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| I'm planning on planting some cottonwoods. Pros and cons were debated in a previous thread. Hearing that the suckers would root on their own, I cut some from the base of a tree. They are 12 to 18 inches tall.
I put one in some potting soil and it wilted immediately. The rest are in water and doing fine. How should I proceed? Leave them in water and they will develop roots? Thanks for any advice and no puns on my title. John |
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| I haven't done this, but I've heard that they will, and I wouldn't be surprised. All of those little bumps in the bark are root initials capable of developing into roots. I would just treat like any cutting in water, make sure no foliage is below the water, change it frequently and scour out the container to keep clean, and if they begin to root eventually transfer into soil. The one in soil may root, too, just lose the new growth and then later pop buds from the older wood. Worth keeping as an experiment, just trim off the dead. |
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| I have not done it with cottonwood, but with other poplars like some kind of balsam poplar. I just put the cuttings in lose soil and give them some water. Once I found poplar twigs with very large buds, but they turned out to be flower buds. After flowering the leafs came out, there was enough energy in the twigs to both bloom and set leafs and roots. Poplars are really full of life. Best time to do this is early spring, as soon as you can dig the soil. Heat and sunshine will make the cuttings need more water, and with developing roots it might be hard for them to obtain. So choose a cool, lightly shaded spot. |
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| I have done it once before. Cut two shoots and put them in soil in early spring, before it leafed out. One rooted the other did not. Am doubtful the one in the soil will root this far into summer unless soil is fairly moist. Water sounds like your best bet for now. |
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