Propagation of Dammeri straight into the ground?

Brendankearns · Rank attained: Rowan Tree Joined: 01 Feb 2013 Posts: 133

Hi all, I'm wondering if i can take softwood cuttings of cotoneaster dammeri and plant them straight into the ground? Last year i took cuttings but planted them in compost before planting on - this worked well with about 106 out of the 140 surviving, but i still need 200 more plants and doing it like last year required a lot of effort to ensure they were ready for planting out this spring. My thought process is that if i plant straight into the ground i can do 200+ to allow for not all making it, this would be much faster than putting them in initial pots, moving to larger pots and keeping them moist etc.

Does anyone have any prior experience of doing this with dammeri?

I'm not lazy just looking for smarter ways... Smile

Thanks

Blowin · Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 5:37 am Post subject:

Hi! I'm sorry no-one has replied to your query. Most unusual. However, whilst I have very little to do with things we can't eat, there must be a certain logic that, if you can get a cutting to root in a pot (essentially a temporary 'soil' home), it could just as well succeed if planted straight into its final position?

Planted in bulk, some may contract a plant disease or be devoured by an animal pest but some will survive. That's the law of Nature but, to improve your chances, why not create as many options as you can?

I've always understood that leaving a 'heel' on a cutting is desirable, i.e. hold the top of a larger cutting from which you intend to take several smaller ones and then pull downward on the little ones so that they come away with this so called 'heel' from the main stem. If you're cutting the hedge any time soon, have a few practice goes on the trimmings.

Once you've got the number you require, I should plant some direct into the soil, some with a rooting powder and, as suggested recently in another thread, some dipped in honey. If you can make a mental note of which you tried where, you can then publish the results?

Keeks · Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 9:57 am Post subject:

Brendankearns · Rank attained: Rowan Tree Joined: 01 Feb 2013 Posts: 133

Thanks for the reminder as I'd like to share my findings... planted 400 in pots and 100 in the ground. All 400 in the pots rooted and only 20 of the 100 planted in the ground rooted so that tells me to use pots going forward Smile

Blowin · Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2015 9:10 am Post subject:

There you go. If you've found something that works, stick to it. Always a good principle.