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hairmetal4ever

Metasequoia buds and branches

hairmetal4ever
9 years ago

To my knowledge, metasequoia produces branches (which overwinter) and branchLETS which are essentially an analog to a compound leaf and are shed with the foliage in fall.

How do I tell which is which on a seedling. On the attached photo of one of my 4 month old seedlings, you see the trunk, a "branch", but there are buds both in the axial of individual needles along the trunk, but also right under the branch/branchlet. So is this branch on the left side an actual BRANCH, or will it be shed this fall?

Comments (17)

  • corkball
    9 years ago

    Not sure this is a hard and fast rule, but on mine, almost everything off of the main stem is a branch, and the branchlets branch off from the branch.

  • hairmetal4ever
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Could be right.

    However, the branches off the main stem have no woodiness to them at all yet.

  • poaky1
    9 years ago

    That is good question hair. My Metasequoia looks like the Harry Potter "Wamping Willow" very badly shaped. I just wanted to tell you I have emailed you about the Chestnut Oak acorns, Q. Prinus. Give me your ,mailing address, I understand you would like a dozen acorns WHEN they are FINALLY ripe. Check the original post i posted about the Chestnut oak acorns.

  • bengz6westmd
    9 years ago

    Hmm. On pondcypress, most "sprouts" never harden/turn woody & drop along w/the simple compound leaves, making them, seemingly, double-compound leaves. This is not the case w/my regular baldcypress or dawn redwood.

  • gardener365
    9 years ago

    Everything you see will be kept so long as it being in a pot is overwintered, properly, minus the foliage.

    Dax

  • hairmetal4ever
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Once they have dropped (or mostly dropped) their foliage this fall, I'm going to put the pots as close together as possible, against the east side of the house, with some shredded leaves piled up around and in between the pots up to the top of each pot. They will be in shade and sheltered from wind, so it should keep them nice and dormant but not too cold. I've overwintered container woody plants this way before. Usually works fine even for zone marginal plants (which M. g. is not).

    So - Dax, is it normal that they haven't really hardened off much yet?

    The lower half of the main stem is getting woody (see pic above) but the tips are all still soft and actively growing. Metasequoia in my experience seem to grow pretty late around here (after Labor Day esp. if warm and moist)...just seems weird that there isn't much "wood" yet and here it is, late August. There's no terminal buds set yet, except the actual active growth tips...but I can't recall if they normally have terminal buds, or just stop at a lateral like some trees do.

    This post was edited by hairmetal4ever on Wed, Aug 20, 14 at 12:31

  • hairmetal4ever
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Actually this looks like a terminal bud. A strange way for one to develop compared to other plants. Can anyone confirm?

    Also interesting that up near the top of the stem where that terminal bud shows up, the shoots are now alternate instead of opposite.

  • Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
    9 years ago

    My big ones are soft and growing also.

  • j0nd03
    9 years ago

    Hair, my metas also make terminal buds while new growth is still pushing on the buds below the terminal bud. This almost always forces the tree to make a new leader the next year but they always do, and they have (so far) always made a single leader during this process or re-leadering. Weird, huh?!

  • j0nd03
    9 years ago

    Forgot to mention, now that my oldest meta has been in the ground 3 seasons, it is growing like a weed and shows no sign of making a terminal bud on the leader although it HAS made terminal buds on lower branches already.

  • hairmetal4ever
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Glad to hear your meta finally took off, John.

  • poaky1
    9 years ago

    I am going to add that what will not drop will have the "woody connective tissue" the rest will be shed. This may not help, but I wanted to add it. Sorry if it only confused the matter.

  • hairmetal4ever
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Went to these things start getting woody stems anyway? Very slowly the stems are getting woodyish as you go further up but there is still a very soft, pliable tip that still very actively growing on all of them. They do appear to have slowed some, but here it is September 1 and most of the stem tissue is still green.

    This post was edited by hairmetal4ever on Mon, Sep 1, 14 at 19:17

  • hairmetal4ever
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hardening off pretty well now.

  • hairmetal4ever
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Another pic

  • j0nd03
    9 years ago

    Great pics, hair :)

    My species tree has grown 50" this season and still looks to be elongating. I am pretty nervous it will not stop in time to harden off. I get a little comfort seeing your pics, though, so thanks

  • hairmetal4ever
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Seems like they harden quickly when they want to.