Taxodium species will be propagated as seedlings and their cultivars by grafting.

My question is if it is possible to root cuttings and what is the procedure?

The author Dirr says you can root cuttings, and that he did soft wood cuttings. Not commercially viable, and doesn't sound like a newbie project but could be done similar to other cypress types. Doesn't say when you would cut cuttings.

I am trying some cuttings now. I used semi hard wood and dip n grow. I keep them in a big clear plastic container to keep the moisture up and spray them when I think about it. I think it has been around 6 weeks and most are still green. I have pulled up a few and they are callusing over so I hope to have roots soon.

This is from a professor that does a lot of taxodium cuttings:

"Best time is end of May . . . three to four inches, vigorous growth wood, skip using the tips, and treat with 5 to 10 thousans ppm K-IBA . . . for five seconds . . . and stick under intermittent mist."

We have now rooted thousands of cuttings here at SFA State University. Basically, the younger the clone, the easier it is to root. If it's an old tree, it's very difficult. However, you can cut a major branch low down on an old tree (do this in the winter) and then the new growth from that stub should be quite vigorous - and perhaps a bit juvenile. You can then take four to five inch cuttings of that wood in May and June, we use 10,000 PPM K-IBA as a five second dip, and place the cuttings in deep cavity trays. Under intermittent mist, we usually see roots in 12 weeks. Once rooting is up and going, move flats to a shady spot and water frequently until the acclimate. dc

Great info.

Just to say... that grafting Taxodium is one of the very easiest conifers to graft (winter) or in a nearing frame (no south exposure - the principle to nearing frames) would be worth a shot during spring/summer/fall. You gotta keep the humidity up as with grafting conifers during winter. White kitchen garbage bags with a bamboo stake in the pots to tent the bag, taller, is one method. When you graft deciduous conifers during months when they have foliage be sure to remove all the foliage from the scion, however, leave the foliage on the understock. If the graft does knit, it will stay dormant and new-growth will be observed the following-spring.

Dax

I found a pretty interesting piece in New Forests journal about rooting cuttings. It is a quick read (6 pages). Seems to corroborate what DC is saying about the difficulty of rooting cuttings from old trees. I'm a bit skeptical of the results, though, considering the cuttings from the old trees were substantially larger.

Interesting that the non-dipped cuttings rooted more successfully. The cuttings dipped in rooting hormone were much more vigorous, though.

I've got a 'Cascade Falls' with a rogue branch...might try to 'mist' myself a new tree or two...

Steg

Here is a link that might be useful: Rooting of baldcypress cuttings

Follow up to my attempt this past year to root "Nanjing Beauty" bald cypress hybrid.

I took cuttings in May/June from new growth growing directly off the trunk rather than off branches. I used Dip N Grow and a medium of turface, granite, pine bark fines, and perlite (similar to Al's Gritty mix from the container forum). I used 2 Rootmaker trays- 32 cell and put them into clear storage containers to keep the humidity up and next to a window for bright light. I would occasionally open them up for fresh air and to mist and water. In Sept I checked a few and they had rooted. I had over 80% success rate.

Now I have a question:

Can Metasequoia be used as understock for cultivars of Taxodium distichum?
Their morphological similarities make me think it is promising..
Thanks!

-Sam

I've wondered the same thing. Good question, Sam.

I pruned some crossing branches about a month after mine leafed out last spring and stuck a cut branch next to the mother tree directly into the soil (sandy loam). It stayed green all season. I pulled it up in the fall and it had numerous small roots so I wouldn't think they need much help. Maybe a little rooting hormone might help.

John