@XaviersBonsaiRetreat challenged me to root hardwood cuttings. In parallel, he did the same and over the year we followed the progress. How well did the hardwood cuttings root? And who rooted most cuttings? For sure, you do not wish to miss this episode!
Can you root Japanese maple cuttings in Winter?
Can you root Prunus Mume cuttings?
0:00 Can you take cuttings in winter?
0:45 How to take Winter Cuttings
1:45 @XaviersBonsaiRetreat challenging me
2:00 Collecting cuttings of Japanese Maple, Trident Maple, Prunus, Elm, Hawthorn
4:26 March winter cuttings update
6:18 April update
7:28 September wintercuttings. The result
9:53 Admission of deceit and defeat
10:48 Wintercuttings, the conclusion
Drop me a line how you root cuttings in winter!
On my channel you’ll find lots and lots of videos on how to take cuting but all of those are taken in spring or in summer how about winter can you take cuttings in Winter yes you can it’s not all that hard but I’m not very good at
It in fact I’ll tell you what you need to do and then I’ll show you what happened when savior from savior’s Bonsai Retreat challenged me to take winter cuting after my lovely success on the Trident Maple cuting I’ve challenged him to um to doing some winter hardwood
Cuttings I took the bait I started it and together with savior we followed the process of taking winter cuttings the conclusion at the end of this video now the term winter cuttings might not be the best term it is more like fall cuttings that root over winter and
Early spring what you do in Fall as the leaves are dropping your plants are getting yellow and you’re just about to hit the first fro Frost you take a young Branch just like this and you take some very strong heavy Sprouts from this you look for a portion
That you want to propagate and you keep at least two notes on there the lowest note you remove everything the upper note you remove all the leaves and actually I remove the side branches until you have something like this there’s no leaves it’s just Young
Wood these you plant very deep in a pot you cover them 2/3 with substrate these you then put somewhere in a shaded position in your garden and you just wait for spring of course you don’t let them dry out anyway I put a bit of time in figuring out how to take winter
Cuting I am not very good at it I’ve always been unsuccessful but when savior challenged me to do winter cuttings last year hardwood cting I’m going to challenge you oh you want to challenge me now let’s take a dozen Maple challenge accepted cutting of maple trees let’s take a few of these
Make sure you get cuting with short intern notes and a dozen Trident if you’ve got them now I’ve had absolutely no success with those but English Elm that’s going to be one of my uh one of my subjects I’ll take this back with me a dozen Hawthorne cuz they’re so difficult so
Difficult double flour Hawthorn I think it is Paul’s scarlet and good thing I haven’t pruned it yet so I can get some thick strong growing whips not often seen successful cuttings of these but let’s see and I’m burying them very deep and notice these are all very
Strong whips of this year kalas it is now uh middle of winter last week of December Christmas time so all the tips are gone 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 nine okay I’ll add a few stem cuttings there yeah yeah yeah don’t worry I’m
Going to get to 12 I’ll take a dozen of something Else So savior what do you think large cuttings will these root what do you think hey savior it’s early March please tell me give me an update how are your cuttings doing are they all dead or still alive okay y well I put the challenge out there didn’t I and uh
Perhaps I was a bit too after uh after the sis I had with the Trident Maple uh summer cuttings um which you do remember I um won quite convincingly and of course it’s not a competition it’s about finding out what’s the best technique for everyone else to try all
Right this happened last night I I dropped a piece of wood on top of the box of cuting and I guess now I have to just take take this apart and repot all the cuttings and see whether there’s anything that has started to C us not happy about this this was unintended
Unexpected but yeah can’t leave it like this they’ll die that’s not to say that they won’t die anyway so these are dead and I’m going to toss those and these look like they might still be alive and I’ll put those up hey Savor how are your cuttings doing here
We have maple and we have Puna Muma so some of the other cuttings uh it is now late March these are the arak Maple then there’s the large then there is the Hawthorns all showing good buts all my Elms fair enough y all yours well done
You are the master when it comes to hardwood cuting especially I know when it comes to doing your uh your Elm and uh you uh com I’m sure you get a cutting off a plank of wood if you tried hard enough so we’re a uh a month further on now the maple hardwood
Cuttings definitely we got about 70% of those are still showing lovely green growth I’m feeling very confident now English Elm probably out of that batch one two three maybe four of um of rooted by the look of it the horn beam I think you can clearly see there probably about
60% of them uh still Contin to show growth the Fuji Cherry you know why bother doing cuttings there some lovely look at the size of some of those stems on there pencil thickness no effort at all and I’ve got again probably got at least 60% success
There this m and it’s flowering this um this is the second batch of um Ms and uh I think I might have said on a I I dropped them just after I did the filming last month looks like and that’s what happens you see you got to be so
Careful all of the buds have died and all but one of them and then we go finally to the Chinese Elm which should have been the easiest to root from hardwood cuttings all of them died hey it’s September and uh we need to assess just how well it went and
Uh well savier it’s the end of the growing season and it’s time to check how well did you do how many of these cuttings survived for you and for me I’d love to have this big grin on my face but you know truthfully y some days I wish I’d never open my my
Gob in fact most days most people wish I’d never open my gob but alas you know what I think I’m going to have to show you my results and uh I fear that this time you may have the uh the slip on me because uh I think uh the end total
Of three oh wow I did actually not expect that um so yours also didn’t do all that well well um in a way that makes me feel good I don’t like it that also you don’t don’t have all that many cuttings that rooted but it means that
For you and me both we prefer to do the spring cuttings over the winter cuttings I put in uh a dozen of Fuji cherry and of those I think I’ve lost that third one but I’ve definitely got one two which have got uh leaves on them English
Elm uh yeah I think uh that one’s brown bread but uh we’ve got one so okay I took a dozen of the hathorn as okay from the hedging and we’ve still got some leaves on there but I think this is one of those things I’ll wait and see and how it looks next
Spring whether it buds out so I’m going to go half we don’t yet know Chinese Elm the dozen of those all died the maples um I did some before Christmas some after Christmas all died the Fuji Cherry which I did cuttings from in the spring early spring February
They all died so um we let’s not work out percentages uh I think there’s a better chance of winning the lottery to be honest now people who don’t know savior there’s a link to his Channel Down Below yeah I know appalling and uh I congratulate you Ellie you uh you
Definitely achieved more there than I did okay I’ve got to be honest these are all propagations from over summer and this is what is left from my winter cuttings it has been terrible I have a bunch of prunus Muma and I’ve got two Elms that are still
Alive nothing else survived I told you I am not good at winter cuttings I don’t like them I don’t understand them and for me it is a lot easier to do spring cuttings than winter cuttings I submit here my defeat well that’s good news isn’t it think
About it um I went along with a pair of snips and I just took some cuttings Chuck them in left them exactly where they were like this all through the winter as you’ve seen and uh I’ve got three that’s three more than I had and it cost me nothing concluding words as
Promised um that took one year it resulted in a handful of rooted cuting so for me winter cuting they’re not worth the effort I know that some people have much higher success rates if you do let me know pop in the comments how you do it give me give me your
Recommendations and then maybe I’ll try again next year not this year it is way too cold it is still freezing and um yeah maybe that’s also a recommendation don’t do this when this freezing do it before the first frost plant them up somewhere October November early December if you have a place where
You can keep them out of the frost for winter this is yellow drwing bonai I’m going to go inside get something warm oh oh oh oh any chance you can sign this for me be worth an awful lot more money
32 Comments
I will be there if I can get just stop all of these hardwood cuttings from rooting everytime I put them in soil…or did I mean 'rotting' 🙂
Great video but im not convinced. As you said Jelle, I don't like them and I don't understand them 😂
A good reason to take cuttings in winter is if the last time you took cuttings of that tree in winter, they struck! Today I posted a video of my Dwarf Arborvitae and showed it with a rooted cutting I took from it last January. The secret? I overwintered it in the greenhouse, even though it should be winter hardy in my zone 7a. I take another, even more mature cutting in the video which I will overwinter the same way. Hope I am as lucky this time, because I really prize this tree.
I love it when you guys co-create a video!
Wait a second, "cocky" is the word that YT made you censor? That's not a swear in any way!
Funny battel 🌞🌱🇩🇰
I think bottom heat would help you guys.
Great research work! We announce you both the toppers in the class.
I only did 1 cutting in our South African winter, was a seiju elm, did some hard pruning and just put it in normal garden soil in a pot, did not expect it to root. Its summer here now and it's still alive.
You guys are the best 😊
Brilliant video – covered many of my past experiences. A few species do very well for me using hardwood cuttings (taken around leaf fall). They include cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera) (and other wild plums), hydrangea, red flowering current (Ribes sanguineum) and gummy gooseberry (Ribes lobii). The latter two are native to the mild Canadian west coast and would do well in your climate.
Miserable failure with TONNES of other trees. However, when I get even 1 successful strike from something rare, I feel its a win!
I used sand/perlite mixture, but I think its hard to keep right moisture balance. I suspect using 6 inch cuttings planted in deeper pots also buffers the temperature fluctuations – but again, have problems with right moisture balance. I think I moved some cuttings into bright sun too quickly at bud break, but maybe they were destined to die once their sap reserves were used up. As suggested below, bottom heat could be a game changer.
Very interesting to see the level of non-success! As a beginner tree grower I’m generally impressed with both your knowledge and practical expertise. I’ve started several batches of h/w cuttings in the last weeks. Some in pots in soil, in inorganic mix, covered, uncovered and some in an old style heeled-in trench. May also try some in a plastic container with bottom heat. A kinda scattershot blitzkrieg trials method. It’s my first year trying, so I expect silly errors, lots of practical experience and poor results, but I was setting the bar at something like 20%. Not 3-5% that ye seem to be getting. We shall see.
This is very timely. I was about to take trident cuttings over the weekend. Think I will leave it till spring after seeing this. Thanks!
Un grand merci pour la vidéo!
always fun content when you guys make videos together 🙂
Fun stuff!
I stick cuttings from January until September. January until first push, then soon as fist push is done it’s softwood cuttings time, June til July, then it’s semi-hardwood cuttings time, July through first week of September, bottom heat starts in October until November. Then I take a break from cuttings. I use corse sand, totes, and shade. I have lots of videos that show how I do it on my channel. But with all that said, doing all your cuttings in march allows everything to be fully rooted out by mid august . That is the best time and way if you don’t have a mist propagation system set up, which mine is almost ready for next year, so instead of only being able to do 100s at a time I can do 1000s at a time of each . Hope this helps someone. I have propagated 1000s of cuttings.
I were kind of surprised that you cut the cuttings so short, that might be a reason for not having too much success with them. I cut them about 25-30cms long, make a wedge with my spade in the ground, add some sand in the bottom, put the cutings in a row and tread it in so they are surrounded with soil. I have had about 60-95% success in this way. And the time is usually in October.
I've only done hardwood cuttings with willow & Black,red & white Currants.
Around a foot/30cm long & about 3/8" , 1 cm thick. I push them in to the ground half way. So far I get more success than failure.
Obviously willow roots for fun. I suspect the currants must be similar.
Hi !
From my experience, in winter the cutting need to be thicker than a pencil, be covered with candle wax to be avoid roten from the heavy rain and to put them in new freshly garden soil, once pinch in the pot you cover the surface with pumice in order to avoid getting them to be roten again. The goal for fall cuttings is to avoid them to get fungi and roten.
My winter cuttings always fail, too. Crossing my fingers for next spring, when I am planning some big cuts on a kabudachi maple planting – a few potential trees there! Heading into summer now and I am tempted to try for some softwood maples . . . Love these collaborative videos!!
This was extremely informative. I have wondered what was possible in the winter. Thank you for the knowledge!
I’m curious as to how your trees don’t die during the winter – I just watched your overwintering video and I don’t understand how the roots done freeze since all of your trees are potted and not buried. I understand using the ground temperature as a source of some heat, but when we talk about -10 to -15C like you mention – I can’t wrap me head around the roots not freezing over. Curious in your extended thoughts.
👍👌🙂
In my country, the best time for planting is to cut the branches in the winter so that they have a lot of roots, because the summer is very hot, the temperature reaches 47 degrees Celsius, and the winter is not very cold, reaches -7 degrees Celsius.
I plant it in pots, put a plastic bag with some holes on it, and put it in the green house
Got ya…. Winter cuttings… Nay… Unless you have some time and soil to waste…. Hahaha! Great show guys! I wonder if a wooden plank you grow square roots….🤔
Hello Jelle, I'm curious whether the cuttings understood your advice. 😜 I collected cuttings in the garden and forest today.
ive only had rose of sharron/hardy hibiscus success with hard wood cuttings.i for sure like spring or early summer cuttings best. or even better a indoor prop tent with heated seedling mats under the pots or trays. Thanks jelle n xav for show your challenge/experiment!
Hey Jelle,
I take hundreds of winter cuttings and have had widely varied success as well, some years I will get up to 80% success and others maybe 20% success. Species does make a huge impact on success too. My best technique for you would be the one I used when I lived in Pennsylvania, I was always told to keep the tops cold and the feet warm,this seems to offer the best results. I Leah’s take cuttings after the winter solstice, so day length is extending, I’ve learned winter cuttings need to be a bit more beefy, so pencil thickness on most species. I use a medium strength rooting hormone, typically with an anti fungal incorporated. Course sand or very fine sifted bonsai soil is a good substrate, as it holds the moisture very well. Stick them 2-3” deep, then in climates with serious freezes, use a warming pad for 3-4 weeks, set between 72-75 degrees, this will jumpstart the callous process, then when spring comes and buds swell root tips will follow. Once you pull the flats of cuttings off the warming pads, place them on the ground so they are in contact with the soil, this should keep the callous process moving. In warmer climates heat pad may not be necessary, but never hurts to jump start the process. Good luck this season.
That's a lot of cuttings bro…
Grts
Kennet
Nice Video together ! I will do Spring cuttings thats better 😂
What medium are you planting the cuttings in?