Maybe a dumb question.....but....

[Mike Corazzi]

If you took a chunk out of a vertical branch or trunk of an easy to root tree (like say, an olive) and turned it around and put it in soil with rooting hormone..

would the bottom (formerly the top) develop roots and the top (formerly the bottom) put out shoots?

 

[GGB]

an upside down cutting? I've heard that won't fly, but there's only one way to find out for sure

 

[penumbra]

There are a few plants that will work with like raspberries and other cane berries. Willows would probably work and maybe some of the easiest to root but probably not most plants. You got me thinking that I might try it and then I thought, why would I want to? Curiosity I guess. Certainly not a dumb question but kind of a wacky one.

 

[just.wing.it]

I'm pretty sure that seeds know which way to root and shoot due to gravity.....I cant remember what this action is actually called.

With that said, I think no, it wont work.

If it did, reverse taper would have a new method of correction.

 

[Smoke]

If you totally bury it the way you wish the orientation, the roots will come out and head down and the shoots will come out and grow up. In about five years you won't know it was upside down. But.... you have to bury it.

 

[just.wing.it]

If you totally bury it the way you wish the orientation, the roots will come out and head down and the shoots will come out and grow up. In about five years you won't know it was upside down. But.... you have to bury it.

Very interesting!

 

[penumbra]

Big difference between seeds and cuttings. There are the cane berries that are commonly propagated when the growing tip hits the ground. And there are some trees from Africa and South America that due the same. Now I think we have to try it. I think the problem with willows and such is that they are actively growing. I'll bet that if you did a hardwood cutting of a willow in dormancy it would work. I decent sized cutting might work now if you strip all the leaves. I am going to try it in the next couple days and see what happens.

 

[just.wing.it]

Geotaxis and Phototaxis is what I was thinking of.

 

[Smoke]

Geotaxis and Phototaxis is what I was thinking of.

I have only ever seen elms do this. I have no idea about olives. I have even planted elm cuttings upside down and had them root. Privet too.

 

[just.wing.it]

I have only ever seen elms do this. I have no idea about olives. I have even planted elm cuttings upside down and had them root. Privet too.

Nice, good on you for being able to say that you DID it! That's freakin awesome!

 

[Smoke]

I do softwood cuttings on elms and privets all year long. I think the softwood has no idea which way it's supposed to grow anyway. I have pruned the Japanese privets three times this year and taken the cuttings , just picking them up off the ground and sticking them in dirt. They all take. They make great shohin bonsai. The elms are the same way. They always root.

 

[Cable]

Fascinating. I thought the answer was always a hard no but that's apparently wrong.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Thanks for all the replies. I just got the idea when I was cutting back an oak and looking at the wood.
I have no idea if the vascular system of trees allows flow in any direction.

Now I'm kinda wondering if cambium has any directional sense.
I better quit now.

 

[wireme]

Big difference between seeds and cuttings. There are the cane berries that are commonly propagated when the growing tip hits the ground. And there are some trees from Africa and South America that due the same. Now I think we have to try it. I think the problem with willows and such is that they are actively growing. I'll bet that if you did a hardwood cutting of a willow in dormancy it would work. I decent sized cutting might work now if you strip all the leaves. I am going to try it in the next couple days and see what happens.

I’ve done it with willows actually, and cottonwood. Hundreds of them. Probably thousands. It works.

 

[hemmy]

If you took a chunk out of a vertical branch or trunk of an easy to root tree (like say, an olive) and turned it around and put it in soil with rooting hormone..

would the bottom (formerly the top) develop roots and the top (formerly the bottom) put out shoots?

Yes! That works with olives! Lol

Inverted cutting!

It is insane idea, is not it? No, it is not! In other post http://www.bonsainut.com/threads/propagate-thick-olive-branch-by-cutting.14984/page-2, Si Nguyen mentioned my name in below reply: "You might have your stump up side down, which is ok. I have one of those up-side-down stump olive...

www.bonsainut.com

I tried the “mountain root” technique with an inverted trident root base, but it didn’t root.

Jerry Meislik, of ficus fame, has a post on his site about accidentally inverting a ficus cutting. I think it rooted, but was not vigorous until he flipped it.

 

[Robley6]

Jerry Meislik, of ficus fame, has a post on his site about accidentally inverting a ficus cutting. I think it rooted, but was not vigorous until he flipped it.

Why won't my ficus cutting grow?

 

[Potawatomi13]

I'm pretty sure that seeds know which way to root and shoot due to gravity.....I cant remember what this action is actually called.

Geotropism

 

[thumblessprimate1]

@bonhe has talked about doing it. I don't remember, but he may have examples, and they were of olives.

 

[just.wing.it]

Geotropism

Yeah, that's it....sheesh...
My brain is broken.

 

[namnhi]

TP beat me to it. Bonhe did have some text on it and examples.