AusBonsai

I read a comment on the gardenweb forums with a guy saying he has had luck with around 10species by just placing a single "needle" into potting mix or a glass of water. Anyone ever tried this and had any luck?

i did a quick google search and have found some evidence

Water culture is now a common method for the propagation of Casuarina cuttings in
China (Liang and Chen, 1982). The vegetative material is the young needle-like
branchlet, preferably less than three months old taken from stock plants in hedge
orchards. The procedure consists in soaking the bottom part of the 8-10 cm long
branchlet in 50-100 ppm of NAA (naphthalene-acetic acid) or IBA (indole-butryic
acid) solution for 24 hours. The plant material is then washed and soaked for 7-10 days
in water, which is renewed every day, and placed near sunlight. At 25-32oC water
temperature, cuttings will root after 7-10 days, and after 15 days, the rooting
percentage is over 80%.
http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl ... 050328.pdf

As I understand it, what we take as needles are actually compound branches, so no reason in my mind why this would not happen. Can't say I've tried it though! Not sure what other species would do the same though.

I have taken cuttings of casuarina, the cutting size is one that is semi hardened ( wood colour) and stuk in a pot.
After a few weeks it has roots. Found out by mistake after a piece of branch snaped off, then i stuck it in the nearest
pot.

i'm aware that the "needles" are actually branches with scale like leaves (which is why i put comma's around the word) but all i have found previously is that casuarina's can be quite tough to grow from cuttings. Maybe not the case? I'll have to try it out sometime.

Me too Hornet - quite a few spectacular failures but now some ideas and enthusiasm to try again. I was aware that it is possible because there is a prostrate variety now that must be cutting grown.
Thanks everyone for the tips.

Hornet wrote:I read a comment on the gardenweb forums with a guy saying he has had luck with around 10species by just placing a single "needle" into potting mix or a glass of water. Anyone ever tried this and had any luck?

Hi Hornet, i actually found a cladode poking out of the soil a few weeks ago, after just looking at it , the area where the roots will form has caloused over very well, . I will let you know if it continues to grow ,,


""Allocasuarina species, its "foliage" consists of slender green branchlets informally referred to as "needles" but more correctly termed cladodes. The cladodes are segmented, and the true leaves are tiny teeth encircling each joint""

thats actually what peaked my interest in taking cuttings again after previous faliures, picked up a glauce "shagpile" yesterday. Had seen "cousin it" before but once i decided i wanted one i just couldnt find them. Found both forms yesterday with the "cousin it" being $5 more and small and not as vigorous as "shagpile", guessing 2 different forms seeing as a few prostrate plants have been found in the wild. One of the main reason i want to strike cuttings is a year or so back i found a nice casuarina in the bush, not sure on species, with a weeping sport so i'd love to get back and strike some cuttings or if that fails, graft for a weeping standard

Craig wrote:

Hornet wrote:I read a comment on the gardenweb forums with a guy saying he has had luck with around 10species by just placing a single "needle" into potting mix or a glass of water. Anyone ever tried this and had any luck?

Hi Hornet, i actually found a cladode poking out of the soil a few weeks ago, after just looking at it , the area where the roots will form has caloused over very well, . I will let you know if it continues to grow ,,


""Allocasuarina species, its "foliage" consists of slender green branchlets informally referred to as "needles" but more correctly termed cladodes. The cladodes are segmented, and the true leaves are tiny teeth encircling each joint""

thats good to hear mate, keen to hear how it goes

john

Hi John,

"Witches brooms" are common in Casuarina and Allocasuarina species. I have been trying for years now and haven't managed to get one to strike. Unfortunately, I haven't found one with thick enough wood to graft and the young cladodes aren't strong enough to cut through to graft them.

Better make sure it is a mutation though, and not just a response to a gall wasp or a she-oak mimicking mistletoe. They are also very common.

Joel

i believe it is a mutation (cant be 100% sure though) its certainly not a mistletoe, gall wasp possibly, guess i'd have to try and find out. Heaps of witches brooms around as you said but they are toally different to this. I'll be in that area tomorrow so i'll see if i can find the tree and get pics

Another cause of 'shagpile' type mutations is glyphosate.

If anyone is near the old Prestige factory at Northmead in Sydney, there is a large stand of C.cunninghamiana that are almost fully clothed in various mutations, the ground has been constantly poisoned to control suckering but it has fed back into the main trees systems as well. I have tried on numerous occasions to strike cuttings with no success. My next plan of attack was a discrete layer on unaffected wood, hopefully it should be able to then support a reduced shag.

On the subject of sports & mutations they will sometimes not come true from cutting or graft. A local nursery in Newcastle has been trying to propagate a prostrate Grevillea 'Honey Gem'. they strike but resume normal upright growth instead of the prostrate form of its parent. This occurs in both grafted & cutting material.

Matt

interesting matt, do you know what stock they have used for the grafts? Possibly using prostrate species as the stock may help?

Hornet wrote:interesting matt, do you know what stock they have used for the grafts? Possibly using prostrate species as the stock may help?

I believe they tried on robusta & also normal Honey gem stock. I know with alot of fruit trees they use either dwarfing or nondwarfing stock depending on the scion being used so it makes sense the same would apply across to other genera.

Interesting Matt. I did not realise a cutting chad the ability to not "come true". I recently germinated a bunch of Corymbia ficifolia seedlings. One in particular is prostrate whilst the rest are fastigiate. I wish to graft that onto C. gummifera or C. intermedia if I can find the stock. I'm even considering buying a grafted one and removing the scion just for the root stock as I think this could be a special plant. Would hate to do that to have it return to normal growth though.

Joel