Root training Trident Maple cuttings
Posted: September 17th, 2009, 6:19 pm
Lots of people on this site a trying to develop trees by growing out in the field or in Styrofoam boxes, however some seem to be confused about training the roots, which is of primary importance. I potted up some trident maple cuttings which were stuck in October 2007 and so put together a short report on how to root train them. I will be field planting some Red Pine this weekend and I will show how I train these roots before planting
Some of the tridents cuttings were a little weak so I left them in the box for an extra summer to develop the roots a bit more. The propagating mixture was pure perlite, I used a Styrofoam box with plastic sheeting as my propagating humidity crib.
The first photo shows the root mass after removing all the perlite. Cuttings were made with a wedge just below a node, treated with 3000 IBA hormone in talc. Use a very sharp knife to do the cuttings, it must be sharp enough to cut the hair on your arms. The thing to notice with these cuttings is that the first roots grow vertically, after a while secondary roots emerge from the stem which grow horizontally.
People are often too timid in working on roots, and for some species care must be taken, however Tridents are very forgiving. It is the after care that is important.
When pruning remove all vertically growing roots, the idea is to create a very thin radial pattern. The second image is what is left after pruning. Prune thick roots short and leave thin roots long. Cut anything that doesn't go where you want it. This is fairly standard for the treatment I give cuttings, I will bare root and repeat the process again next year, if good I will plant in the field. No thought is given to training the top for these next few years other than I reduce the mass to compensate for the loss of roots. The trees are fertilized and encouraged to grow.
When repotting, plant the tree deep, the roots should be at least an inch under the top. This ensures they never dry out, as dry roots do not re-shoot. Also the roots should be high enough that they are out of the saturated zone of the potting mix.
Spread the roots radialy. Bamboo skewers are good as vertical props to hold the roots in a radial pattern. Leave the skewers long so that they can be removed in a few months. Once the tree is centered fill it up with potting mix.
After care is placing the pot in a shade house and monitoring water. Initially I would probably only water once or twice a week. Currently I am only watering once every two days. After about six weeks of strong shoot growth I’ll gradually move out into full sun.
Hope this shows the steps involved.
Paul
Some of the tridents cuttings were a little weak so I left them in the box for an extra summer to develop the roots a bit more. The propagating mixture was pure perlite, I used a Styrofoam box with plastic sheeting as my propagating humidity crib.
The first photo shows the root mass after removing all the perlite. Cuttings were made with a wedge just below a node, treated with 3000 IBA hormone in talc. Use a very sharp knife to do the cuttings, it must be sharp enough to cut the hair on your arms. The thing to notice with these cuttings is that the first roots grow vertically, after a while secondary roots emerge from the stem which grow horizontally.
People are often too timid in working on roots, and for some species care must be taken, however Tridents are very forgiving. It is the after care that is important.
When pruning remove all vertically growing roots, the idea is to create a very thin radial pattern. The second image is what is left after pruning. Prune thick roots short and leave thin roots long. Cut anything that doesn't go where you want it. This is fairly standard for the treatment I give cuttings, I will bare root and repeat the process again next year, if good I will plant in the field. No thought is given to training the top for these next few years other than I reduce the mass to compensate for the loss of roots. The trees are fertilized and encouraged to grow.
When repotting, plant the tree deep, the roots should be at least an inch under the top. This ensures they never dry out, as dry roots do not re-shoot. Also the roots should be high enough that they are out of the saturated zone of the potting mix.
Spread the roots radialy. Bamboo skewers are good as vertical props to hold the roots in a radial pattern. Leave the skewers long so that they can be removed in a few months. Once the tree is centered fill it up with potting mix.
After care is placing the pot in a shade house and monitoring water. Initially I would probably only water once or twice a week. Currently I am only watering once every two days. After about six weeks of strong shoot growth I’ll gradually move out into full sun.
Hope this shows the steps involved.
Paul
