cuttings from pines for transplant????

[whitepine]

Doing a google search about tree growing ran across an article for a grow unit and they claimed to grow transplants from douglas fir ( Not familiar with it but  I thought thats a type of pine?) from cuttings? Can one take a cutting from any tree and get it to grow roots? I was under the impression just a few trees are capable of this but  dont know.  What about pines , cedars? I figure most hardwoods would : straiten me out here Thanks Tom

[Ianab]

Most trees can be grown from cuttings, just some are a lot easier than others.

With willow or poplar you can just poke a stick in the ground and it will grow, others need to be treated with rooting hormone and grown in a glasshouse environment untill they get established.

Radiata pine is grown from cuttings on a commercial basis here in NZ. The idea is that the nursery will plant out their best seed grown seedlings and observe how they grow for a few years, looking at the form and growth rates. They will then take the cuttings from the best of the trees and sell those for commercial planting. All your seedlings should be genetically good stock. Another bonus is that the seedling grows in an 'adult' form instead of the normal seedling. This produces a better tree 'form' than conventional seedlings, smaller branching and bigger spacing between branches.

Cheers

Ian

[whitepine]

Thanks the article I read also mentioned the cuttings were better than normal seedlings I still dont see why except maybe because of size and one could pick superior stock. Thanks again Tom

[Minnesota_boy]

When you take a cutting, you are creating a clone.  You know how they should turn out.  Seedlings are a crossbreed.  Some may be inferior, some the same, some superior.  You find out in 20 to 50 to 100 years.

[Ianab]

Having consistent 'clones' of a known good tree is one advantage, the other is the seedling is already 'aged'.

http://www.trc.govt.nz/PDFS/info_land/06_radiata_pine2.pdf

Physiologically aged cuttings are often considered anadvantage to seedlings. Aged cuttings are collected from tree stands or nursery beds and are propagated from older material (1-5 years old). They develop roots in the nurseryand superficially resemble seedlings. The cutting then appears to recognise a “biological clock” so that a cutting from a 3 year-old tree knows that it is 3 years old and grows differently from a seedling. Advantages are smaller branching, less forking, straighter stems, they are sturdier, less likely to have distorted roots at planting, and are expected to have less taper and bark thickness

Cheers

Ian

[whitepine]

Great explanation I get it now Thanks Tom

[jon12345]

cloning baaad  (sometimes) - what if u clone a tree with weak immunity?   

[Ianab]

what if u clone a tree with weak immunity?

Yeah... that would be a baaad thing.

I guess the idea is that by looking at the original seed grown trees after 5 years growth you can pick out the ones with genetic defects (poor form or susceptable to fungus etc.) So your cloned cutting trees should be better than the normal random selection from seed.

Just dont clone the dud ones ..

Ian

[SwampDonkey]

Most seed orchards here that produce spruce seed where established from rooted cuttings (clones) from material taken high in the crown of mature trees, or seed from selected 'plus' trees. The slip is rooted in pots then out planted to establish an orchard. These orchards were established with trees containing desireable traits. The seed orchard is monitored in 5 year intervals and usually contains families of the same species taken from different geographical locations.  But some of our seed are taken from wild 'plus' trees in heavy seed years to ensure high genetic and physiological quality and from individual trees or a number of trees in order to have a representative genetic sample of the population. Our provincial nursery produces 20 million seedlings annually in 30 green houses. It's the largest in the maritimes and all seedlings are used to reforest crown lands that are insufficiently stocked (<20 %).

Even though alot of effort is put into improving seed, I still find the odd tree in plantations that behave rather oddly in their growth habits, but that could also be environmental (insects, disease etc).

Kingsclear Forest Tree Nursery and Seed Centre

[whitepine]

That explains where they are getting their seedlings from the nursery I get from was  elusive about their source. Would you happen to know the brand name or the chemical they use to stimulate root growth. Thanks Tom

[SwampDonkey]

That explains where they are getting their seedlings from the nursery I get from was  elusive about their source. Would you happen to know the brand name or the chemical they use to stimulate root growth. Thanks Tom

I once asked what they used for root grafting balsam fir and they said one ingredient was bees wax, but said the formulation was a guarded secret. But, root grafting is something else. Two compounds mentioned in the article below are: Naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and indolebutyric acid (IBA), which are the compounds most commonly used to promote rooting of cuttings. And two commonly sold preparations are Rootone and Hormodin.

Veg Propogation of cuttings

[jon12345]

I think I just found a new project  Now I won't have to find seeds for all the trees I wanna plant.

[SwampDonkey]

the nursery I get from was  elusive about their source.

Those are the one's to avoid. They either don't know or their source is usually from a latitude further south that will have a negative impact on thier development and growth further north. Any forest tree nurseries I've delt with always give me thier source, but some of the smaller private ones can be a little evasive. They want you to keep replacing the ones that don't make it I guess.

[Don P]

I'm misunderstanding something I think. If you take a cutting from new wood on a mature tree, it is in my thinking still juvenile wood. Does that cutting switch to producing mature wood sooner than a natural seedling? In other words, at harvest time does the boxed heart timber contain more stable, stronger wood?

[SwampDonkey]

I'm misunderstanding something I think. If you take a cutting from new wood on a mature tree, it is in my thinking still juvenile wood.

Morphologically yes it's juvenile, but physiologically it's mature. It will produce viable seed sooner, but the tree will appear young. Young black spruce for instance will produce seed, but they are not as viable and often times the seed cones are sterile. The main purpose of collecting cuttings is to control the breeding or to insure you get some of the traits you want, even if they are not pure. You can have two of the best trees selected for cuttings, get them growing and they can still produce a small portion of seed that are undesireable. You have no idea which trees were the original parents. Remember Mendel and his garden peas?

[jon12345]

So, if ya took a cutting and turned it into a bonsai, would it make tiny seeds?

[whitepine]

You all are sure helpfull. I am considering trying something with northern white cedar (and red if I could get some cuttings as they are not native to here just a bit south) the nursery I get them from is out this year. I also  have a friend who said I could have all his trimming from his small hybrid poplar farm so will soon have something to try this year.

[Shamus]

Just curious if you tried growing cedar from cuttings and how it went? I also have trouble getting cedar seedlings out here (only need 1,000 at a time), and have been thinking about propagating cedars from cuttings taken near the tops of 4' tall trees, and using rooting hormone. I am going to do some experimenting with it in late October. No greenhouse, just planted in 5 gallon pots outdoors...

[SwampDonkey]

Can't get them from DNR or a forestry company that plants trees on their crown forest license?

[semologger]

i am good about asking what the. on this forum here is another what exactly is a cutting? i need to change my name to cantfigureout.