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I have been requested by a few web sites to remove the information below. They feel that propagation should be limited to a few companies who do the propagation and sell the very expensive plants. I feel everyone whould be allowed to know how to do it. If you want to propagate thousands of trees and sell cuttings for the next 6 months, this is not for you, you should buy my ebook, a link to it is on the front page of this web site. Timing is the most important factor in propagating hardwood cuttings. Cuttings can be taken from the trees only when they are completely dormant. Dormancy occurs between November and February in the Northern Hemisphere. If you are in Florida, Texas or a State that does not get cold enough temperatures to make the trees drop all their leaves, then do it in February which is usually the coldest month. Propagating with hardwood cuttings can be done with poplars, willows and many other trees and perennials. Let's say you have a hybrid poplar tree and want to propagate it. Take a branch from the tree. This branch has many buds along its surface, spaced 1 to 2 inches apart. Cut it short so you have a piece of branch that has only 2 buds. Now you have a 2 bud cutting that has 2 buds facing in the same direction. The bud with the bud pointing away from it, is the top bud. If you wanted to propagate this cutting, dip the bottom of it in a rooting hormone and then insert it in soil so only the top bud shows. Water it and you are done. If you did this outside, that is all you have to do, but if you planted it in a container inside, you have to make sure the environment is appropriate to allow this cutting to grow. First of all, it needs a temperature of at least 65 degrees 24/7 and also needs to have at least 14 hours of light daily. Also you have to see that the soil is moist, not wet. Under this circumstances the cutting will start growing within a week. When this little plant is about 10" tall, it can be transplanted outside as long as temperatures are above 40 defrees and there is no frost in the forecast. If you are growing a group of cuttings and they are too close together, you may get what is called "damping off" which is a virus that kills all plants overnight. To prevent this from happening, install a small fan to create some air circulation, or give the plants more room. Cuttings do not have to be 2 buds, you can have more, in fact a cutting can be as long as 15 ft., however, the longer it is, the more complicated it gets because you have to prep the cutting's bottom to insure it will root quickly. To do this, you scratch the bottom 4 inches of the cutting with a dull knife until you see green, if you see tan, you scratched too deep. Now dust that part of the cutting with rooting hormone, don't forget the bottom. This cutting must be planted outside in a deep hole (1 ft) then back fill, and support the cutting with a bamboo cane inserted in the soil and taped to it. This support can be removed a few months after the tree starts growing. I have done propagating with poplars, willows, forsythias, Rose of Sharon, spireas, American beautyberry, and many others. All of them will propagate. The main concern here is that you do it on the right time of the year. Want to be able to keep your cuttings alive for up to 6 months? Download the ebook, it is 4 pages and cost you $9.95. . |