AusBonsai

Hey all, a large swampy was being lopped locally and I contacted the developer to see if I could get some "decent, chunky, cuttings". Apparently the whole tree was sold to some guy but I would be able to get some branches to play with. Well the branches are around about 200mm diameter on avaerage and up to 2.4 long.

I'm planning to lop these branches down to lengths varying from 200mm up to 700mm and soak them in water with drops of super thrive, to see if they'll kick off again. Some others will be put in a slurry of soil, gravel and water to see how that goes.

Has anyone done anything like this with monster pieces before with any success?
Crazy stuff!
Any advice would be appreciated!
Will post some pics tomorrow when daylight returns.

There is also heaps of the swampy left if anyone wants any (may need a chainsaw though, wish I had one with me today).

Cheers!

Good luck - I have been playing around with cuttings for 2 years and the biggest I have got to strike is about 20mm. Have tried potting medium in water, spag moss in pots in water but it seems just to be luck - hit rate of about 1% I would say. Usually the way to get big diameters is to air layer. Will be keen to hear if anyone else has a secret.

Tony

I would love to get hold of some aswell if you could advise details, I love a good challenge

A Freind of mine used to get very large cutting from swamp cypress, sizes up to about 10cm thick and 1.5m long. A couple of years ago he struck about 15 of these size cuttings with nearly all survivng except about 1 or 2 which didn't stike. He said they were as easy as figs to stike. About 7 of these where used in a very large group planting which was quite spectaculer.

Hugh

I've not struck swampies but have struck a wide range of cuttings for "potensai" and the garden. I have used my "no fuss propagators" (see adjacent post - I don't know how to include a link, yet) with success for many years and made them out of many different sized bottles to suit the size of the cutting material. This system keeps cuttings at just the right moisture level regardless of the weather (as long as the water well is kept filled). Prevents the cuttings from drying out when those HOT days come or "life" calls your attention elsewhere.

It has worked well for me so I thought I'd mention it; could help. Best of luck with it and keep us posted as to how they go,

Jan.

hugh grant wrote:A Freind of mine used to get very large cutting from swamp cypress, sizes up to about 10cm thick and 1.5m long. A couple of years ago he struck about 15 of these size cuttings with nearly all survivng except about 1 or 2 which didn't stike. He said they were as easy as figs to stike. About 7 of these where used in a very large group planting which was quite spectaculer.

Hugh

Hugh, that sounds promising

I hope they strike, some nice aged timber to take advantage of.

Cheers!

Jan wrote:I've not struck swampies but have struck a wide range of cuttings for "potensai" and the garden. I have used my "no fuss propagators" (see adjacent post - I don't know how to include a link, yet) with success for many years and made them out of many different sized bottles to suit the size of the cutting material. This system keeps cuttings at just the right moisture level regardless of the weather (as long as the water well is kept filled). Prevents the cuttings from drying out when those HOT days come or "life" calls your attention elsewhere.

It has worked well for me so I thought I'd mention it; could help. Best of luck with it and keep us posted as to how they go,

Jan.

Hi Jan, your no fuss propagators look exactly that: "no fuss". I will be keen to try this method out on some of the smaller cuttings to see how they go.

Cheers!

Here some pics of some the branches.

First three give an idea of the size of them, 4 and 5 are some of the larger 'cuttings' and 6 is a pic of some smaller cuttings i did about 3 weeks ago ).

Heres hoping

OOps...I uploaded pics in reverse order.

stevo wrote:Hi Jan, your no fuss propagators look exactly that: "no fuss". I will be keen to try this method out on some of the smaller cuttings to see how they go.

Stevo,

If you know anyone who buys bottled water in those big bottles (5lt?), I've struck large cuttings (most recently a 5 inch thick Kurrajong cutting, potted on a couple of weeks ago) using those bottles to make propagators.

Seriously easy for busy folk,

Jan

Jan wrote:

stevo wrote:Hi Jan, your no fuss propagators look exactly that: "no fuss". I will be keen to try this method out on some of the smaller cuttings to see how they go.

Stevo,

If you know anyone who buys bottled water in those big bottles (5lt?), I've struck large cuttings (most recently a 5 inch thick Kurrajong cutting, potted on a couple of weeks ago) using those bottles to make propagators.

Seriously easy for busy folk,

Jan

Hey jan, that is also a top idea. I will be on the lookout for these at the local treaure markets....I'm sure I've seen them there before!