It seems my life is about moving from one experiment to the next. As I often joke, "Knowing in the Biblical sense is way different from Knowing in the porn sense." Another prepper term for this is ,"Hurry up and Fail". Half my experiments don't work out as advertised. That's how I Know they don't work. The best prepper advice that we squirrel away "if the SHTF" could kill us if we haven't already tried it out and "Know... Intimately" it works as advertised.
Well, I am very pleased with my latest Hail Marry Longshot. I wanted to add some permaculture texture to my garden by adding a few fruit trees. Some plants do better in partial shade during the hot dry times. It will attract other insects and things that eat them, etc.
I was WAY behind the game this year but decided on an experiment that would take only twenty minutes out of my life with zero financial cost. Before the leaves started to bud (That's the important part. Before, while its still thinking about coming out of hibernation ) I cut some 5-6 ft new growth branches from an apple tree, plum tree and sour cherry tree, then simply Stuck them into the ground about a foot deep while the dirt was still wet and soft. I did about twenty figuring that if only 4 of those took, I would be happy. Well, They are all budding and flowering at the moment except two. This may not work in dry areas so may need some time left in water with fertiliser to give it time for some roots to grow... but not in our case. I put hay over top of the stems to keep moisture evaporation from drying out the soil and thus the developing roots which will magically appear out of the bark in a desperate attempt to find nutrition . I'll sacrifice one of them at the end of the summer, digging it out to take a look at how well the root systems developed.
So far, I am very pleased...so, I thought of you guys.
( July 14 edit...This attempt was a big FAIL. Still worth reading for the next attempt )
I have a Tactical Harness and I have a Tool Belt. The Tool Belt is more Useful.
That's great to know! I'll tuck that away in my head for future trials myself.
Don't count your chickens just yet.
I've had them look so good with leaves coming out I figured they must have roots but they fizzled out anyway, later showing not a single root when obviously dead and pulled up.
Rooting hormone is a good idea on the cutting, either store bought or soak a bunch of willow in water, then dip your cutting in.
I have my fingers crossed with mulberry, saskatoon berry and honey berry cuttings on the go right now as well as some shoots off an apple branch that broke under the snow load.
I am doing elderberry, high bush cranberry and plum but I put them in buckets with five willow to each fruit, in end in water and won't plant till I see roots, experience tells me I might need to switch out the willow to fresh at least once, then I will pot them up with potting soil and grow baby them for two years before putting them in their spots.
http://livingmydreamlifeonthefarm.wordpress.com/
So, what does the willow branches add to the water to make the other branches root?
So, what does the willow branches add to the water to make the other branches root?
Salicylic acid and IBA or indole-3 are in a rhizocaline compound present in willows. Both encourage growth, one has a great benefit for root growth specifically. Willow also has antiseptic properties, which helps prevent mold and bacterial infections of cuttings and seedlings.
Science is out still, but the SA may also contribute to callous formation, which helps tip cuttings.
Most commercial rooting hormones also contain an antibacterial. Sometimes you can help a cutting or air layered branch along with just honey.
Sometimes limbs will live quite a while - I follow a blog where a big limb fell in a stream a year ago and it flowered this year. It's how air layering works, really. If it's moist enough, the wood is able to suck up enough moisture to keep the limb going for a while. Cuttings or the air layer girdle are taken/made near a node to make it easier for the limb to sprout roots.
There can be benefits to soaking willow wands or minced willow in water. Others make a diluted tonic out of it. Blending growing tips and bark strips in water is a good way to get all the benefits without losing any of the non-water soluble components. It's also possible to just include willow wands in mulch around young cuttings or to include it in rooting media, so that the compounds slowly leak out.
Thanks everyone. Willow is what got me on this track. I used to do willow furniture. When I kept them in a bucket of water at the base to try and keep them supple...they threw out roots far faster than I ever gave them credit for. A willow producing hormone sounds about right to me. That's held in mind for the next experiment. I cant do that this year (another experiment taking priority) In the mean time...lets let this experiment roll. Fundamentally, I need to watch this succeed or fail. They will likely give up the ghost...But I am making a guess that of the twenty...I'm hoping for 4. I wont be embarrassed if its zero. That's the "Intimate" part of "Knowing"
My previous experiment of collecting seeds of biannual plants is ongoing. Broccoli seeds came in easy...but I might have got them too early. cant tell for sure until I get a second crop and that will be a fall crop. Carrot experiment still going...But I have to leave the plants in someone else's hands....about the same time they may or may not give seeds. Cauliflower officially dead. Cabbage is trying to bolt...but I have a bad feeling ...it will refuse to grow well in a bucket. Sounds sappy but I think a wider soil is what it will work toward. No ETA on seed production at this point...Back to the "knowing" diatribe.
I have a Tactical Harness and I have a Tool Belt. The Tool Belt is more Useful.
Do me a favour man get a camera.
I did the same 'stick a branch in the ground' thing this spring, too, and so far they still have leaves on them...fingers crossed they will live, as fruit and nut trees are so $$$.
I think at this point, I can safely say that this is a Failed attempt. There are still two with meager leaves on them but not the four I has hoped.
I will try again next year with the Willow soak method.
I have a Tactical Harness and I have a Tool Belt. The Tool Belt is more Useful.