I was finally able to stick 640 Japanese maple cuttings yesterday. I think that I missed the best time to stick them by a few days. I was unable to take the cuttings because I was waiting on the carpenters to finish repairing my greenhouse. I was able to stick almost 400 Bloodgood. I had moved my 2 Bloodgood stock plants back into my basement during the Easter FREEZE.
Otis
Great Otis. What a lot of cuttings. I can see that it would be great to have all of this done. How great that your Bloodgoods are potted so that you could protect them from the cold.
How is your success rate and what's your method, if you don't mind sharing?
Last year I had a average of 52%. I potted up 1,500 Bloodgood rooted cuttings this spring out of those only 5 have died. Here is a photo of one that I took this morning.
Otis
Very impressive. How fun to see them get that big. An antique yardstick too. It's a work of art itself. :-)
Here is a photo that shows more than 400 of the 1yr Bloodgood from cuttings that I took this morning. I try and take photos once every week if I can. Doss, If any of my friends are around I always make them hold the yard stick. They run when I pull the camera out.
Otis
Looks like a very nice set up. You live in a city? You must have good friends to brave the stick. You need to make a chart on the wall so that you can mark your tree children on it. LOL
The sight of all of those beautiful trees is an inspiration.
Hey Doss, my place is at the dividing line for two small towns. It is in a rural area. For a few years I did not propagate any Japanese maples because I was working on a new cultivar of Magnolia that a friend and I found.
Otis
What was it? I have only one magnolia (Galaxy) but if I had room I'd plant a lot. Galaxy is the first sign of spring around here.
We were issued PP17,814 on 6/19/07. It is a Magnolia virginiana var. australis, the name that we are going to market it under is ‘Sweet Thing’. It is a dwarf evergreen Sweet Bay Magnolia. The photo is a 2 year old untrimmed plant minutes before I chopped it up for cuttings.
Otis
Guess they didn't run out of the photo in time? Two beautiful children.
The shape of that tree is fabulous. I can see why you are excited about it. Are you still trying to get it to market? Dwarf trees are so hard to find.
These are just trimmed and dipped into rooting hormone and grow roots?
I hope so, while I was pruning yesterday, I stuck some trimmings into some potting mix after cutting at a sharp angle and some rooting hormone. It would be fun if some of them root and grow.
Laura
Doss, we are still working on marketing the 'Sweet Thing'. This last year I sold all I had available. I hope to have many more this year.
Laura, basically that is what I do to root the cuttings. I do have them in my greenhouse and they are under intermittent mist. 2.5 seconds once every 5 minutes. I try and keep the temperature around 95 to 100 degrees during the hot part of the day.
Otis
Wow, that is a very regular regimen. Mine will probably get a bit of daily watering. I tucked them in among my hosta seedlings. It is more of an experiment than anything as I haven't rooted woody stems before. If it works, I have no idea what I will do with them!
Laura
Laura, good luck with your experiment.
Otis
Thanks, and I hope your little maples find great homes someday!
Laura
And your magnolias too!
I was working in the greenhouse today and I thought I would pull one of the ‘Bloodgood’ cuttings to check the progress. They have been stuck 16 days. They look good so far.
Otis
Nice photo Otis. The leaves are looking really healthy too. It's fun to share the process with you.
I took this photo this morning. If you look you will see a root sticking out the bottom of the little container that the 'Bloodgood' cutting is in.
Otis
How fun to see roots beginning on your cuttings. How long have you been doing this Otis?
Wow, amazing! Mine got fried in the heat, maybe I'll try again later, lol! So much for my experiment. Nice to see yours growing well.
Laura
Now Laura, if you were really dedicated you would be running outside every 5 minutes to mist those cuttings! Otis has quite a set up doesn't he?
Here is a photo of the inside of the greenhouse.
Otis
Here is a photo of the time clocks in my greenhouse.
Otis
That's a pretty great set up Otis. I didn't even take in the engineering feat to arrange that watering schedule. What are the plants on the right hand side of the green house?
Guess I'm not all that dedicated, lol! We've had so little rain and I don't have the time to babysit all that often. It really was a loose experiment. Next time I'll try just a couple of branches of something I really like.
Laura
Otis, love your greenhouse and setup!
You have D-Mail!
Robin
Doss, I have been involved in propagation since I was 5 years old. That is when I started sticking cuttings in a greenhouse. I have now been doing this for about 45 years. The plants in the greenhouse that you were asking about are my ‘Sweet Thing’ Magnolia. I stuck more than 10,000 of them this year.
Otis
What a fun thing that you were interested in this since you were 5. Some people just seem born with their passions. How long do you keep them before you sell them? Do they have fragrant white flowers like grandiflora?
Hey Doss, I sell the rooted cuttings of the 'Sweet Thing' and the flowers have nice lite citrus fragrance.
Otis
sounds lovely. Great that you are able to sell them. How fun to have your very own intro.
I have been keeping an eye on the 80 Crimson Queen cuttings that I stuck this year. It looks like maybe 8 to 10 have rooted!
Otis
You are pretty tenacious Otis. Is that a normal yield for you?
10 percent on most of those dissectums is about typical even for a good setup. No wonder they are almost all grafted.
I LOVE that ' Sweet Thing' magnolia and your Jap Maple set up is also very impressive. Good luck with both.
Sharon
Otis, can you give me any additional info on your 'sweet thing'. I am in S. central Texas about 20 miles south of Austin, zone 8a/b dividing line. If they are adaptable to my area, I would be interested in buying some. Our summers are killers, lots of high 90s and 100s. Gene of Ivy's Country Pride Nursery
"Sweet Thing" huh? So, this is how a plant is born. I am totally awed. What a gift you have. And thank you for sharing it.
wow very nice cuttings........
Here is a photo of one of my Bloodgood rooted cuttings.
Otis
Otis I also have a greenhouse business and would be interested in buying some of your Bloodgard(Jap Maple) plants if you have any for sale E-Mail me at mmindustrialinc@bellsouth.net.
Thanks
Linda
