Hello. I was wondering how 'old' a cutting from a plant would be. As an example:

Imagine you have a five year old plant, that is old enough to produce fruit. If you took a cutting from this plant, would you have to wait five years for that cutting to produce fruit?

The reason I am asking is because I am buying a Coffee Arabica which is one year old. However, they don't produce beans until four-five years and was wondering if producing a couple of cuttings from it would be make them a year behind.

On 4/13/12 7:33 AM, BlackThumb wrote:
Hello. I was wondering how 'old' a cutting from a plant would be. As an
example:

Imagine you have a five year old plant, that is old enough to produce
fruit. If you took a cutting from this plant, would you have to wait
five years for that cutting to produce fruit?

The reason I am asking is because I am buying a Coffee Arabica which is
one year old. However, they don't produce beans until four-five years
and was wondering if producing a couple of cuttings from it would be
make them a year behind.

Generally, a new plant started from a cutting has its clock reset. The
issue is not the age of the parent plant. It is the extent to which the
new plant's roots and top growth have become established. Thus,
cuttings from a plant that was already producing fruit will experience a
delay in maturing.

I have seen this with rooted cuttings of grape vines. The parents had
been producing grapes for a few years already. The rooted cuttings,
however, delayed fruiting for about three years, which is what I
previously experienced from grape vines bought at a nursery.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

Basics of taking plant cuttings

Plant shoot cuttings are usually taken from plant growth of the current growing season. Cuttings may be taken from various stages of plant growth. The range of cuttings is from succulent to hardwood. It is not possible to state one type of cutting which is useful for all plants.
Adjust the timing to take cuttings based upon the locale.
Cutting for most plants propagated in the greenhouse can usually be taken at any time. Cuttings from deciduous plants are usually taken in early summer. Cutting should not usually be taken from the end of a branch nor the top part, rather, in between. Testing and experience will allow you to select at what stage of maturity each type of plant will root best.

Select the 'best' time to take cuttings from the stock plant


Some cutting from the same stock plant may root while others may not. There may be a 'best time' to take cuttings from the plant. Rooting of cuttings is affected by many variables. Some plants have different rooting ability at different times of the year. A few weeks difference in taking of cuttings may produce success or failure. Woody plants are especially influenced by timing. After a certain age, often years, some plants may even have difficulty producing cutting viable to produce roots.

Juvenile cuttings

Some plants produce better rooting when cuttings are taken from juvenile parts of the plant. When taking shoot cuttings from the same stock plant at the same time some cuttings may have different rooting ability. While a cutting may be young in growth age they may be old relative to the stem from which the cutting is taken. Physically young cuttings taken from the top of a two year old tree branch may exhibit root initiation performance as if they were two year old cuttings.

Cuttings taken from near the base of the plant may exhibit rooting characteristics similar to the real age of the cuttings; months old rather than years old. One reason may be the position of the shoots on the plant. Current years shoots may root different from second year shoots. Shoots from the lower part of the plant may have less sunlight than the upper shoots. The upper shoots may be a few weeks older than the lower shoots. Younger shoots need less stimulation, to root than older shoots; use a lower Rhizopon AA or Hortus IBA Water Soluble Salts concentration. The younger shoots require a more stable propagation environment.

Sometimes it is beneficial to induce juvenility by maintaining relatively young mother plants or to hedge the young mother plants. Pruning of the mother plants should be limited since the mother plant must constantly produce energy to produce new shoots. Change the mother plants frequently to induce better quality cuttings.

David E. Ross wrote:
BlackThumb wrote:

Hello. I was wondering how 'old' a cutting from a plant would be. As an
example:

Imagine you have a five year old plant, that is old enough to produce
fruit. If you took a cutting from this plant, would you have to wait
five years for that cutting to produce fruit?

The reason I am asking is because I am buying a Coffee Arabica which is
one year old. However, they don't produce beans until four-five years
and was wondering if producing a couple of cuttings from it would be
make them a year behind.

Generally, a new plant started from a cutting has its clock reset. The
issue is not the age of the parent plant. It is the extent to which the
new plant's roots and top growth have become established. Thus,
cuttings from a plant that was already producing fruit will experience a
delay in maturing.

I have seen this with rooted cuttings of grape vines. The parents had
been producing grapes for a few years already. The rooted cuttings,
however, delayed fruiting for about three years, which is what I
previously experienced from grape vines bought at a nursery.

righto,

the roots have to be in balance with the
leaf area and leaf area has to be large enough
to generate enough extra energy to create a fruit
and fill it with carbohydrates.

the size of the cutting (cross section) will
be the age of the plant, but it also has to play
catchup in developing roots to support the
leaves, so subtract a year or two for that.

for smaller fruits on bushy plants it isn't
so terrible. like a bog/wild blueberry, those
can have berries within a year or two given the
right setting and conditions.

most grape-vines take a few years to grow
out from a transplant, not because the stem
is young, but because the plant needs to be
properly pruned and shaped to fit a trellis
or arbor. two to three years isn't unusual
for the first light crop. for dwarf fruit
trees already in a large pot i've had tiny
oranges on a twig, but it fell off shortly
after forming.


songbird

Thank you very much, both of you for taking your time to give good answers. I'll expect it to take forty-five years to start producing beans then.