergii
cvs. that growing them from cuttings doesn't make much sense unless I can
get really good at it!
Brent in Northern California
Evergreen Gardenworks USDA Zone 8 Sunset Zone 14
http://www.EvergreenGardenworks.com
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