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Plant Propagation

Planting my wisteria cutting in order to plant as a tree

Tiffany Marshall

7 years ago

I had success with my wisteria using the air layering technique. The roots a

bit dry on one cutting, but it should come back now that they are both placed in pots with potting soil and have been watered. I cut a few branches off so they aren't over loaded with leaf growth. I have a question though. I want to make these guys into trees like the parent plant. I want them to be around 4 ft. tall or so. The cuttings though are just over a foot maybe? So how can I do this as far as making the trunk, so it doesn't have that "stump" near the bottom? To make it easier, I drew a picture to demonstrate.

I guess what I am wondering is if I can plant it this year, and next spring when it starts sending out it's whip like growth, I can dig it up and plant it deeper, kind of like the concept of planting a grafted rose a couple inches or so, so that the ground is a couple inches higher over the bud union (union below the ground) leaving the new top vine growth. Would this kill the plant? Would it make it rot? Could I fill the deep hole with sand that wouldn't keep it overly moist?

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tete_a_tete
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
The roots of a rooted cutting must never be allowed to dry out during potting or planting.

(Sometimes I plant a rooted cutting directly into the garden. I believe that bypassing any potting stage can give terrific results and no doubt it's what our parents/grandparents did. When there is no potting mix around the roots at all, only soil, you don't run the risk of the potting mix being dry even though the soil around the potting mix is moist or wet. A frustrating problem and one that sees me out there with the hose or watering can trying to wet the root ball and thinking back to the days when plastic pots and potting mix were unheard of - whenever that was.)

Anyhow, I digress.

I'm confused about your wanting this Wistaria to be only 4' tall.

I've just had another look at your photo (after my lecture) and remembered that your plants are looking nice and healthy. (Not sure what the second photo is of.)

I think that your idea of planting at a normal depth and then later digging up and planting deeper may work. I really don't know. Climbers tend to be vigorous growers and pretty tough things, with a determination to survive.

Regarding the use of sand, I wouldn't. People tend to want to add all sorts of things to the recipe (I do that when cooking and have many disasters). Just use the soil that you have. If you are concerned about drainage, make sure that the site you choose is naturally well drained. For instance, if there is a natural slope, the site is well drained. (The slope doesn't have to be much of an angle.) On totally flat ground or ground that is in fact lower than flat, the use of sand to create drainage won't really work, nor will using rocks. On flat or sunken ground what you will need to do to be sure of good drainage is to raise the area in which the plant/plants are to be grown.
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