1-2 tablespoon bleech per gal of water will kill fungal spores & insect eggs or hibrating insects. success not dependent on time of day cuttings taken. perlite better than vermiculite IF you are able to keep area moist not wet OR try 20% vermiculite & 80% perlite

thank you george.. i was hoping you chimed in ...

time of day not important...

but what about temp .... e.g. some suggest the conifer scion be cut on a mild day .. as compared to a zero day ... i think you want dormant stock .. not frozen .. i even read to put them in the fridge.. to bring them slowly up to 40 degree fridge temp ....

same logic with cuttings?

ken

Hiya Ken, I keep learning from some big experts each year (The people we buy from).

Juniper & Hemlock
4 parts perlite to 1 part milled spaghnum on a mist system light 4 seconds every 30 minutes. When not a mist system put them into a tenting chamber but watch for fungus Ken. What you don't want is heavy water droplets clinging for extended periods of time. A good rooting hormone is Woods 1:10. It's a good idea to spray them with a fungicide/algaecide combo or simply a fungicide when you stick them and when they start showing growth. You can use perlite only but most conifers will like the acid from the milled spaghnum. Junipers don't need to be wounded as the process of removing the needles takes care of that. Bottom heat at 68-70F.

Thuja & Taxus: same as above. Another recipe from another friend is exactly the same as above except he adds Osmocote and Micromax. 4 cubic foot bags of perlite to 1 of milled spaghnum with 6 pounds of Osmocote and 1/4# of Micromax. He uses 'Dip n Grow' 1:10 parts product/water.

Start taking them in December thru the end of Feb (just as in the grafting timeframe) but December and Jan are the main times.

Early in the morning is good. Warmer weather is good. And so is an overcast day. But don't let these limit you to when. You could be waiting for a month ya know.

Anyway, I'd use either of these 'recipes for success' for any conifer cuttings.

Good luck and later on,

Dax

P.s. Check these links out but beware of toe-curling! I've just begun to read this, you might want to read more. Pretty darn interesting.

Read this first (from NASA):
NASA (STI)

The Units for Home/Nursery use:
Aeroponic Benchtop Units

List of Woody Plants (Spruce! unbelievable) The units sold vary from 15 'holes' to more than 15 but each hole can hold more than one cutting. This is pretty amazing. Check out both of these links. And if NASA endorses this, there's something to it.
Photos of Woody Cuttings - Aeroponics International

Search List A-Z Aeroponics International

Mmmmm...I will take a stab at this.
1. Yes, now is a good time
2. Yes, you can use bleach. But I prefer Hy. peroxide based product's....safer for you and can be used over the top of your plants during the rooting stage.I would prep. the cutting, disinfect, then apply hormone
3.I would stick with pearlite...9 to 1 Pearlite/Peat worked well for me in the past.I can see where more peat is workable, just stay on top of the moisture content (don't "rot them before they root").
4.Rooting Hormone....Woods or Dip-N-Grow at 8:1 or 10:1. For harder to root forms, go with a water soluble IBA (no alcohol)...you can apply a higher PPM of IBA and not need to worry about alcohol burn (try www.rooting-hormones.com). It can even be sprayed on the foilage of plants...the "know" to send it to the basel area.
5.Temp.& Time- I have always prefered early morning and above freezing...not sure if that would fit for you in Zone 5 :-)))). At least try above freezing if possible
6. Fertilizer- Some do, some don't. More often seen in direct stick propagation, with quicker rooting crops...there are known benefits to doing it, just research it before you do it. A polymer coated fertilizer(Harrel's,Apex,Multicote,Nutricote,etc) would be a LOT safer than a resin coated product (Osmocote...it is more prone to a quick fert. dump and way to much up-front). Longer duration product would be safer than shorter duration....no matter whose flavor you would use.

David

I use a 50/50 mix of peat and perilite and get good results. This year I may try adding a little more perilite. This mix works much better than straight sand, which I thought would give excellent results.

I have found that cuttings taken from the shaded side of the plant root much easier than cuttings taken from the sunny side of the plant. I don't know why this is?

I am going to take cuttings today, even though it's not above freezing. I have taken cuttings during really cold weather without a problem. Sometimes you just need to take the cuttings when you have the time and opportunity to do so, regardless of the weather outside.

I have not ever used the bleach dip, but will do that today to see if it makes a difference.
Good luck,
Mike

What about deciduous conifers? I'd like to clone dawn redwood, bald cypress, etc. What's a good time of year? Is the answer the same as for deciduous non-conifers?

not many conifer will root ....

DRedwood [metasequoia] and taxodium are grafted as far as i know ....

ken

Ken,

What conifers are you planning to propagate? Some species, such as Spruce and Fir are usually propagated by rooting only when new growth is available in the spring. Others, such as Chamaecyparis (hinoki cypress) and hemlock are usually rooted around this time of the year using the previous seasons growth.

whatever whim strikes me in regard to the listed:

cham thy.
cham obt
juniperus
thuja occ
green giants ...

and anything else .... whim ...

what hemlock i have isnt big enough to take pieces off of ....ken

What about dawn redwood? Other deciduous conifers? Deciduous trees in general?

Apologies, all. Sorry about the re-post. I was getting really sleepy and didn't notice my previous post of nearly the same question.