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"Charlie Pridham" wrote:


"Michael Bell" wrote in message
. uk...
In message
Michael Bell wrote:

In message
David Hill wrote:

On 26/05/2013 08:47, Emery Davis wrote:
On Sun, 26 May 2013 07:26:28 +0100, Michael Bell wrote:

I know what you are saying, but setting that aside, there really ought
to be a way of taking cutttings from trees of any kind and that is the
question I asked.

Not all trees can be grown from cuttings. For many Japanese maple
cultivars, and several maple species, it is virtually impossible. Some
work at a low percentage rate, then are liable to fail suddenly.
Others
are viable at a commercial scale, and there are now a few nurseries
propagating them in this manner, even though some are leery of their
long
term health.

Assuming you are attempting to propagate A. glutinosa, here is what
Dirr
and Heuser have to say in "The Reference Manual of Woody Plant
Propagation."

"CUTTINGS: Cuttings (no time given), wound, 8000 ppm IBA-talc, rooted
64%. Without treatment there was no rooting. In general, this species
is
produced from seed, however, two notable cutleaf selections,
'Imperialis'
and 'Laciniata', can be rooted successfully. Mid-July cuttings of
'Imperialis' rooted 34% in 7 weeks when treated with 5000 ppm 2,4,5-TP
and 58% with 5000 ppm 2,4,5-TP plus Rootone. Late June 'Laciniata'
cuttings rooted 34% in 7 weeks with a wound and 8000 ppm IBA-talc plus
thiram, mist. Another report noted 'Imperialis' rooted easily from
softwoods when treated with 3000 ppm IBA-talc."

Other information is offered on grafting and tissue culture, several
Alnus
species are covered.

Dirr and Heuser is a standard horticultural reference that should be
available at any decent university library, and many public libraries.
May I suggest that use of the literature would be a good idea given how
long your experiments are likely to run.

Good luck,

-E

I've now got this book and a mist propagator and "Strike" (Bayer),
which I suppose is the European standard rooting powder, and a mist
propagator, and I am ready to go, but what exactly does "wound" mean?


Might it mean a single scratch down one side of the stem, or simply
the stem cut at a shallow angle, so it has a lot of exposed surface?

Michael Bell


It means removing a narrow sliver down just one side of the cutting, remove
the outer layer of bark but not going right through, its not an exact
science and some experimentation is usually required to find what works
best, same for mist units the settings that work best vary and also change
during the year.

One thing you will find of huge benefit is to shade the mist unit with thin
white polythene to prevent sun scorch

Try doing some other easy subjects as well as your Alders, that way you will
know if the mist unit settings are ok but the timing for the Alder cuttings
needs adjusting, or if the easy stuff fails the settings are wrong!

My mist propagotion unit is in shade on the north side of my house
(because of lack of space on any other side) so scorch is not a
problem. I have the settings on maximum wetness, and the first
cuttings went in on Friday, and they are still alive. Lacking advice
on what "wounded" meant I simply dipped the ends into rooting powder.
I wait to see what happens!

Michael Bell


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