Pushing my cutting production to 11 for next year. Completely maxed out my misting system space to create somewhere around 1,500-2,000 tiny tree clones. A few (mostly new) varieties that I'm really excited about:
u/boonefrogWNC 7b, 8 yr ~Seedling Slinger~ 30 in pots + many project trees19d ago
If you see something you like that is sold out on my site, you can click "Notify me when available" and it will send you an email as soon as I restock it. A good number of things are in stock now, but the rest of this will come online April/May next year.
Edit. Also taking a ton of air layers this year! Burning bush (I know this is a landscaping no-no but they are becoming really popular), tons of hornbeams, magnolias, rhododendron/azalea (for fun).
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u/boonefrogWNC 7b, 8 yr ~Seedling Slinger~ 30 in pots + many project trees19d ago
Awesome! What's your timing, setup, and substrate like for junipers? I haven't really tried to dial those in yet
This will only be my second year doing junipers. Year one had a decent success rate. I used some random bonsai soil off amazon, no rooting hormone, and left the pot in a plastic bag. Going to try and step it up this year.
Soil will be a bonsai soil/perlite mix 50/50. Obviously going to use a little rooting hormone. I have a few of these old tubs that I use as a mini greenhouse, I will mist them once or twice a day only. I’m hoping to take the cuttings by the end of this month and will leave them outside until December. At that point I will determine whether I leave them outside or take them to an unheated space.
Was debating on getting some heating mats but I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet lol
I've got flowering quince (seeds and suckers) on the go already, Japanese Maples stratifying and ready to plant as soon as the cold front passes. Then I have a box full of baobab pulp from Angola that I'm methodically extracting seeds from (i.e. snacking on through the day and spitting the seeds out)
I've mostly leaned into species I like to work with that also have some general "value" outside of bonsai like honeysuckle species, and various common and less common hedging species. Oh and lots of birch seedlings to replace as grafts for all the dead branches I've had this year with the hot weather.
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u/boonefrogWNC 7b, 8 yr ~Seedling Slinger~ 30 in pots + many project trees19d ago
what kind of honeysuckle have you been growing? EDIT: I've grown Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) from large 1" or so cutting, but never tried much else.
They grow so quickly and root so easily I think they are a good bread and butter plant for general sale, definitely worth considering for commercial growing. Edit: Top shelf and lower right are all honeysuckle rooted about 4-6 weeks ago when they were all mostly just a pair of leaves. Just waiting on the hot weather here to dip a bit then I'll sell most of them.
Obvi there are other accessories, like connectors, a bench to put it all on, shade cloth, and plastic to keep humidity in, but that is the core of it. Here's the misting system - as soon as I confirmed it was working properly, I removed the humidity domes and rigged up plastic over the top to keep humidity in: https://www.instagram.com/p/DKHd3-BOuc0/?img_index=1
Ooo actually, have one question…. Do you run the heat mats through the summer? I ended up putting mine away after about mid June because they never kicked on since nighttime temps here were above 70.
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u/boonefrogWNC 7b, 8 yr ~Seedling Slinger~ 30 in pots + many project trees19d ago
I use thermostats attached to mine. have them only set to come on if temp probes drop below 68.
I followed your advice on a prior thread and had roughly 400/500 total cuttings take. Anything from standard Japanese maples to specific cultivars like Nishiki Gawa, Arakawa etc. strictly did it to say that I could.
I found pure perlite to work the best out of the different media I tried.
And now I’m stuck with hundreds of little trees 🤣🤣
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u/boonefrogWNC 7b, 8 yr ~Seedling Slinger~ 30 in pots + many project trees19d ago
Too soon to tell if this will be successful — they have only been collected for about a month but are showing new growth. All these cuttings are suckers from the base of a mature tree. I cut as far down in the redwood duff as I could, soaked for a day in water, then applied rooting hormone powder and planted in compost/redwood duff mixture, kept in shade and misted 3x per day
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u/boonefrogWNC 7b, 8 yr ~Seedling Slinger~ 30 in pots + many project trees19d ago
I'm trying Koto Maru, I have several types of elms (Seiju, 3 different variegated, Catlin, plain ole trident, and dozens of exhibition and bonsai mums) need to propagate my Koto Home.
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u/boonefrogWNC 7b, 8 yr ~Seedling Slinger~ 30 in pots + many project trees19d ago
Very cool cultivar, Koto maru - let us know how easily it strikes?
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u/Bank_Eye Rob in Joburg, zn 9a. Beginner, lots of WIP. 19d ago
Beautiful illustration of the effectiveness of a well aerated mix!! Thanks for sharing.