Seedling cutting (other than Pine) anyone?

[my nellie]

I read with interest posts of members participating in the 6 y. JBP contest.
@markyscott especially posting his seedling cuttings!

Being under all these impressions I had the chance to experiment with a seedling which sprouted ad lib into a small plastic pot. Genus/species unknown but has the look of some kind of a Ligustrum...
Three days ago this seedling was having 6 or 7 pairs of leaves and I pulled it gently out of the soil and cut the tap-root.
Then I cut the trunk just above the first 3 pairs of leaves and planted it back into the pot.
I removed the first pair of leaves of this cutting, dipped its tip in hormone and just put it into the same pot where the parent seedling is.
The pot was returned to its place outside where it gets direct sunshine.

After three days, both "plants" look very happy together
But because the weather has changed the last two days and temperature has dropped (7C - 11C) I think I will move the pot to an indoor bright stairway.

Is there any member who have used this method to other kind of plants than Pines?

 

[cmeg1]

Seems a great idea,and I have also seen it recommended in Bonsai Today for zelkova.
I just so happen to have a bunch of seed in the fridge so I may go this route.The article stated to do it when first leaves harden,but it seems to make sense to do it a bit later when the seedling is beyond succulent state.I did try it once to a zelkova sprout but it just shriveled up.Perhaps I did it to early.I know cuttings do much better when they are cut after the succulent stage and are slightly woody.
As long as my tree seeds are viable I will definitely give it a go because I have lots of seed.

 

[my nellie]

What kind of seeds do you have @cmeg1 ?
Deciduous? Evergreen?

 

[cmeg1]

What kind of seeds do you have @cmeg1 ?
Deciduous? Evergreen?

All Zelkova.I just looked at them and seen some plump ones.They still have another month to go of cold stratification.They should be viable from 2016 crop year.

 

[my nellie]

Oh, I see
Wishing you good luck, I'd like to get updates of your experiment here in this thread.

 

[cmeg1]

I sure will @my nellie

 

[Dav4]

When I cut my JBP seedlings, I also cut some trident maple seedlings... if I recall, most if not all of those seedlings survived and it worked well enough as far as root development I'd say.

 

[jeanluc83]

Has anyone tried with oaks? It seams that their tendency to send out a long tap root would make them good candidates for seedling cuttings.

 

[my nellie]

What do you do with the rest of the parent seedling after you have cut the upper part?

 

[Dav4]

What do you do with the rest of the parent seedling after you have cut the upper part?

Throw it away as it can’t grow further.

 

[cmeg1]

I actually have a lighted propagator that I will put to use for my experiment with the zelkova seedlings,may as well try to get some good roots on them.

 

[KiwiPlantGuy]

I read with interest posts of members participating in the 6 y. JBP contest.
@markyscott especially posting his seedling cuttings!

Being under all these impressions I had the chance to experiment with a seedling which sprouted ad lib into a small plastic pot. Genus/species unknown but has the look of some kind of a Ligustrum...
Three days ago this seedling was having 6 or 7 pairs of leaves and I pulled it gently out of the soil and cut the tap-root.
Then I cut the trunk just above the first 3 pairs of leaves and planted it back into the pot.
I removed the first pair of leaves of this cutting, dipped its tip in hormone and just put it into the same pot where the parent seedling is.
The pot was returned to its place outside where it gets direct sunshine.

After three days, both "plants" look very happy together
But because the weather has changed the last two days and temperature has dropped (7C - 11C) I think I will move the pot to an indoor bright stairway.

Is there any member who have used this method to other kind of plants than Pines?

Hi my nellie,
This is an interesting subject for a thread.
From my Horticultural experiences I would consider as a basis for your experimenting. Can you propagate the genus/species by cuttings? If so and your seed is true to form, then you will get a positive result.
Maybe I am wrong and this technique can be applied to seedlings as per their seedling vigour - but my guess regarding Oaks is that the seedling cutting won’t succeed as most Oaks can’t be propagated by cuttings (some USA Oaks do though so maybe some species of Oak might be successful).
I will watch this thread with excitement as it is a cool method to get great nebari
Charles

 

[my nellie]

Throw it away as it can’t grow further.

Hello!
Thank you for your response.
I am sure you are already aware of this method but for the sake of those members who did not happen to have this knowledge, please visit AussBonsai Pine Seedlings and read what their member "shibui" is doing with his pine seedlings.
At first he cuts their tap root, plant them back and let them grow.
And then he makes the upper part cutting, leaving the parent seedling with needles so that it can keep growing and branching.
So, kill two birds with one stone

Here is an excerpt of the thread in regard.

by shibui » November 19th, 2017, 5:26 pm ​

The remaining JBP seedlings have continued to grow and now look like this

​

I could leave them a bit longer but that seedling punnet is pretty small so they won't grow very fast and there is always the chance it will dry out and I'd lose the lot so I pricked out the rest of them into individual pots.
I've found that pruning the roots at this stage gives me much better nebari in a few years so at this transplant the roots are cut quite hard which ill stimulate the trees to grow even more new roots closer to the trunk.

before​

after​

by shibui » January 27th, 2018, 6:55 pm ​

These seedlings have grown slowly but surely all spring and summer. The ones I pricked out as tiny seedlings are now about 10cm tall

​

If I just leave them to grow they will get taller and taller but very few lower branches. I want my pine seedlings to have lots of really low branches because not only will that give me plenty of options if I want to prune the trunk shorter but those low branches will also thicken the trunk. The closer to the base I can get branches the better so now is a great time to prune these little trees.
They are very young so they can sprout new buds really easily. I cut them just above the lower needles.

after pruning​

If you want to grow tall, thin pines with few branches and no taper just leave your seedlings to grow. I have also been experimenting with leaving the seedlings to grow longer then wiring the trunks and putting plenty of twists and bends into the trunks. That reduces the height and disguises the lack of taper and also gives lots of dynamic movement to the future tree.
Because it is hard to get pine seed I don't waste the bits that have been cut off. Being juvenile growth - you can see they have different needles to the normal mature foliage - they can strike roots quite easily.
First, carefully strip off the lower needles

prepared cutting​

Dip the base in rooting hormone and put them into propagating mix

​

then into the propagating area under mist. I expect around 80-90% of these to grow roots. I'll update as they progress.
The seedlings I pricked out later have also grown. Interesting that they seem to have a higher rate of branching on the trunks. I have also cut the taller of these to get even more lower branches.

second pricked out JBP seedlings​