Bonsai cuttings | how to ensure roots from branch cuttings
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 มิ.ย. 2024
- In this video, I show you how to get your healthy branch cuttings to root, to become future beautiful bonsai trees.
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00:00 Intro
01:06 Species that root easily
02:03 Potting up the cuttings
03:51 Branch parts
04:40 Preparing the cutting
08:46 Caracol song
09:50 Plant propagators
#bonsai #bonsaitree #bonsaicuttings - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
Thanks for watching! Please tell me here if you have had success with any other species that are not listed in the video!!
I am stunned over how well you and others share information, is everyone in the bonsai community secretly educators?? Please keep it up!
Thanks so much, I appreciate your kind words! I'm not sure why a lot of bonsai enthusiasts like to share our knowledge, but in my case it's that I love the little trees so much I just can't keep it to myself! My first video was not a tutorial but a kind of personal record of the work I needed to, I just wanted to capture that moment in time. Then people asked me questions... that's why I decided to change the format to instructional videos. Underneath I think most bonsai artists are both proud of their work, and perfectionists, that's why it's as much about the process as the end result. Did that answer your question?? 😉
I love that I haven’t yet met a gatekeeper in this community
I think to even reach here you must love this and apllying the knowledge practically. I always want to talk about my projects but to who?
Love the simple whiteboard explanations!
Dave, I absolutely love and appreciate your videos. For a novice "Bonsaiist" your videos are the most informative!! THANK YOU!
Thank you Hugo!! Glad my content is serving a purpose 😊👍🏻
Omg I love this, you answered a question I've had 25 years, I have grown bonsai that long but never had a book or got any information bar one plant I was given as a teen, it was wired so I worked out from that my own way of doing things, I treated myself a japinese maple simply because I feel like there so beautiful as bonsai, I paid a decent few Bob for it n not only did it dye on me but I couldn't get a cutting to route for me, ma year you say..love this video you've explained so much so well.. thank you..
Thanks!! So glad you found it useful. Yes I have done a few maple cuttings but they sulk the whole first year even though they rooted, then they start really growing strongly in the second year. But... I have never successfully rooted a trident maple cutting.. I agree with you that many maple species make the most beautiful trees!
Thanks! One of the best explanations and methods!
Thanks Andrey. It sure works for me!
Very helpful! Thank you so much!
Thanks! Glad it was helpful!
Great video, I'm going to try this method next time I start cuttings 👍 Thanks
Thanks J! It's similar to air layering, I suppose that's why it has such a high success rate. Let us know how you get on in a video! 🍺🍺👍🏻
Thanks for good information about the cuttings
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Thanks dave 👍
Very welcome. (How's that for a delayed response?! apologies...
Awesome "whiteboard" session Dave! I'm fascinated by the size of your cuttings, they look enormous. You've inspired me to try taking some hardwood cuttings too...I've just bought an Ilex crenata that would be the ideal candidate 🤔😎xx
Thanks Rebecca! I love the holly, I have an old gnarled one here, they remind me of England! Not sure how easy they are to root from cuttings though, never tried. I'll be super interested in your results.
And you've just reminded me, I didn't say anything about the size of cuttings - it really depends on the species.. ugh, I should get my videos peer-reviewed before I publish them! 😂 thanks again!
nice sharing friend
Thank you 🌳👍🏻
Excellent video, thanks very much .Ps I liked the caracol song.
Thank you!! 😊
Very informative, thank you. And funny, too ☺️
Thanks! And my daughter also brightens up my latest video too! 😍
Hey Dave, I'm glad I found your channel, your content is so informative, clear instructions, I seamlessly watch from start to finish, thanks for sharing, new subbed 👍👍💕💕
Thank you! I don't know why but TH-cam has only just shown me your comment now. Anyway thanks for your kind words!
So nice and informative video uploaded dear 👍👌🤗🤗🙏🏿
Happy gardening ❤❤
Thank you so much! 😊👍
HOLA AMIGO, EXCELENTE EXPLICACIÓN!!!
Hola, muchas gracias! Aunque sea un video en inglés espero que haya sido util. Un saludo 🌳👍🏻
Very useful information.
Thanks Barry!
Aussie Dave here again Dave,, just scrolled through your videos and found the one on cuttings 😆. Great job, as in Australia now it's nearly spring 🙂. So soon is the best time for my cuttings 🤔
Cheers Dave! yes you can take cuttings soon and in fact all summer, as long as you have them in high humidity for several weeks while you're waiting for them to root. And broadleaf evergreens can be taken in early autumn even.
I like that sink
I like that comment!
Ps. The sink will feature again briefly in my next video, due next Saturday hopefully.
@@BlueSkyBonsai haha awesome! I like your videos man keep it up!
I'm a Hispanic American and thought this was a British video because of the man's accent. Then, I heard the random caracol (snail) song in the background and was like WTF...hahahaha!! Kind of fitting!! :-D Gracias por la linda explicacion. I'll try it today!
Thank you so much! Me alegra que te ha gustado la canción de mi hija, así es mi vida intentando hacer un video semi-serio dentro de una familia que todos quieren o interrumpir o protagonizar... de todos modos, gracias por tu comentario, mucha suerte con tus cuttings today. Tienes un bonsai?
@@BlueSkyBonsai ¡Gracias por su respuesta! ¡¡Jaja!! Los niños son una belleza - tan inocentes, honestos, y graciosos. :-D Yo soy maestra de música pero no tengo hijos todavía.
Recién estoy empezando con bonsai. Saco "cuttings" de árboles en mi barrio y siempre se mueren. Ahora estoy intentando sus ideas. ¡Muchísimas gracias!
@@MusicalMali que bueno saber que eres una muestra de música! Mi hija va a clases de violín aunque creo que se lo va a dejar en algún momento ya que sus amigas no tocan y ya está llegando a esa edad...
La hobby de bonsai es muy bonito. Una vez que empieces, se quedará contigo por el resto de tu vida. Buena surte con los cuttings!!
great video
Thanks 🙏🏻
Good quality content man. I'm surprised to see the # of subscribers. Keep em videos coming.
Thanks Anuj! I really enjoy it, and I guess that's a lot more important than number of subs. More videos coming soon! Cheers 😊👍🏻
great voice work, I like you already.
Thanks! Hehehe I have to give some of the credit to my parents for giving me this voice!
GRACIAS!!!
Gracias a ti!
Impressive
Thank you!!
I've always seen others only leave two leaves for propagating cuttings....but I like your technique better!
Thanks Jacob! The reason for leaving only two leaves would be to limit the amount of water need due to transpiration of the leaves. But if you have it in an enclosed propagator with near 100% humidity, the water pull is minimal and the CO2 transpiration continues generating sugars in the leaves normally. In my most recent video, you can see that all those 8 cuttings rooted, 100% success! But, it largely depends on the species... thanks for watching and commenting! 😊👍🏻
Juniper cuttings have been no problem for me, but i always use green cuttings. I just take them when i prune and grow them on for about 2 years. Warning i use a drip tray in summer thats two deep for bonsai too ensure they dont dry out.
Yes junipers seem to root pretty easily, but I've never tried with a juni cutting thicker than a piece of string.. so this summer I'll try with a few thicker cuttings from different varieties - itoigawa, kishu and sabina to see how they root.
Drip tray for cuttings is a good idea, as long as the water doesn't heat up too much in the sun!
As for you hard to cultivate list I have a Colorado Pinyon (Pinus edulis) that seems to have survived for about seven months now. I believe it must be rooted and growing because the needles respond to being cold and wet by moving in. However, I have made many mistakes being completely new to bonsai. I also had a Utah Juniper that seemed to do well for about five months or so but hasn't made it. Thanks for the video. I have fresh cuttings and will keep trying.
Thanks! It's all good practice even if some of them die. Btw if you can get hold of some clear plastic pots for your cuttings, you can literally see when the roots have grown enough to repot.
@@BlueSkyBonsai thanks for the tip! That's a great idea.
I have had lots of success with juniper and cedars. They do best if keped humid and warm planted in sand, keep sand moist.
Good tips, thanks! Yes humidity and warmth I give em, must try the moist sand too. Cheers!
I have just taken 6 cuttings from a yew hedge, I know, at totally the wrong time of year. I put them straight into acadama and they semm to have taken. They haven't been outside yet as we haven't had consistent night time temperatures above 0 C. They're on my desk so I can watch them develop, which they seem to be doing. Time for crossing fingers. Thanks for your videos, they're very useful for a bonsai beginner.
Great! Enjoy your new mini-trees! 👍
Thank you for this informative clip. Very clear. Well done. My Acers root very well. I find that if you snap of the cutting instead of cutting it off it wil strike well. I also use a big storage box with holes drilled in the bottom and lid with soil that keeps moisture very well. I put them in as deeply as possible for the most soil contact. If i put them in small containers they often fail to strike in my case.
Thanks for your comment and for explaining how you do your cuttings. Interesting about snapping off the cuttings from acers, I will definitely try it!
Thank you. I've been having a hard time but mostly trying different kinds of maple and Japanese maple. I'll start with something easier.
Yes maples are not easy to root from hardwood cuttings, and softwood cuttings are easier but take a lot longer.
Elms, olives and ficus seem to be the easiest to root.
If you're really keen on propagating maples, an air layer could be more successful. I did an air layer at ground level in this video: th-cam.com/video/c1nasUQCRiM/w-d-xo.html , but I would recommend further up the tree so you don't risk losing the tree.
@@BlueSkyBonsai That's helpful. Thanks. I'll try Willow using the techniques shown and softwood from Japanese maple. I was also unsuccess cloning a skinny Benjamin Ficus. I'll keep at it.
@@TomHutchinson5 use plenty of water for the willow cuttings. Their roots seem to cope with (and demand) much higher water saturation than most trees.
Wow mantap keren
😊🙏
Thank you for the video. Especially for the lists of trees that grow / don't grow from cuttings. I wonder if there are larger lists like this, covering more trees?
Good question. I don't know of any but I'll keep my eyes open, maybe compile a bigger list. Of course in reality, it's not so simple as do or don't grow from cuttings- it's really just a long scale from very easy through to extremely rare and difficult.
@@BlueSkyBonsai Thanks.
Brilliant video. I’ve just started really. I picked some sort of pine 4 years ago and put it into a little pot then last week I realised I could train it for bonsai. It looks ok ish but I’m into the hobby now and got a few more going. 🤞liked and subbed hope all’s well 🙂 🍻
Thanks so much! Haha you've been bitten by the bonsai bug, and it will stay with you for the rest of your life! Cheers for the like & sub, take care 🍻👍🏻
@@BlueSkyBonsaiit’s fascinating, certainly have been bitten will always have them now or persevere with them. Quick question please, should I buy a juniper or something like that as I’d like a formed tree? My little ones will take ages. I’d like one to look after while their growing or is it cheating? And if it’s ok what would you recommend please? I’m hooked 😉 cheers 🍻👍
@@Mctrippzy it is certainly not cheating, in fact it's a really good idea. I would recommend start with three to practice and experiment: a ficus for indoors, a juniper for outdoors, and a chinese elm for wherever you want. These three species are resilient, make beautiful bonsai, easy to style and propagate, and very, very difficult to kill!
You won't regret it!
If you decide to get a ficus, don't get the ficus ginseng, they are amusing but not great bonsai. The ficus retusa is my favourite, they are soooo vigorous. They have bigger leaves than elms or other typical bonsai, but, they grow so quickly you could easily turn it into a taller bonsai within few years.
Watch out for the space issue: I've made so many cuttings and seedlings over the years that we now have a space issue indoors.. only a problem in winter because they all go outside in summer. 🍺🍺🍺😜
I have had success with propagating trident maple, elm, and forsythia from cuttings.
Great work! What method did you use for the trident maples? Softwood cuttings?
@@BlueSkyBonsai I took 4 inch trident maple cuttings last March when the buds were starting to swell. I planted them in potting soil and used rooting hormone powder. The cuttings stayed in a small greenhouse made out of boards and an old window.
@@clarkw9881 thank you very much for explaining.
Great video as always, what are your thoughts on a heat mat? I have only tried my BRT, which I just threw into a similar set up you have, where my seedlings are, and it took. The one privet I tried got mold on it, but that could be due to the soil as well. I mix some vermiculite and sphagnum peat most, same as with my seedlings. I'll have to try your technique next time. Thanks again.
Thanks so much! I also use a heat mat, only now in the coldest months. Last year in about March I found that some of my new seedlings had gone rotten in the bottom of their tiny pots. So this year I plug the mats in during the day and unplug them at night. There are also thermostats for heat mats, but I found mine (no thermostat) only increases the temperature by about 10° - 15°, hence good in winter but not good for the rest of the year. Cheers!
I don’t know why I’ve never thought about ringing the bottom of a cutting like that. Sort of airlayer style. Great stuff. 👍 also where you being dissed with the snail song? Lol.
Cheers! Yes my daughter totally dissed me there! Still it was worth it to get her singing on a public video hahaha
Blue Sky Bonsai lol she’ll regret that when she older 🤣
@@BackGardenBonsai yeah, not long to go for that to happen! 😂
About the airlayer style ring, I forgot to say in the vid, that also lets you plant it deeper in the soil so it's a bit more stable. Ugh hate it when I remember to add something after it's already published... doh!🤦♂️
awesome information. Where did you get the clear pots please
Thanks! The clear pots were from what the Spanish call "flan". Here's an example: www.carrefour.es/supermercado/flan-de-vainilla-danone-sin-gluten-pack-de-4-unidades-de-100-g-danone/R-521029843/p
You need to make sure there is no trace of the food left in the pots otherwise you get mould in the soil. HTH
Dwarf wisteria works as well
Thank you! I will have a try 👍🏻
Your content keeps improving!
Nice graphics!
Starwars font?..
This was totally inspiring, I will be rethinking my method. I automatically strip almost all leaves on a cutting, in my mind, this is to reduce water loss through transpiration, but if they're sitting in water, I guess that's not necessary...
Outrageously large cuttings! I would have said that they would all need air layering. Stripping the bark for a cutting is a new one for me. I'm genuinely excited. I shall be taking cuttings from my lemon and kumquat trees that live in the greenhouse, and I'll have a go at olive too!
I've got a heated propagator, so I can get the rooting process going over winter, ready to plant out in the spring.
Great stuff as always Dave, breath of fresh air. Lots to keep me busy with over the boring winter bonsai season!
Thank you!! 😊 Yes the font is called Distant Galaxy, I was considering making it yellow with a black background but that would be over the top. I've used a few film fonts in the last several videos and you win first prize for being the first to comment on one of them! At the end of this one there is a font called X-files for the subscribe here text, definitely using that again.
I've seen videos in the past advising to remove leaves, but like you said if you're using a propagator to keep them humid then transpiration is not an issue. Also a plant will throw off its own leaves if they're costing too much drain on the roots so I always try to leave the leaves if I know it will stay in a humid environment.
Lemon and kumquat will be interesting. Olive will be a piece of cake, even larger fatter shoots can root quite easily. Let me know how it goes! 🍺🍺👍🏻
@@BlueSkyBonsai Both very nice fonts!
I got carried away, as can easily happen when one gets stuck in, and I've filled my propagator with kumquat pomegranate and lemon cuttings. The giant bamboo seedlings which were already in will appreciate the company I'm sure! Makes sense to keep the propagator full too, if it's already up and running. Olive will have to wait until the bamboo are ready to pot up. Very exciting stuff!
@@shaolinshadowsoldier Sounds good! I guess you might need to be patient with the pommy cuttings since they should loose their leaves soon, so it might just stay dormant until spring. Should be ok though I guess. I have had a maple cutting in the incubator since january, still there.
This afternoon I checked the olive cuttings and some of them have visible roots already. Amazing, I potted them only 2 weeks ago. I also found one small centipede (probably a good guest), and one cocoon in one of the pots... not a good thing but now inactive luckily. And lots of half eaten olive leaves. Can't believe I didn't notice a caterpillar in one of the cuttings when I potted them up. (Note to self: give them a visual check in the incubator a bit more often...)
@@BlueSkyBonsai Just had a look in the incubator, and the pomegranate cuttings have all thrown out leaves! Before I go poking about, in theory, does this mean that there are also new roots?.. It's only just been three weeks!
@@shaolinshadowsoldier they think it's spring already! I would leave it another few weeks. They might have produced roots already but not necessarily enough to provide all the foliage with water in dryer air. And they're certainly not going to suffer if they stay in the incubator. What you *could* do is change the water that they're sitting in, so they have fresh oxygenated water in the soil. Water through each pot over a sink for up to a minute to flush out all the stale water. Would be a shame to get root rot so soon after rooting!
Ok so a couple of things:
-Best white board yet in my opinion
-Addendum to the “easy” list: Dawn Freaking Redwoods. All my my cuttings are still going strong, including the one i transplanted out of the container.
-Another addendum you the easy list: Larches...should they be on there? It may have been Chan who said it, but more importantly I had zero success with them. Now that could very well be because I didn’t cater to the species well based on the zero research that I did beforehand, but they all died and they all died quick.
Awesome vid as always, thanks for sharing.
Thanks mate! And some day I can reuse that whiteboard, at least part of it if I do an air layering version.
Dawn redwoods, I have been meaning to get one myself for a couple of years. And now you've just added it to the easy rooting list, I have no choice but to fork out on one 😋
I have a young larch, haven't tried to take cuttings yet but I will give it a go in spring. Apparently need to take new softwood cuttings in May or in late summer. I didn't see Peter Chan's video on larches, must go back and look at that. I'm a total novice on these deciduous conifers. Time start experimenting! Thanks again 🍺🍺👍🏻
Blue Sky Bonsai assuming my cuttings survive the winter, I could just send you one of those if you want (I already owe Jay C and Scott Winnard one so I could put you on the list). I have a vague memory of Chan just saying it in passing, buried deep inside a video that was not necessarily about larches. That said, we should definitely get to the bottom of larch cuttings cuz I really, really want some.
@@BostonBonsaiIdiot that would be amazing, for defo please add me to the list! 🌱🌿🌳🤓
I use perlite with a 10-20% of potting soil. For Acers I leave it day in water with a little of rooting hormone. I reduce the number of leaves and even cut the top leaves to further reduce evaporation. I made the cut just below the nodes and I cover everything with something still allows some evaporations. Muy linda la canción del caracol, a mis niños le gustaba mucho. Pensaste en hacer bonsai de nísperos? las hojas no creo que reduzcan bien.
Gracias! Los 4 nísperos siguen bien y ya bastante más grandes. Los estamos cultivando para la fruta que nos encanta, no para bonsáis... correcto las hojas están enormes!
Oh, on another topic, or rather the topic of cuttings. Hibiscus work great as bonsai, right? I cut some branches from my newly bought one, because it was so pretty (but sticking out in all directions) and I thought I might be able to make some bonsai from the cuttings. :3
I haven't tried hibiscus bonsai, but I've heard that they're very manageable. You might want to consider a slightly bigger final-image for hibiscus because of their leaf size and flower size. But this is not essential... you just enjoy what's growing in front of you and that is the most important thing ;)
@@BlueSkyBonsai They are big shrubs naturally, so it should work as bonsai. I think. But I've never tried. XD I just saw this huge hibiscus at work, and I was like: "That's a pretty tree!" XD I've never had one live long enough though. I hope I can do better with these ones. They're red-stemmed with white/light-green/dark-green mottled leaves. So pretty. :)
Yoy should revisit your lists...
Thanks Kennet! That's a good idea. Did you see any in there that you would disagree with or that you think I should add to the list? Or do you mean I should show the progress on all the cuttings that were successful?
👍👍👍👍
There is (I think) a gorgeous full-size False Acacia in my neighbourhood (bark so gnarly and branching full of character, all crooked and thorny) and I tried taking one of the suckers as a large cutting... failed miserably. Can't wait til spring to try this again, just hoping my local council doesn't clean all the suckers out before then!
PS: love the fonts, I was a massive X Files fan in my teens!
Great Stuff! I have a false Acacia, if you want you can see its progress in this flickr album: www.flickr.com/gp/davidhseymour/9kejSL (no videos about it yet though). I tried to take about 5 cuttings off it in summer 2017 with zero success. So maybe it's not an easy rooter. Next time I will try an air layer. In any case, worthwhile you trying with the suckers, if the alternative is the council pruning and binning them!
One question: how did you identify the false acacia? I ask becasue I think they're not all that common, at least definitely not here. Maybe they are more in central UK...
-haha you've partly revealed your age there! I was in my twenties when it was on and, also a massive fan along with most of my friends at the time. More recently did you see any of Fringe? Similar in some respects.
@@BlueSkyBonsai - It had so many distinct features that really helped ID. Crazy craggy bark, long seed pods, compound leaf and wicked looking spines where leaves immerge.... Oh and we have a Collins Tree Guide (cos my partner had a career change into gardening and collected/bought a bunch of great books 😄) The Guide says it's Robinia pseudoacacia, I checked and it can be used as a street tree here, but I wouldn't say it's common.
@@BlueSkyBonsai - Ya got me there! Afraid I've never seen Fringe. Tried watching the 'newer' XFiles and wasn't impressed. Guess my tastes have changed... like things like Walking Dead these days and can't wait for next episode of The Boys!!
Serissa is very easy ;-)
Thanks for the tip! 👍
wonderful stuff! it seems you aren't concerned regarding node positioning ie having at least one node buried etc? also wasn't aware that exposing only down to the green cambium layer is more conducive to re-growing bark as opposed to forming roots, have I understood that correctly?
Thank you! And apologies I somehow missed your comment first time.
Yes, basically if you leave the cambium there it will try to callus over the wound. So removing the cambium makes the newly emerging roots more likely to succeed.
Also, I've found that node position is irrelevant.. if it's a readily-rooting species then with leaves showing above, and bare wood buried below the soil, it should produce roots radially from the line you cut round. All eight of the cuttings in this video rooted, and they nearly always do with this method. OTOH maples Japanese and trident) don't root with this method from hardwood cuttings.
I don't know but maybe the node theory is more relevant for soft stem cuttings. I've rooted softwood cuttings from Japanese maples, by waiting a very long time (7-8 months) but I didn't pay attention to the node positions.
Hi Dave. Thanks a lot for all your tips. By the way, when the cuttings are planted in the propagator, how many times should i water the cuttings? Can I mist them once a week? I was able to root some olive cuttings but they seem soaked in water. How many times should i water them to avoid root rot? Thanks
Hi Richard, if the plant propagator is keeping the humidity in, (no air holes) then you do *not* need to mist the cuttings. If it's really hot weather where you are, you will need to replace the water under your cuttings every week, or at least every 2 weeks, to avoid the water going stagnant. Root rot can happen after just 1 week in warm water. If you have several roots, when they grow to like 4 or 5cm long you can probably transition them out of the propagator (but not in direct sunlight until they are a lot stronger).
Hi I just found your channel and love the onesie scene so far... I'm literally about to start taking cutting and start my bonsai journey,, I like to ask you when would be the best time to take cutting from trees? deciduous and evergreen both in summer? thanks
Thanks! The best time is from spring to mid-summer. But I have also had success with olives in late summer/early autumn.
@@BlueSkyBonsai thank you. I'm going start with cutting evergreens. Get some practise in and some summer then do the deciduous trees
Hi! I live in Arizona and Palo Verde are popular as normal trees here. I was wondering if they would be difficult to make into bonsai? I want to do a tree that can handle our summer heats and I love the beautiful yellow flowers they get in the spring
Hi, I'm certain you can create a bonsai with palo verde, look at this for example: images.app.goo.gl/2RZmXbTi2QHKKU5Y8
But I personally have no experience with this species, so I can't give you any specific care advice for them. Give it a try! Hope it works for you.
Also, some more examples:
images.app.goo.gl/5j6Ad9aoYzgEWwJM9
and
images.app.goo.gl/Z32pdbVFDtweG7XJ7
Willow is literally impossible to not root, it refuses to die. Its like a plumeria.
You're right! I should definitely have included willow on the list of easy to root. Thanks!
Hello, thanks for the informative video. I would disagree that junipers are on your difficult to root list. In my experience, they are quite easy. I would say also that Zelkova are very difficult to take from cuttings. I shall try your method next year. Here's hoping I have more success.
Hi, thanks! Maybe it's dependent on climate. Anyway the propagator has helped to root my zelkovas, i have had good success rate with these, but it didn't seem to help junipers. Maybe I tried the junipers at the wrong time of year??
I find semi hard Zelkova cuttings dry out very quickly. I've had zero success so far with cuttings. I will definitely try your method which is more like an air layering approach. Do you always take hardwood cuttings? This approach is very interesting because your cuttings are so large. You're saving at least two years.
With regard to junipers. I strike a lot of semi hard/ripe San Jose junipers in summer taking about six to eight weeks to root. Much slower with shimpaku and Itoigawa. I tend not to use bottom heat but I think this would speed things up.
The season is much shorter I guess here in the north of England.
@@murphyorama like air layering, exactly! But with the addition of 100% humidity for a few weeks to reduce the amount of leaf loss while the tree is trying to grow new roots. 🌳👍🏻
I managed to get an oak cutting working, but it took more than 3 months to even callous, and then after another 3 months it had roughly 2 1-inch small roots. It was taken from a young(ish) tree, planted in pumice- about 10cm, with 2 leaves at the top. It's still very weak.This is one of four, the rest I didn't have patience to wait for, since they didn't even seem to callous after 5 months. Perhaps I should have waited longer, but the leaves seemed to brown way before winter, so I assumed dead.
Thanks for the update Nicholas. Oaks are definitely not the easiest species to root. I hope this one pulls through for you.
Very informative. When you say 50% organic what does it mean? What organic? It is commonly recommended to cut cuttings just below a node, some even say to keep two internodes under soil for better rooting. Do you pay any attention to where nodes are on your cuttings? Thanks
Thanks Sergy! The organic part is basically chopped pine bark, seived to about 1-3mm particle size to remove the dust but keep it small enough to retain moisture on the roots. You can also use universal potting substrate seived to the same size.
Cutting beneath a node is received wisdom, my mother in law does that with geranium cuttings for example. But I've found that it makes no difference as long as there are at least two nodes somewhere up on the stem, which there must be if you stil have leaves. Don't need to keep the nodes under soil; only the cut cambium circle because that's where you want your radial roots to emerge. HTH
Hi Dave. Brilliant information as always. I’m wondering if you would be able to tell me if I would be better off growing a Tamarind bonsai from seed or cutting please?
I’m in North East Thailand by the way.
Many thanks
Hi Ian, from a cutting is better, as long as it roots healthily, because you get a two year head start compared to a seedling.
Seeds are only better if you want to have the satisfaction of knowing you grew your bonsai yourself from nothing but a seed. That is satisfying, but cuttings are also satisfying and are a faster way.
@@BlueSkyBonsai Hi Dave. Thanks so much for the reply and the information. Cutting it is then! Things seems to grow so quickly out here. Hopefully a cutting will root well too.
Great channel. Thanks
@@2134yanto thanks!
what do you think of cutting containers like 10cl of size? i was planning to have them filled with some small stones and soil. or perhaps moss.
I use yoghurt pots of 12cl size, you could use 10cl but I wouldn't go smaller.
For soil, I've found small stones block the drainage holes and so after about 4 weeks it starts going smelly and stagnant. That will kill the new roots if you leave the cutting in there. So I use tiny grain akadama, or pumice, or tiny seived peat. HTH.
Thanks for all the great videos! Question - how do you prevent the leaves from growing mold in such high humidity and little air circulation? I was growing some cuttings (before I saw your approach, but with a somewhat similar approach), and they seemed to be doing well, but then recently mold started growing and killed off the leaves. There may not be much hope left for them... 😔
I remove the lid from the humidity incubator about once a week. If there's any sign of white mold on twigs or leaves I spray with an anti-fungal spray that's suitable for plants and vegetation. Before it gets bad enough to harm the cuttings.
@@BlueSkyBonsai Thanks!
Thanks a lot for the info sir. By the way,do all olive cultivars root from cuttings, or are there also other varieties which are hard to root? I tried rooting some olive cultivars but sadly they dried up and lost leaves even if I placed them inside a propagator. Should we look out for older olive branches or softwood or new shoots in order to propagate them successfully? I did not remove any of the leaves. Does it also mean that the thicker the cutting, the bigger chances of rooting? I read that pencil thick cuttings should be taken from an olive to have them root successfully. Thanks
Pencil thick cuttings sounds right to me. And I would say hardwood cuttings, in fact I haven't tried with new softwood. I don't know if some cultivars are less successful than others. One thing I found though, a longer cutting seems to be less successful at rooting so I found the optimum length is about 10cm. I tried 20cm and longer, they dried up. Hope that helps!
Great whiteboard session, am I able to use hormone gel? My local supplier doesn’t have the droplet bottle
Thanks! Yes hormone gel would work fine on the stem. You just have to be careful it doesn't scrape off when you're planting it in the soil.
@@BlueSkyBonsai mine haven’t rooted yet but also haven’t died and look healthy, I have re potted them any suggestions?
@@deanhenderson-thompson2438 what species are your cuttings?
Some species can take many months, like Japanese maples. Also Maples need to be from softwood cuttings - i have not had success from maple hardwood cuttings.
Make sure theyre warm-ish (like 25°c) and get enough light and humidity.
Other than that, sometimes we're lucky and others not.
I have only had 50% strikes from azalea cuttings, which are supposed to be easy to root. But from hotter-climate broadleaf evergreens like olives, ficus, sageretia, I have had near 100% success. So the species is the major factor.
How about cherry blossoms? We have a bunch around where we live, and I’d love to take a cutting to try and make bonsai out of it!
Cherry blossoms, definitely worth a try! I haven't tried them for cuttings, but fruiting trees are nearly always efficient at rooting.
Would you recommend stripping the outer layers on Azalea cuttings? Or is that a technique you just use for hard to strike plants? Because plants like figs will strike in water, and probably very easily in medium with a dip in hormone as well.
I have used this technique for Azalea cuttings too, with about 2 in 3 success rate. The theory works for me a bit like an air layer, so the time of year is important. Wait until after the azaleas have flowered... the advantages of leaving the bare stick is that we have it a bit more stable in the potting medium, and all the roots come out radially.
Yes many plants strike in water. It would be interesting to do an experiment with many different species to compare strike rate in water versus potting medium.
Is there a link where to buy this soil in America? And these type of 2 different size cups
I used a mix of 50% akadama, 50% peat, both very small "shohin" granule size (good for new and fine roots). You could get these from any good bonsai retailer; here is a trustworthy source for example:
www.easternleaf.com/Akadama-p/118650-01.htm
www.easternleaf.com/Peat-Moss-with-Perlite-Mix-p/111040-01.htm
The plastic pot is one like this, properly washed out, (there must not be any residual food products in it because they would go mouldy and may cause roots to rot):
www.walmart.com/ip/Senor-Rico-Caramel-Flan-8oz/54306733
The clear sides make it easy to see your new roots. Keep it in the propagator for a few more weeks after you see roots. When you see new leaves it should be ready to grow on its own.
For the water tray, you can use any shallow bowl. HTH
Hi MR
When you take out the cutting from the propagateur??
When they start to do some new leaves… or you leave them more inside?!
Yes, when you start to see new leaves is safe. If you need the space in the propagator, you could take them out when you see the new roots through the clear plastic, but I tend to leave them a few more weeks to be sure.
@@BlueSkyBonsai
Thanks
Hi Dave, thanks a lot for the tips when growing cuttings. I was able to grow some hard-to-root olive cultivars. I just have another question. I was able to propagate a single hard-to-root olive cultivar from cuttings. Out of the 30 I made, only one survived. It has rooted after 4 months but it only had 2 leaves remaining. A while ago, it lost another leaf, leaving it having only one leaf. Will the cutting die if it only had one leaf? I have not observed signs of new growth, but I took a peek on the bottom of the cutting and it only had one root. Hope you could advise me again on how I could keep it stable. Thank you very much as always :)
Hi, sadly it's one of natures facts that some cuttings are harder to keep alive than others. But in the meantime keep it at 99% humidity in the propagator and change the water every week. You could try adding a couple of drops of rooting hormone liquid to the water each week. Try to keep it in the propagator for a few months. You can't do more than that. If it fails, don't give up, try again next year!
Very interesting advice on removing all cambium layer I didn't come across earlier. Will definitely try. Here is my challenge - baobab! I read it's easy to root cuttings. I have two baobabs grown from seeds. They produce way too many new shoots in early summer which I tried to root ... all failed. Cuttings develop some sort of bulges around trunks which keep them alive for a while, say half year. But no new roots develop and eventually cuttings die. Any advice on baobab cuttings? They are so "fruitful" material for bonsai: my ~2.5 year old seedlings have ~5 cm trunks! And excellent branching!.
Sounds perfect - hope it works. Some species are just difficult to make cuttings root, like trident maples. I have no experience in Baobobs but I can tell you it is top of my list for this year. They are pretty rare here in Spain in fact I have not seen any in private collections or in nurseries. But I know they can be bought, and seeds are available.
Good luck with the cuttings!
@@BlueSkyBonsai Baobab seeds are easily available from eBay. In my limited experience germination rate 30-40%. There are a few videos on TH-cam how to. cheers
@@sergy5337 Thanks! I will have a look
@@BlueSkyBonsai Ah, just watched your olive reporting video and wanted to ask what sort of soil you use for cuttings? As coarse as for established bonsai, 4-6 mm, or smaller?
@@sergy5337I use finer soil size, 2-3mm. The soil must hold still the cutting stem, and that doesn't work well with bigger granules - maybe not enough contact area with the stem. I also tried with pure potting substrate, which holds the stems still, but the problem is there's almost no drainage so then the roots don't get enough oxygen once they emerge.
I am fascinated by the variety of trees, flowers and shrubs etc aa newcomer to the UK from Australia!
I'm growing bonsai from seed and its a grinding process.
Are ficus the best tree to grow from cuttings in your opinion?
Yes bonsai from seed is a long and slow process, but very satisfying in the long run.
The "best" indoor tree from cuttings is really just opinions - my favourite is Sageretia Theezans because of the small leaves, but the easiest is indeed ficus, because it roots so easily and grows quickly.
But the best for outdoors is a different story. Olives and elms are really easy to root. Crab apples also root easily, grow quickly and give flowers and fruit. Dwarf pomegranates root easily, grow a bit slower but are great for bonsai because of their smaller leaves and beautiful flowers and fruit. Junipers are also easy and very common for outdoor bonsai.
@@BlueSkyBonsai @Blue Sky Bonsai thank you! I have silver and downy birch, Japanese black pine (looking forward to this one in years to come) and another which I can't remember.
Is the sagaretia theezans the species which keeps its leaves after they die? That is a beautiful tree!!!
I'll start on a Chinese elm and a ficus species for cuttings, thank you!
Your page happened to pop up on my youtube and Im quite thankful it did, its been hard to find the 'right' mentor.
I'll work my way through your videos 👍
@@nikkoalexander8442 thanks!
The leaves that stay on when they're dead are typically Hornbeam and Oak trees. We think it's nature's way of protecting the new buds through cold winters.
Sageretias are tropicals (indoor) so they don't lose too many leaves.
I did a video on Sageretias here: th-cam.com/video/ZlnyM6IuDpo/w-d-xo.html
When you see my older videos you'll probably notice some lower quality production and presentation, but hey I had to learn video making somewhere!! 😊
@@BlueSkyBonsai hornbeam, noted. Hahaha ah the evolution of one's TH-cam. Your productions is spot on now mate, the whiteboard really grabbed my attention *simple drawings preffered*.
Honestly is Australia we stick to Hardy plants like yukkas whereas in the UK I've got ivy trying to tear down my cottage walls from excitable growth.
@@nikkoalexander8442 cheers! Yeah it's a different world in the temperate, wet uk climate as I'm sure you've observed!!
Hi sir, just wanted to know, how many years will it usually take before an olive cutting grows like a juvenile olive tree or the parent plant from which i took it? Looking at the cuttings they seem to be very thin and it seems that it would really take a long time before they thicken like older olive trees. Thanks a lot in advance.
Hi! Calculate approximately 2 to 4 years to make a "mame" bonsai, 4-6 years to make a decent shohin bonsai, or 10 years to make a bigger tree. Consider letting the grow in a massive deep pot, or in the ground, for about 5 years if you want to really thicken them up before starting to train as a bonsai. HTH.
Ha ! Found it. So silver birch not so good. I'll try it and let you know how I get on. I'm wondering more generally, is there a max. diameter you'd go to for cuttings? Cheers, Moray (Bedfordshire, England)
Great! Answered in the other video... in any case I recommend you take 10 or so cuttings of different thicknesses and number of leaves, so that if some strike roots and others don't then you'll be in a position to know what worked best.
I have a baobab Bonsai and I just trimmed it tonight and put the cuttings in water ..how long till I can expect to plant the ....I don't have any rooting stuff though
Hi Gabriel, sorry I have no experience with baobob bonsai, can't answer your question.
what time off the year do you do your Cuttings in early summer would you say is a good time for Chinese elm cuttings
Yes, any time between mid spring to early summer. After you see the new leaves have hardened (turned darker and slightly shiny).
Thank you dave that will help me to do some cuttings this year trying to make my collection abit bigger and didn't want to take anything at the worng time so thankful for your help.
How do you water the cutting after when you’re done reporting and placed the in the incubator done? Like I mean after a few days if we want to water the cutting, we have to open the dome and water them no??
I’m scared if like I open the dome the humidity will go ?
It maybe a stupid question but I’m new in this 😊☺️
Thanks
The cuttings won't need to be watered until you see the first roots in the sides of your plastic pots. If you can't see them you could estimate 3 weeks before you need to water them. And even then it's not strictly necessary because the humidity is so high inside, your cutting is not sucking up much water at all.
So after about 3 weeks, I change the water in the water trays about once per week, so that the cuttings are not sitting in stagnant water.
It's fine to open the dome for 5 or 10 minutes while you change the water. Depending on the species, leaves generally don't dry out in that short a time. As soon as you put the lid back on the humidity will start rising again. If you're worried you could mist the leaves while the lid is open.
What species are you propagating?
Dave, if I have bottom heat and grow lights, can I root cuttings from maples and Dawn redwoods in winter. I'm in Australia, region 9a, and weve had a few weeks of -1 - -5'C nights. All leaves dropped.
Hi Raphael, different maples are different. I have never been able to root trident maple cuttings. Japanese maples I have rooted successfully from softwood cuttings taken in the winter and left for 10-12 months in the incubator. (The fist few months they leaf out small dearf leaves without rooting, then as long as you keep them still, bright light, and 100% humid, the roots gradually form over the next six or so months. Then the following autumn or winter you start seeing new bigger leaves emerge so you know then it made it through. So then you still need to keep it incubated until spring because in that winter you don't want it to lose those new leaves. So in effect it's really a 14 month process! Soon I'm going to try the same with a fully leafed softwood cutting to see if it roots quicker (or indeed at all). Field maples are apparently reasonably easy usind semi-softwood cuttings in midsummer, but I have never tried, so no personal experience here...
@@BlueSkyBonsai thanks mate.
Would an avarage outdoor pine tree work?
It is possible to root pine cuttings but more difficult than deciduous and fruiting trees. Take quite a few cuttings because some won't root.
Morning Dave, great video of explanation of rooting.
I'm Oliver and I have a big problem at present. 4 days ago I re-pot a little 25cm tall Oak bonsai that I've grown from seed, sadly it doesn't look good (maybe a I've cut by accident the master root), and so the leaves a down "sad looking". what can I do to save her?. I wish I could send you a picture so you can get an Idea.
Please help
Regards
Oliver
Hi Oliver, you might be able to save it by covering it with a big clear plastic bag for the next few weeks to keep high humidity and in semi-shade. It might still lose its leaves. If it does, keep it in the plastic bag for a few more weeks, in half-shaded sunlight, they can sometimes take a couple of months to bud back again. Ultimately chopping the tap root is ok to do in March just before the leaf buds burst, but it becomes a risk once the large leaves have developed because they need water for transpiration. The tree can survive if you cut the tap root, as long as there are enough fine feeder roots still attached. Good luck!
Also mist the inside of the plastic bag to be sure there is near 100% humidity inside
I have a piece of Weeping Fig that was busy growing off the trunk of the parent tree. Will reply on my own comment here in a few months (if I remember) to update!
Thanks Chant! Ficus Benjamina should root pretty easily. Keep it in high humidity for a few weeks to avoid losing its leaves.
@@BlueSkyBonsai It's a pretty humid tropical climate here already. Do you recommend that I create a dome to cover it for extra humidity? It's almost "winter" here in the southern hemisphere with an average temperature of 86F and relative humidity of 41%
ETA: Used black compost soil because specific bonsai soil etc is impossible to find.
@@slipknotenthusiast6541 yes I recommend some kind of dome, even a clear plastic bag to cover it for a month would work. The humidity should be somewhere around 90-100% to protect the leaves. Otherwise the natural transpiration in the air will dry the leaves while new roots are not yet established enough to supply sufficient water up tp the leaves.
hey could you please tell me why you put the pot in shallow water is that just for humidity purposes or is it for bottom watering to keep the soil moist at all times? also can we not do that step because if we are covering it with a lid there will already be a lot of humidity and the soil will stay moist with even more help by some regular misting
It's to ensure that the soil stays moist for a few months, also as an extra reservoir for that rooting hormone.
Is it possible to use wide olive tree brunch for propagation? I want to made two bonsai trees from one. Olive europea sylvestris. That works awesome for ficuses but i never tried that for olive.
Yes, it's easy to propagate olive trees from cuttings, these were olive sylvestris in this video. Thin branches, you can cut them and plant them like in this video.
But if it's a thick branch, do an air layer like in the video here: th-cam.com/video/c1nasUQCRiM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=19qb8p4OtoUVa21u
@@BlueSkyBonsai thanks.
Do we water after (like before 6 weeks)??
And do we put them under horticulture lights or near the windows (for the sun) during this 6 weeks??
Thanks 🙏
Yes you can water them as soon as you see roots through the transparent sides of the pot. That's when the rooting hormone has already done its job, and then you can change the water so it doesn't get stagnant.
Daylight through a window will help them root faster, and yes use grow lights if you have them.
Beware of full-on direct sunlight, might make the propagator too hot inside, if its for too long.
Morning Dave it's me again oliver.... Sorry 😬
The Tip that you gave me, covering the little oak bonsai with clear plastic bag really helped.
Sadly though now for the second time there are white, powdery coating appears on leaves (fungal), I remove them but it comes again. I've been looking on the internet on how to remove, no luck.
would you have any advice or product that can help to solve the problem?
Regards
Oliver
Hi Oliver, I'm not an expert in fungals, but it sounds to me like mildew. That's not particularly life-threatening but it can restrict growth slightly. Any normal "over the counter" antifungal plant spray should deal with the issue without problems. You probably need to spray about once a week for a few weeks, to make sure it doesn't come back. And remember that for broadleaf trees generally, losing leaves is not a sign of tree-death; it's the tree's natural response to not being able to cope with its current conditions, to reduce the transpiration and to reduce the need for water.
@@BlueSkyBonsai Ill give a try, thanks anyway 😃
Okay I have a thanksgiving cactus I have to trim in the fall, she wants a arial root that developed into a branch taken off. She says it will kill the plant. It is probably 3 inches thick, lots of leaves, im thinking I should poke it until it breaks off or until im comfortable cutting it without vibrating it to much. Do you know if both the tree and the branch can calus over and can I plant the branch and get roots. Im thinking fish tank greenhouse which i knew i kept a 29 gallon for a reason. I think i can but I think it will take awhile. 🤔 Any recommendations of a video I can show her how it could look. I love a challenge.
Not an expert in cactuses. Try searching for "Nigel Saunders cactus"
Last year as an experiment I dipped my Juniper cuttings in honey and they have all taken root.
Excellent work! I will give that a try later this spring.
@@BlueSkyBonsai I've been using honey on my skin cuts for years and thought why not try it on cuttings because it has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties.
@@pjqziggy interesting. Do you use normal supermarket honey or medical-grade sterilized honey?
@@BlueSkyBonsai Pure honey, nothing special.
Hey Dave! Great video, I did exactly what you did with my ficus retusa and its literally growing new leaves 2 weeks in! Do you recommend keeping it in water for the full 4 weeks? How do you know when its started to grow roots? Just trying to prevent root rot!
Great work Jessie! 2 weeks is a bit early to rely on new roots, it has probably sprouted a few but they also probably need a few more weeks in water. Here's what to do: tip the old water out the bowl, and then water through the soil with fresh water to flush out the stale water. Try to do it in a way that doesn't disturb the soil. A small size bonsai-watering-can is ideal but you can also put pinpricks in the top of a water bottle so the water comes out in a fine sprinkle that doesn't move the soil.
New leaves are a good sign, but they emerge due to rising sap; it doesn't mean you have sufficient roots yet. Hope that helps!
@@BlueSkyBonsai awesome recommendation, I'll definitely be giving this a go! I'm very excited!!
@@jessiebrambell223 🌳👍🏻 please let me know the results after a few months!
what is in the rooting powder.
we have IBA (indol butiric acid) and it is a bit pricy...
is it a similar ingridient pruduct?
Not sure.. doesn't say on the container. It's Doff Natural Rooting Powder and I don't think it has rooting hormone in it. The liquid drops contain "fitohormonas" but doesn't say what exact substances.
What is that soil mix exactly?
I use fine grain akadama mixed with fine grain crushed pine bark, all seived to get rid of the dust.
Hello sir sorry to bother you but what was the soil you used for this I want to follow step by step thanks
Hi, its tiny grain akadama mixed with tiny grain peat, seived to get rid of the fine dust.
Hi sir, should cuttings always come from an olive branch with leaves, or can those branches with no leaves also be taken? Will they also root even if they do not have leaves? Also, can thin branches also be taken, or is there a minimum diameter which we should look out for when taking cuttings to surely root? I have tried some very thin olive branches and tips with new growth but these failed. Thank you very much.
Hi, it's different for different species. Olives, in my experience you need it to have leaves, and the shot to be mature enough that it has bark on it, so, about 1 year old is ideal.
Just for comparison: maple cuttings are the opposite, they root as softwood cuttings when they have no leaves but visible buds.
Sorry to ask, but did i miss it when you explained why you kept 1 cm of bare wood on the cutting, i seemed to have missed the point or the reason why. I did understand the whiteboard explanation but whats the point in keeping the inner wood instead of making a straight cut and leave it at that. I hope you understand where im getting stuck. Great video. Im experimenting with cuttings as well.
There are two benefits of leaving a cm of deadwood under the new base. Firstly it encourages the new roots to all grow out radially rather than downwards. And secondly it helps keep the cutting still and stable in the soil. HTH
@@BlueSkyBonsai thank you very much.
Have you tried a bradford pear?
No, never tried pear cuttings but I believe they should be easy to root as they're similar to apples. Have you tried it with a bradford pear?
@@BlueSkyBonsai not yet, i want to but wanted to see if anyone else has tried. I have one in my yard, I'll give it a go and see how it goes.
@@galeschmitty Sounds good, please let me know how it goes!
I did try this on some species. But they always tend to rott en get some kind of mold on it. How can I evade that and get them to root?
When mine are in the propagator, I change the water that they're standing in every 2 weeks. I also have a mild anti-fungal plant spray handy to spray lightly at the first sign of white mildew on the cuttings.
Interesting how you say to leave the leaves on, many people say to cut most off… I’m going to leave mine on next time
Also interesting how you commented that right now, I've just been writing an article on this!
Keeping the leaves on is good as long as you keep the cutting in a propagator with 100% humidity, or a sealed plastic bag with water misted inside. That way, the leaves' evapotranspiration stops so their water demand through the stem is much less. Also, think about the total leaf surface area being a factor in how much water the cutting stem must supply. So for plants with bigger leaves - just keep 2 or so. But small leaves like in this video, keep a lot more..
HTH.
@@BlueSkyBonsai great timing then !
Other than cutting quality, what would be the best time to do these in the uk ? I’m thinking early summer… have you had any luck with them during spring ?
Temperature rarely gets warm enough in the uk… and I’m concerned about enough light if kept indoors…
Thank you for the information
Cuttings are most successful from mid spring onwards.
Actually I've had some success all year round, with the aid of the propagator. In winter I sit it on a thermostatic heat mat and put LED grow lamps above. The ideal rooting temperature for most species is around 25°C. The species makes a big difference.
Cuttings from maples are most sucessful with softwood cuttings, ie. less than a year's growth. Elms are very successful from hardwood cuttings. What tree are you taking the cuttings from?
@@BlueSkyBonsai
I will most likely take some cuttings around mid to late spring, as most my plants are still young and need some new strong shoots.
Anything that increases success is worth the investment for me ! Will definitely consider a heat mat and already have an incubator.
I’ve a Katsura bush, also some small atropurpureum and orange dream acers I’d like to take cuttings from, also a Chinese elm.
@@TheMrjoehughes I'm sure you'll get plenty of successful rooting from that lot!
is rooting powder necessary?
It's not strictly necessary but it increases the chance of rooting on a difficult species and increases the speed and number of roots on most cuttings.
3:11 Hello Mr Blue Sky! So i repotted my bonsai today after watching your tutorial, but I didn't sieve the soil before potting, is this very important as i can also go and (re)re-pot it :)
Hi Mr Watkins! 😊 After repotting, when you watered through the soil with lots of water, did the water go straight through without welling up on the surface? If so, then you're probably okay, as that first watering hopefully would have pulled through all the dust and fines. But if the water was not percolating through fast enough then maybe you already have a drainage issue at the start of your root growth cycle, and if that's the case now it will only get worse over the next 1-2 years. If I remember correctly, you have a chinese elm right? That's good news, they tend to survive almost anything! So if water isn't draining through quickly then you can decide to repot, or decide to leave it another year, either way the elm will be fine as long as you keep it watered!
@@BlueSkyBonsai Ah great cheers for the advice! yes i watered it quite a lot and the water came straight out the drainage holes well, taking some of the dust out with it. So another problem, i repotted the tree into a bigger pot (after trimming the roots) but after doing some reading, i decided that the pot was too big and could end up with some unrooted areas (leading to root rot) after a few years, so i put it back into my old pot but with the trimmed down roots. Is this okay to repot back into the same pot to let the tree grow a bit taller for 2 years before moving onto a bigger pot? also how much of a pot size increase would you recommend? THANKYOU!
@@joewatkins1667 you generally don't get root rot in good draining soil, regardless of the pot size. It's only when the water can't drain through in certain areas in the soil, then that water goes stagnant and rots the roots.
Basically it will be fine in either pot.. now you've moved it back to the smaller pot you might as well keep it in there for a year then reassess next spring.
@@BlueSkyBonsai Okay awesome cheers, best bonsai videos going btw :) great information and relaxing voice!
@@joewatkins1667 cheers Joe!
Hey, great videos!
I've heard: no roots, no leaves. Perhaps species specific?
Thanks RobbasGardening!
I think the reason for that old belief is because leaves need to transpire and evaporate off water, so they draw water up the branches. They literally create a pressure differential in the Xylem to suck up water. So if you live in a dryish environment, like anywhere indoors, then a cutting with leaves will try to suck up a lot more water than the (non existent) roots can provide. So, removing nearly all the leaves means that the water requirement is minimal. However, here's the problem with that: you need leaves to generate enough photosynthates / glucose in order to create new roots. So my method of keeping the leaves on generates new roots pretty quickly, but is completely dependent on keeping the cutting in near 100% humidity so that transpiration & water loss from the leaves is virtually zero.
It's true that a few older leaves may dry up and fall off, and that's the tree shedding its own unnecessary load.
One extra thought: You might be right about it being species specific. Softwood cuttings from some species may create roots without leaves, because the living periderm of the softwood stem itself can photosynthesize sugars, even without leaves. That's why softwood stalks are usually green. Great question though... bet you didn't expect such a long answer?!
@@BlueSkyBonsai thank you for your elaborate answer and for sharing your expertise!
Your videos and effort are truly great!
@@robbasgardening5610 thanks for your kind words!
Can I do a mimosa tree(silk tree) from a cutting?
I've never tried with a mimosa, but it's definitely worth a go. Try with both softwood cuttings and hardwood cuttings to see whether one or the other is more successful. With the softwood, of course there's no need to scrape off a circle of bark.
@@BlueSkyBonsai thanks, I’ll be trying them today! Hoping it’s not too late in the season but looking forward to finding out🤝
how far do you push the cut end into the media?
About 1.5 to 2cm. Or between 1/2" and 3/4". If it's too deep, the roots won't get much soil to grow down into. But too shallow and the bottom of the cambium is at risk of drying.
@@BlueSkyBonsai thank you!
You are the only person to say remove all the green. Most people say to expose the green and not remove it. I hope youre correct
It has worked for me time and time again. And gives a nice radial root spread right at the line you cut around.
Removing the cambium has the same effect as for an air layer. (If you left the cambium, there is a risk that the plant would create scar-tissue and try to callus over, instead of creating roots.)
Would a large branch work?
Large branches are more risky. The best plan for a large branch is to create an air layer, let it grow roots in situe, then cut off the branch once you know it has rooted at the layer.