Zelkova from Cuttings

[BrianBay9]

I guess one question I have is, if you need to air layer for good looking roots after the cuttings have established, why not just start with an air layer from the beginning?

 

[cmeg1]

I guess one question I have is, if you need to air layer for good looking roots after the cuttings have established, why not just start with an air layer from the beginning?

Just conveniance.I tried air layering zelkova and it took consideralbly longer with so so results.
When I air-layer cuttings that are in 1st or 2nd summer ,they air -layer completely in just two weeks with this method.I find it easier and quicker.
And also straighter trunks for Broom Zelkova.
Could of theoretically had 50 completed from cutting to air-layer in 10-14 weeks.
So quantity.

 

[cmeg1]

Air-layers

This is totally worth doing to 1st year zelkova.In the couple weeks it takes,you get a much better root base that is good for planting on flat surfaces.
10 days and these are rooting like crazy.
I will try to prepare more before I go on vacation in September and these will be planted on inverted 8”clay saucers in very open prepared ground soil.I am going to let these roots run a bit in the perlite to give them an extra boost when planted.
Here is 10 day progress of a few of them!

 

[Gary McCarthy]

Air-layers

This is totally worth doing to 1st year zelkova.In the couple weeks it takes,you get a much better root base that is good for planting on flat surfaces.
10 days and these are rooting like crazy.
I will try to prepare more before I go on vacation in September and these will be planted on inverted 8”clay saucers in very open prepared ground soil.I am going to let these roots run a bit in the perlite to give them an extra boost when planted.
Here is 10 day progress of a few of them!

NICE!!!

 

[cmeg1]

So,I can make ten of these layers before I go on vacation in September and put them in the ground on top of inverted clay saucers.The other 40 will be put in ground and layered next season for Broom.
These will not all be Broom.From these ten ,I would like to shape two each of the five bonsai styles below.Should really only take a few years to get a couple inch trunk.
Raft,Broom,Formal Upright,Slanting,Semi-cascade
I will try to introduce some amount of taper in styles which require it,so they do not look mallsai.We’ll see.
I will wire and plant in a few weeks.

 

[cmeg1]

Although Formal upright may not happen with Zelkova
Raft is extremely doable.So is Semi-Cascade.I like Slanting too.

 

[cmeg1]

Planted some air-layers

Was able to plant 4 layers in the ground today.3rooted very good,1 was weak and one failed out of 5.
I shaped two with Raft bonsai in mind and shaped two with Semi-Cascade.
Hopefully they bounce back from the wiring quickly and grow vigorously to handle Winter in the ground.
I have 5 more that should be ready in about a week and a half.
The weak one had one side roots,so I made a semi-cascade shape with the roots on the outside to give a sense of stability on a semi-cascade.
They should grow a lot since only mid-Summer.I will fertilize very heavily well into the Autumn

 

[cmeg1]

Planted the cuttings

All the cuttings were planted in the ground today.I have 27 planted of which 20 will get air-layered for Broom Zelkova next season and put back into pots to develop.
The cuttings are all super vigorous and I think they will just keep growing since I did not disturb the rootball.I will get some garden stakes to point the terminals up,so they keep growing fast.
The other 7 are all shaped to make Raft Zelkova.I really want to make a few of them

 

[Nybonsai12]

awesome stuff. thanks again @cmeg1

 

[cmeg1]

awesome stuff. thanks again @cmeg1

You got it.
I believe it was you who inspired me to start JBP early indoors when you showed me your results.
I got a nice Quantum Board 4000 K grow light. I will start in mid October lol

 

[cmeg1]

Cuttings are growing good

All of these are about 4’ tall now.I went out and gave one last wire to get as straight as possible for Broom Zelkova trees.
The Miracle Grow Garden Soil works great at 50/50.It makes the ground soil nice and spongy.
Roots are probably growing like crazy,but they are all getting layered next Summer.

 

[Gary McCarthy]

I can't wait till you start selling some of these

 

[Gaitano]

Has anyone tried thicker woody cuttings on zelkova? Say thickness somewhere between a pencil and a thumb? There are zelkova all over here.

I did a cutting that was 3/4" to an 1" last year. rooted no problem. The pic if from this spring, about 1 year after sticking it in the dirt.

 

[cmeg1]

I did a cutting that was 3/4" to an 1" last year. rooted no problem.

Wow.....Impressive!

 

[John P.]

Yep, I have air layered several that size in SoCal using pumice as the rooting medium, and rooting gel.

Edit—ah cuttings. Nope, haven’t done that.

 

[cmeg1]

More cuttings
I couldn’t help myself! Being Zelkova are good to zone 8 or so,that means first frost doesn’t occur till around December maybe.
If I can grow some tall whips in a couple months under the LED’s and keep from hard freeze in a deep cold frame over Winter ,I can plant them straight away in Spring or early Summer into the ground to get a great jump on next season.Could make more Brooms faster or thicker trunks.
Don’t know till you try....right?
I switched to Stonewool media and the Grodan Gro Smart Insert.It’s nice!
You can fill the tray with a whole 1/2” of water for good humidity and the insert holds the plugs above it.
I put the LED’s at half power.
My goal is to keep the whole process hydroponic and put the plugs into slightly bigger stonewool blocks after they root and air-prune a bit out the bottom.Then supply them with silicone fertilizer ProTekt by Dyna-Gro and some Bloom to harden them up for Winter storage.
These GroSmart Inserts can be flipped over ,as the bottoms are mesh and double as a stand to set stonewool blocks on and they air-prune! Cool stuff

 

[W3rk]

Not totally necessary,they will grow mostly straight anyway,although some do keep an unsightly wiggle not good for broom zelkova.
I believe it will speed growth to have the tip pointing up and I will proceed as shown below in pictures.photos are out of order,but you get the idea.
I personally only see 1 year or younger cuttings air layer that readilly like with this method.

Not wiring any twists or bends into any of them though? Looks like they are all straight.

 

[cmeg1]

Not wiring any twists or bends into any of them though? Looks like they are all straight.

I see what you mean.Seems the tall Brooms look nice in a couple years.Was my first idea to put the Brooms up for sale.
I am making another batch that will be of different shapes,which are cool.
Also have about 7 raft style thickening up in the ground......should only be a couple years for them to be a couple inches thick.Really excited about them.
I’d post a photo,but I’m in mountains for a couple days.
Post #68 shows how I bent them for Raft Bonsai.

 

[cmeg1]

More cuttings
I couldn’t help myself! Being Zelkova are good to zone 8 or so,that means first frost doesn’t occur till around December maybe.
If I can grow some tall whips in a couple months under the LED’s and keep from hard freeze in a deep cold frame over Winter ,I can plant them straight away in Spring or early Summer into the ground to get a great jump on next season.Could make more Brooms faster or thicker trunks.
Don’t know till you try....right?
I switched to Stonewool media and the Grodan Gro Smart Insert.It’s nice!
You can fill the tray with a whole 1/2” of water for good humidity and the insert holds the plugs above it.
I put the LED’s at half power.
My goal is to keep the whole process hydroponic and put the plugs into slightly bigger stonewool blocks after they root and air-prune a bit out the bottom.Then supply them with silicone fertilizer ProTekt by Dyna-Gro and some Bloom to harden them up for Winter storage.
These GroSmart Inserts can be flipped over ,as the bottoms are mesh and double as a stand to set stonewool blocks on and they air-prune! Cool stuff

Just to update.....these last batch of cuttings in the post #76 above did not survive while I was on vacation with the Rockwool.Luckily plenty in ground from earlier this season though.It seems the best light for cuttings are T5 fluorescent.The LED light fried them I think,or I had it too close.So anyway,I have zelkova seeds to stratify for 60 days and then will start early indoors under the led’s.I will order another Quantum Board for my grow room.
Probably will just use RootPouch brand 2”-3” root pouches filled with miracle Gro perlite.I like what I seen with RootPouch....just have to try them.
Honestly when it comes to cuttings I will stick with Jiffy plugs and a propagator with a single t5 light.Though I am building an aquaponic mist system to experiment with lol.

 

[Darth Masiah]

Just to update.....these last batch of cuttings in the post #76 above did not survive while I was on vacation with the Rockwool.Luckily plenty in ground from earlier this season though.It seems the best light for cuttings are T5 fluorescent.The LED light fried them I think,or I had it too close.So anyway,I have zelkova seeds to stratify for 60 days and then will start early indoors under the led’s.I will order another Quantum Board for my grow room.
Probably will just use RootPouch brand 2”-3” root pouches filled with miracle Gro perlite.I like what I seen with RootPouch....just have to try them.
Honestly when it comes to cuttings I will stick with Jiffy plugs and a propagator with a single t5 light.Though I am building an aquaponic mist system to experiment with lol.

yeah, the led did look a little close. those type of boards put out a ton more light than a t5 per watt. are the board diodes in the 5000k range? the indoor cannabis and vegetable growers on youtube are growing cuttings under leds a lot more these days.