propagation failure
sammy zone 7 Tulsa
14 years ago
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jerijen
14 years agolast modified: 9 years agodonnaz5
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I'm a Gritty Mix failure!
Comments (37)My experience with ReptBark today was not what I was expecting. I was going to do some sifting today on a bag of Turface MVP that I bought, but before I did I went out and bought a bag of planting media for pond plants, basically Turface and zeolite, and then I bought a small bag of ReptiBark. I had already started sifting the MVP, I used a 1/8 screen because I like the bigger pieces and I'm going to use the smaller particles on another project. The pond plant media was very small, not what I was hoping for at all. The ReptiBark I used a 1/4 screen and only half of it sifted through, that means half of the bag was over 1/4 pieces. I really like the idea of not having to wash it or sift it, but they were the same size pieces as a 1.5 cu bag of E.B. Stones Orchid Bark (fine) which is a better price. I'm still waiting for my nursery to get in #3 perlite before I'm going to be able to plant anything, so in the mean time I'm sifting and figuring out a plan of attack for repotting everything. Jerry...See MoreMassive Wintersowing Failure?
Comments (20)Zone 5 varies from state to state and even within a state. zone maps do not take into consideration the areas that get snow cover that protects various perennials through the winter; nor does it take into account areas of zone 5 that do not have snow cover or snow cover long enough to protect perennials through the winter. It doesn't take into account weather extremes that can vary from one year to the next. Things like minimal snow cover for that year, low temps that are not usual for that particular zone 5 or severe ice storms that come instead of rain or snow. Zone maps should be used as a guide only, and not the be all that ends all guide to what to grow. If it is hardy to zone 5 and you are in zone 6, then you should be OK with that plant surviving the winter. On the other hand if it is hardy to zone 5 and you are in zone 5, then you may or may not get that plant to survive the winter, but if it doesn't and it blooms the first year, you could use it as an annual or take a chance and hope for the best. Zone maps also don't take into account those micro areas in any given city or town or even in our own yards that can make the difference between one zone or another. Zone maps have recently changed and some areas are now in a warmer zone or on the border of the warmer zone than they used to be. In my case, part of my town is in zone 6 and part of it is zone 5. The town is in a valley and depending on where you are headed down into the valley, determines whether you are in zone 5 or zone 6. I am now much closer to zone 6 than I was even 5 years ago,according to the new maps, BUT, i've rarely had a perennial that is hardy to zone 5 survive the winter and I have yet to get a perennial that is hardy to zone 6 survive the winter. Mother nature is the one in control on when seeds will germinate and they will when she says the should germinate. They won't germinate before she gives the go ahead. When she does, you will see green sprouts in your containers, slowly at first and then more and more will come, until you find that you check in the morning and have sprouts, check in the afternoon and you have more sprouts and check before the sun goes down and you have even more. Patience is the name of the game, not zone numbers. It will happen, just wait and be patient. Fran...See MoreFiddle leaf fig - do I really have to air layer to propagate?
Comments (16)@Cassie (8b Southern AZ, high desert) Hi Al, do you normally use the ring or the tourniquet method when you air layer your ficus plants? Or do you do a combination of both (you mentioned using a tourniquet and blanching part of the stem/branch?)? It would depend on the Ficus species. For most Ficus, I propagate by cuttings, because I've found that under mist or in a humidity chamber, you can start some really thick cuttings of many ficus species (3"+). This image of F salicifolia was a cutting started from the top of a much larger tree. Same tree as above - first pruning after rooting ^^^. Ficus microcarpa cutting ^^^ in process of rooting - note new buds opening. Removing the tops of trees in training is sort of a way to create an almost instant bonsai. Once the tree is fully rooted. a little wiring to reposition branches will turn it into a 'believable' tree, resembling something one might see in nature. If we take the misting and high humidity out of the equation, I prefer ringing the plant; however, even when I use the ring method, I often use a tourniquet immediately below the top of the ring. While I'm thinking of it, the rule of thumb for the ht of the ring is, it should be at least 1/5x the diameter of the branch/ trunk being layered. Also, when you peal the bark back on many species of trees, a very thin layer of vascular cambium usually remains attached to the sapwood beneath it. It is crucial to remove that white/tan layer of tissue as part of the layering process. I'm guessing my reason for layering is probably going to differ from yours. Most plants I layer is because they are seedlings, and as such have a very ugly root system. Strong roots that radiate horizontally away from the trunk and a trunk flare at the base of the tree eventually become a critical consideration for almost every bonsai enthusiast who has practiced bonsai for more than a decade. Eventually, we develop the idea that everything we do should focus on bringing out the tree's best potential, even if we are not the owner who sees it realized. Often, that will result in trees in training for 20 years before they even see a bonsai pot. I couldn't even guess at the number of times I've been a part of brain-storming over a tree, my own or someone else's, and making radical changes that turn a tree which is an acceptable specimen in its own right, back into a bonsai in training for the sole reason a better way to bring out the tree's potential was discovered. The image below is a Trident maple which was air-layered off of it's original set of roots which were way to ugly for my purposes. I used only the ring method for this tree (wire still attached if you look closely). Notice how the roots are almost perfectly spaced (some incongruity adds to the appeal of living plants) and radiating away from the trunk. That is what I was after. The tree below is a Korean hornbeam, and 3-image sequence below shows first what a tree's seedling roots usually look like. Many growers work hard at trying to get these roots straightened around, but I have learned better results cam be had in far less time and with less effort, bu layering the plant off of its old roots. This is one way of using the tourniquet method (below), which takes much longer than ringing/ girdling or a combination of a tourniquet and ringing/ girdling. With a tourniquet, as the diameter of the trunk increases the vascular cambium is compressed as the tourniquet tightens. This 'chokes off' downward movement of photosynthate (the plant's food) and auxin, the hormone that stimulates root development and branching. With food and a surplus of the tree's natural rooting hormone accumulating immediately above the tourniquet, you can be quite certain of a plethora of roots emerging within a short vertical space. With an understanding of the tree's wounding response, I deduced that drilling holes with a 3/16 brad-point drill turned with my fingers and filled with a insoluble rooting gel should help coax the tree into producing an exceptional root base. The roots in the first image (of the trident maple) are the result of this method. Ring + tourniquet method ^^^ BTW - I no longer use zip ties as a tourniquet as they sometimes fail/ break - especially on thick layers on branches/ trunks larger than 1". I use 2-3 wraps of aluminum bonsai wire in size 2-3mm with the ends twisted tight with pliers. The wraps should touch each other, which forces all rooting to occur above the layer. What type of soil do you use when you air layer, since you don't use sphagnum moss? I'm assuming this is one of the few times you want something moisture retentive - do you use a regular potting soil? Peat moss? Seed starting mix? I usually use gritty mix for just about everything I use a pot to layer. Below, there are 2 things going on. I had just finished establishing an air layer on the hornbeam in the background and I was working on pruning 2 China dolls and 2 asparagus ferns. I was layering the hornbeam because the trunk was much too long/ tall given the thickness of the trunk, so the best way to shorten the trunk was to layer it off of it's old roots and start a new root system higher up. The top of the ring cut is at approximately the ht of the duct tape holding the pot together. Below, is a hackberry tree being layered. You can see the gritty mix in the pot This is the same hackberry, same summer, after being separated from the mother plant. In case you noticed, it's planted deep on purpose. I will let it grow wild (almost completely unpruned) and begin work on it in spring of '24. And last question (for now!), what time of year do you typically start your air layering? Spring. I like to have them separated by the end of July. Do you try to time it to plant the new plant in June, or is some other time preferable? If we're still talking about Ficus, spring will always be the best time. If I was layering, I would start the layer on Ficus just before or when I move them outdoors. They really start to want to grow then, so we might as well take advantage of the tree's natural inclinations. I'm wondering if it's better to start the process in June, since you're effectively pruning the parent plant, which would put separating the new plant sometime in August? Geography plays an important role in deciding what the best timing is. I bet you would be fine starting your layers in early May, especially if your plants are outdoors. Then, you should have no problem separating in July-August. Thanks in advance! (And I suppose apologies for resurrecting an old thread, but made more sense in my mind than starting a fresh one and linking back here). No worries. Things are slow on the forum and my wife is recovering from some recent surgery, so I have to be home and indoors for a few more days, it looks like. I'm glad for the opportunity to kill some of the time it always seems so important to save. ;-) Al...See MoreProfessionalism in the Propagation of Conifers - ACS Reprint
Comments (7)Some (?all) of the typos that Bboy points out look like Optical Character Recognition mistakes during scanning from a paper copy - 'a' to 'n' (in 'Blaauw' to 'Blanuw') is certainly a typical OCR error. Juniperus x media van Melle was at the time (1983) thought to be correct; it was only in 1994 that it was pointed out that it was a later homonym for J. x media Dmitr., published in 1938 in an obscure Soviet journal unavailable in the west. The 'discovery' was made by P. A. Schmidt, who re-named van Melle's plant as Juniperus x pfitzeriana (note, pf-, not ph- !!). Resin...See Morepoodlepup
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