Do you mist cuttings without leaves?

[Hump]

I asked this question in one of my other threads, but no one answered. I wanted to give it a couple days to see if I got a response before creating a post for this.

Just not sure if you do or not. Every time I Google it, it literally just talks about cuttings with leaves on the top. Mine do not have any leaves. I was misting for the first couple days, but then stopped in worry that I would be harming them with the threat of fungus or something.

Thanks,

 

[DonovanC]

I asked this question in one of my other threads, but no one answered. I wanted to give it a couple days to see if I got a response before creating a post for this.

Just not sure if you do or not. Every time I Google it, it literally just talks about cuttings with leaves on the top. Mine do not have any leaves. I was misting for the first couple days, but then stopped in worry that I would be harming them with the threat of fungus or something.

Thanks,

What species are you working with? I would assume the only reason for misting is the keep the leaves from wilting, so no leaves would mean no need to mist.
My cuttings experience is mainly in junipers, elms, and ficus. I never mist these cuttings, but they don’t really wilt, so there is not need to mist them. I’ve also done a few maples and mulberries - Ive never misted them either and I’ve had good success.

 

[0soyoung]

No, but ...

Misting is usually to prevent desiccation via leaf transpiration. Photosynthesis seems to be necessary for most species to root (willows are one notable exception).

One does, however, need to do something to keep bare sticks with buds from desiccating. There are lenticels and other little openings through which the sticks will loose moisture. Commonly, one puts the cuttings in a bag with a bit of damp material into a refrigerator or 'heels' a bundle of sticks in the ground until bud break time in (next) spring, then strikes the cuttings and starts misting when the buds break.

 

[Hump]

Thanks for the info guys. Really helps!

 

[JesusFreak]

I was under the assumption that one should mist juniper cuttings. I cut some of my shimpakus about a week ago and put them in a clear container with holes punched in bottom. It’s nothing but perilite and I mist it about twice a day. I am in south Ga so it gets pretty warm.

 

[DonovanC]

I was under the assumption that one should must juniper cuttings. I cut some of my shimpakus about a week ago and put them in a clear container with holes punched in bottom. It’s nothing but perilite and I mist it about twice a day. I am in south Ga so it gets pretty warm.

I can only speak to my own experience. But I’ve had high success (at least 90% success) in rooting shimpaku, chinensis “Sea Green,” procumbens “nana,” and horizontalis. I never mist them, I just stick them in my usual soil with a little added organics and water them Just like everything else - without fertilizer though. I’ll get one or two here and there that don’t take, but other than that I have no issues.
I’m sure others have different options and methods, but this has worked for me for the last three years just fine.

 

[leatherback]

Not sure what you mean here. You wrapped each cutting?

All in all, for species that root well (Did you post which species you are taking cutting off?) the way to go about it get a bunch of fresh cuttings. Cut them just below a node with a very sharp knife or scissors to make a nice smooth cut without crushing. Dip in hormone. Place in clean substrate. Water. Shelter. Wait. I have found that putting the pot with cuttings inside protective environment such as a plastic bag or humidity dome increases sucess manyfold. But besides that.. Not much is needed.

I water when I hardly see any condense on the inside of the baggie anymore.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I usually don't mist anything, not cuttings, not junipers, not nothin'.

Many do mist. I am not certain the results are worth the effort. Maybe there is an increase in rooting rate of cuttings.

I have had issues with rots, catastrophic rots - back when I misted regularly. I quit misting, and had a lower incidence of catastrophic rots, not entirely cause and effect are properly links, but that is why I quit misting.

 

[Ohmy222]

I mist cuttings in general 1 min every 2 hours and have found a significant improvement. As Leo says though rot can be an issue so I use Bonide granules on the soil and will occasionally sprinkle Captan fungicide on them and it fixes that problem. Having said all of that, I think it is NOT a good idea for Juniper cuttings. I have found they don't like being that wet and do better on their own or at least far less frequent misting. I root them on the benches with my trees and no protection. They do pretty well. All of the deciduous and broadleaf evergreens do much better with mist. Most of mine are maples, azaleas, and hornbeams.

 

[bwaynef]

I question what trees you're trying to root using sticks w/ no leaves on them ...at this point in the year. We're in semi-hardwood/softwood territory at this time of year. Those require leaves. Hardwoods can be done w/o leaves ...but they're usually started when the tree doesn't have leaves.

 

[penumbra]

I can only speak to my own experience. But I’ve had high success (at least 90% success) in rooting shimpaku, chinensis “Sea Green,” procumbens “nana,” and horizontalis. I never mist them, I just stick them in my usual soil with a little added organics and water them Just like everything else - without fertilizer though. I’ll get one or two here and there that don’t take, but other than that I have no issues.
I’m sure others have different options and methods, but this has worked for me for the last three years just fine.

What is your timing for junipers? That is, what is working for you season wise?

 

[DonovanC]

What is your timing for junipers? That is, what is working for you season wise?

I’ve started all of mine early summer. Although I’m experimenting to see if it actually makes a difference. I say that because I have some horizontalis cuttings that I started last summer that didn’t root, but survived the winter and have finally rooted this year.
This year I started some chinensis cuttings late July and I’m going to start some more in the next week or so just to experiment.

 

[penumbra]

I’ve started all of mine early summer. Although I’m experimenting to see if it actually makes a difference. I say that because I have some horizontalis cuttings that I started last summer that didn’t root, but survived the winter and have finally rooted this year.
This year I started some chinensis cuttings late July and I’m going to start some more in the next week or so just to experiment.

Thank you, I appreciate your input. I guess I could follow your lead here and experiment a bit.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Going to toss my hat in the ring just to reinforce what has already been said. For junipers:

(1) Clean cut
(2) Dip in rooting hormone
(3) Plant in inorganic mix
(4) Cover with something to keep in moisture. I use plastic domes. Water when you don't see condensation on inside of dome.
(5) Put in cool morning sun but afternoon shade.
(6) Success!

 

[penumbra]

Going to toss my hat in the ring just to reinforce what has already been said. For junipers:

(1) Clean cut
(2) Dip in rooting hormone
(3) Plant in inorganic mix
(4) Cover with something to keep in moisture. I use plastic domes. Water when you don't see condensation on inside of dome.
(5) Put in cool morning sun but afternoon shade.
(6) Success!

Would you mind sharing what your timing is? I have done a bit of propagating but not junipers. I believe I read in Dirr at some point that you could stick cuttings in late summer or fall and winter them in a greenhouse to develop callus and roots by springtime. May even be able to refrigerate them over winter.
Thoughts?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Would you mind sharing what your timing is? I have done a bit of propagating but not junipers. I believe I read in Dirr at some point that you could stick cuttings in late summer or fall and winter them in a greenhouse to develop callus and roots by springtime. May even be able to refrigerate them over winter.
Thoughts?

I have actually never taken cuttings in North Carolina, given that I've only lived here six months. However in SoCal I used to do a lot of conifer maintenance work in December, and would take cuttings at that time and they were normally rooted by the heat of the next summer. They may have been rooted in the spring - I don't know - I typically left them in their propagation container for a year before I transplanted. Given how brutally hot and dry SoCal summers are, I just didn't think it was worth the risk to mess with new roots in late spring and not give the cuttings time to recover before the heat of the summer happened.

 

[0soyoung]

Going to toss my hat in the ring just to reinforce what has already been said. For junipers:

(1) Clean cut
(2) Dip in rooting hormone
(3) Plant in inorganic mix
(4) Cover with something to keep in moisture. I use plastic domes. Water when you don't see condensation on inside of dome.
(5) Put in cool morning sun but afternoon shade.
(6) Success!

I do similarly, but have had better success just putting the uncovered pot under the bench. Same with camellia, hinoki chirimen, Here, rH > 50%, almost always.

... success

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I do similarly, but have had better success just putting the uncovered pot under the bench. Same with camellia, hinoki chirimen, Here, rH > 50%, almost always.

My buddy, @Si Nguyen used to just put his cuttings in a 5 gallon Home Depot bucket No cover, but the tall sides protected it from wind... I was dubious, but you can't argue with success!!