Help with propogating prunus

[astroboy76]

Hey guys and gals,

Yesterday i purchased a Prunus Persica Versicolour. A fabulous flowering peach known for having multicoloured flowers on the one tree. I was extremely excited about this purchase. It is a grafted tree but i figured i could take cuttings or layer the branches above the graft.

Unfortunately there are only about 4 small branches (about 6 inches long) that i have to work with. They are perhaps a little thicker than a crayon so i am nto sure if layering is an option due to their size.

I have also heard that mound or stool propogation works with prunus which si basically where you piles up soil into a mound around the trunk so that only the branches you want to propogate are sticking out. i am guessing they root this way or are meant to.

anyways, can anyone please give me some simpkle pointers on what is the best way and the most guaranteed way to get a few plants off this tree? has anyone tried the mound style? is airlayering ok on thin branches? is there some easy ways to ensure high success when taking cuttings?

any help would be greatly appreciated

[Bretts]

I think your besdt option is Winter hardwood cuttings.

[astroboy76]

i have heard that but i have also heard that late srping when new groth is just starting to harden off is the best time

[Bretts]

Try the hardwood in Winter and there will be plenty of new shoots to try with soft wood in Spring.

[astroboy76]

so what would i do? take one clipping, wet the end, dust it in hormone powder and stick it in some bonsai potting mix, cover it with gladwrap and keep it in a cool place and hope it works? sorry my knowledge in this field is minimal

[Bretts]

If you do a google on hardwood cuttings you will find lots of Info such as this
http://www.simplegiftsfarm.com/hardwood-cuttings.html

The thing with cuttings of all types is take notes and be persistant.

Some are very easy some are not so when it works it is good to know why.
Prunus is usually a fairly easy one to propagate.

[paddles]

plant the tree somewhere, let it grow, then you will have a ready supply for cuttings, air layering, ground layering and whatever else you would like to do.

I am doing this with a prunus nigra, but I've put it in a big pot incase we move. (I tried an air layer, but because the tree is very young, with minimal branches, and it was a bare root purchase, the weight of the graft pot, pulled the tree over, I put a stake next to the tree and tied the graft pot too the stake, but the trees movement, kept lifting the graft out of the dirt.....)

[bodhidharma]

plant the tree somewhere, let it grow, then you will have a ready supply for cuttings, air layering, ground layering and whatever else you would like to do.

I am doing this with a prunus nigra, but I've put it in a big pot incase we move. (I tried an air layer, but because the tree is very young, with minimal branches, and it was a bare root purchase, the weight of the graft pot, pulled the tree over, I put a stake next to the tree and tied the graft pot too the stake, but the trees movement, kept lifting the graft out of the dirt.....)

Thats the way to do it grow it for two years and you will have so many layering branches you wont know what to do with them. You will also be learning patience

[Bretts]

Plant it in the ground and take cuttings. I like having my cake and eating it too