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mawehe63

will these juniper cuttings be successful?

mawehe63
14 years ago

okay this is my first time trying to post pictures so it may take a few tries anyway i took these cuttings from a juniper bush at my friends church i dont know the exact type of juniper but i think they are precumbens nana. i kept them in water for a day becuase i didnt have anysoil so i went to walmart and bought a bag of sphagnum peat moss and a bag of perlite i mixed some in a plastic cup that i punched a hole in the bottom and planted the three heel cuttings they are about three inches long i didnt have any rooting hormone so will they still root?

Here is a link that might be useful: the pictures

Comments (5)

  • head_cutter
    14 years ago

    For most evergreen cuttings to be successful they should be taken in the spring when they are activly growing. A rooting hormone should be used, they need a moderate amount of humidity and, in the case of growing indoors, bottom heat helps a lot. Probably not but you never know, you may get lucky. Before you waste too much time I'd suggest reading up on how to propagate from cuttings---or---go buy a few in one gallon containers.

    Bob

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    14 years ago

    You should list your state and zone in your user info. It helps those who would like to offer suggestions or observations.

    I take lots of dormant juniper cuttings, starting about now. My raised beds are full of shimpaku (my favorite), procumbens, horizontalis, rigida, foemina, and others that were started from cuttings. I strip the foliage from about 3" of last summer's wood (it's the lignified and brown wood proximal to this summer's new, green growth) and stick that part, leaving some of this summer's green growth above the soil. I just forget about them over the winter. The winter rain & snow keeps the soil and cuttings well hydrated while they callus & form root primordia. In spring, when the soil is fluffy after the frost, you need to check them occasionally because they are easily dislodged from the soft soil. If they get dislodged, just restick them. They should start forming roots when soil temps rise into the 50s in spring.

    I grow them on for different periods of time, sometimes cutting them back several times over several years (& jinning parts of the plant) to promote taper while they're still in the ground. I start lots of raft plantings this way, too.

    Al

  • mawehe63
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    okay well ilive in zone 7 in middle tennessee
    Bob , the books i have read and the websites i have visited all say that early fall is a good time to take cuttings of juniper becuase the growth has already hardened off

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    14 years ago

    BTW - I forgot to mention that I don't use a rooting aid, nor do I take extra pains other than properly preparing the cutting & then just finding an empty place in the beds to stick it. I probably get around a 75% strike rate, with most failures coming as a result of animals or frost dislodging the cuttings.

    I wouldn't be trying to get them to root indoors.

    Good luck!

    Al

  • head_cutter
    14 years ago

    True but being successful also depends on a lot of factors. I lived in Pennsylvania and found that the highest success rate was when taking woody cuttings in the early spring. I also used a Neering frame to root cuttings in (of many trees) which gave a very high rate of success. A Bonsai friend and I were growing the cuttings for personal use (field growing) as well as for sale to local socities and friends associated with Bonsai.

    Bob

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