4.9 out of 5.0 stars on Amazon"Upon finding that I work as a professional bonsai artist, many people will remark that they once had a bonsai, but it died and with some regret, they gave up". Based on the Bonsai Basics section of the hugely successful Bonsai4me.com website and an e-book of the same name, 'Bonsai Basics: The Foundations of Bonsai', written and developed over the past 15 years is out now! All copies are signed by the author. |
Page 1 of 2:
OVERVIEW
Raising new plants from cuttings is one of the most reliable ways
of propagating. In general, the technique involves taking a small
piece of material from a living plant. After inserting into a
rooting medium, the cutting is able to produce new roots and is
then carefully nurtured until large enough to be potted on.
The main advantage of taking cuttings is that cuttings up to 1"
thick (dependant on species) can be rooted, speeding up the process
of creating a plant suitable for use as bonsai. The other advantage
with cuttings is that material that is routinely pruned from bonsai
and thrown away, can be used to create new plants.
There are a wide range of cuttings in general horticultural use
that can be used to propagate garden plants, from leaf-cuttings
to root-cuttings; for bonsai however it is stem cuttings that
are normally used. There are 3 types of stem cuttings commonly
used, softwood cuttings, semi-ripe and hardwood cuttings.
The Species Guides at www.Bonsai4me.com list the best method and the correct timing
for taking cuttings from each species.
This gives you an idea of how to achieve good success rates when
taking cuttings, however, if material becomes available at the
'wrong time', it can still be worth trying to use it rather than
throwing it away. There may be an increased failure rate but you
may also gain a number of new plants.
SOFTWOOD/GREENWOOD CUTTINGS
Softwood are the soft, pliable shoots from the current seasons'
growth. More often than not, they will be green-wooded. These
are nearly always taken in Spring to early Summer when the new
leaves on the shoot have hardened off and changed from their Spring
colour.
Try to take these cuttings early in the morning if possible. Each
cutting should be 8-10cm (3-4") if at all possible, trim
the cutting from the host plant just below a leaf node. This is
where there are likely to be adventitious buds that will hopefully
root in the future. Cuttings that can be taken just below the
junction of a side shoot are nearly always more successful as
they have a high concentration of natural growth hormones. Trim
all leaves off the lower third of the cutting and reduce leaves
on the upper two-thirds to just 3-5 pairs at most.
|
|
Semi-ripe cuttings are generally taken in mid- or late Summer; they consist of soft-tipped shoots of current seasons' growth (as with softwood cuttings) but have firm and woody growth at the base.
Ripe-wood cuttings consist of the same material as semi-ripe cuttings but have ripened up further and are generally taken from early Autumn to early Winter.
The cutting is taken just below a node for nodal cuttings or with a heel of mature wood for heel cuttings.
Remove all side shoots and trim nodal cuttings to 8-10cm (3-4") long if possible, trim heel cuttings to 5-7cm (2-3") long if possible. Remove leaves on lower third of cuttings and for semi-ripe cuttings also remove soft tips. Reduce large leaves by half.
HARDWOOD CUTTINGS
Hardwood cuttings are taken in Autumn (after leaf-fall) to early Winter. They consist of the leafless shoots of fully ripe growth up to 1" in diameter. Trim to 15-23cm (6-9") if possible, with the top cut just above a bud or pair of buds and the bottom cut just below a bud or pair of buds.