It's the first week of December, and I'm feeling pretty defeated in my "cuttings" project.
I waited almost two months on my first spicebush (Lindera benzoin) cuttings, and I couldn't resist trying a few gentle tugs during that time. Some of them felt like they were holding on when I tugged, and that had made me hope that those were starting to put out roots.
But as the days went by, those little cuttings started looking dried up and brown. I decided to just have a peek to see if any of them were showing any signs of root formation so I took a popsicle stick and carefully started lifting them out of the pot one by one. Not a single one showed even a hint of a root.
In hindsight, I think I made a few mistakes that doomed those cuttings. First, mid-fall might not be the best time to take spicebush cuttings. I have since read that one would have more success with cuttings taken in early summer, in the June-July timeframe. Second, since these were probably semi-hardwood cuttings, I don't know that they needed to be in a plastic bag -- especially since I had cut the leaves off anyway. Because the humidity in the bag was so high, and it was still quite warm, the cuttings were all quickly covered by mold. I ended up taking them out of the plastic bag but I'm pretty sure the damage was already done. And third, I don't think I cut the stems off right below a node. Instead, I probably left about 1/2" to 1" of stem below a node. The nodes are apparently where most of the rooting action takes place, and by leaving that much stem, the cells in the nodes probably weren't stimulated to put out roots. Those are my theories anyway.
For now, I've just buried the poor little spicebush sticks back in their soil. I hope I just got impatient and didn't wait long enough. But I don't think so.
As for the rest of the cuttings, I know for certain that two of my fig cuttings have rotted. They had started to look shriveled and brown and when I tugged on them, there was absolutely no resistance to the tug at all. I went ahead and pulled them out, and the lower part of each cutting was soft and slimy. Out of the five that are left, there are only two that still look "alive." Maybe the others are too, because I guess it's hard to tell anything on those with the very woody looking stems. I just hope that at least those two best looking cuttings will go ahead and root.
The second batch of spicebush cuttings doesn't look very good anymore either. There are a couple that still have a greenish color and look somewhat fresh, but many of the others are starting to take on that "I'm nothing but a dead stick" appearance. I had such high hopes for them. Maybe I can find some female plants this spring and put seed collection bags on some berries to collect next summer/fall. And I do plan to try some softwood cuttings this coming summer. I'm not ready to give up and buy plants just yet!
The blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium) cuttings have probably dried out too, although they don't look quite as bad as the spicebush cuttings. It's hard to know by looking at the buds if they're still viable because I don't know what the dormant buds are supposed to look like. So far I've resisted the temptation to check them for roots! But it's very tempting. Patience! Patience!
The flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) cuttings were all what should probably be considered hardwood cuttings, as were the ones from the American persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), the Possumhaw (Ilex decidua) and the American bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia). I really don't expect the dogwood, persimmon or possumhaw cuttings to root, but I am still holding out hope for the bladdernut since those trees are kind of short-lived and suckering anyway. I think they're another one of those plants that will put out roots from a limb that gets bent down and touches the dirt. Finger crossed, because my little American bladdernut tree out in the yard just didn't look very good this summer. I'm not sure if it was from the drought or from being planted under the black walnut tree.........
There is one bright spot though. I had taken some cuttings from our native honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), and it looks like two of the three cuttings might be going to survive. Those both have new leaves starting to put out already. The fourth "cutting" is a cheat, but it is looking really good. (I call it cheating because it was taken from a vine that had already started taking root where a node was buried in the dirt at the base of the parent plant!)