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squirrellypete

Chinese Snowball Bush (Viburnum) roots but dies when potted

squirrellypete
10 years ago

Hey all. I consider myself to be a pretty decent propagator. For years I have successfully rooted all types of annuals, perennials, herbs, flowering shrubs, evergreens, etc....with a home-built intermittent mist system in coarse construction-grade sand.

One plant that keeps stumping me is the Chinese Snowball Bush. I can root them just fine in the propagation box, and once they form a nice healthy root mass I transplant them to pots just like I do every other shrub I propagate. Unfortunately every cutting slowly turns brown and dies, every single time. Potting mix is a combination of composted manure, sphagnum peat moss and perlite with some osmocote time release fertilizer thrown in for good measure. Everything else seems to thrive in this mixture.

I put viburnum potted cuttings in an area that gets morning sun and afternoon shade. I water when the soil starts to dry out.

Any thoughts?? I almost hate to take cuttings any more knowing full well they're just going to die, it doesn't seem very sporting lol.

Danielle

Comments (11)

  • squirrellypete
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    thanks Lyndapaz, that's interesting. Most of the stuff I root seems to be pretty tough and the roots don't seem to mind being transferred from one medium to another but it sounds like the Viburnum might be different. I'll try your method with a different medium and avoid disturbing the roots when they form.

    The manure I use is a composted store brand and I blend it well with peat moss and perlite until it's a good fluffy consistency, but maybe that's still too strong. Will start by changing the rooting/potting medium and go from there. Thx for your input!

    Danielle

  • lyndapaz
    10 years ago

    Good luck, Danielle. Hope it works this time. Let me know how it turns out.
    Lynda

  • Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
    10 years ago

    That's a radical change from no nutrients at all in sand to a possible over-abundance from compost. This is also a lot of moving-around for propagating.

    Are you free-scaping your yard? It might be easier to pick a nursery bed for cuttings in the ground, move survivors once to final destination. I do a lot of that, sometimes in a separate area, sometimes in/around other, smaller plants, but don't want to create more pots to tend while doing it, so use whatever piece of space is available and try to do most of it as a one-time thing. Put cuttings in the ground and see which live. The ones that fail, try again. It's much more difficult to keep any plant in a pot than in the ground, (barring climate discrepancies,) especially one creating roots from nothing.

    Using annuals as needed, first year or two for filler, until some size is achieved can keep areas with micro-shrubs from looking empty/boring.

    Have you tried layering to the ground or a pot of soil? Have you tried varying your timing a bit?

  • squirrellypete
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    purpleinopp, thx for your response.

    I have always used the intermittent mist propagation technique using coarse sand as my medium. Sand is cheap and the bed and timer takes care of babysitting the cuttings for me. I root large quantities of plants, many, many different kinds and then transfer to pots of soil once they establish a nice root mass. I do this for many reasons: for fun, to "free-scape" parts of my yard, to have plenty of plants to share at plant swaps and hopefully at some point to start selling some at farmers markets, plant yard sales, etc....

    I originally started with a nursery bed to put rooted cuttings in but found it to be easier, at least for my needs, to put them directly into pots instead, especially if the end goal is to either give many of them away or sell them. Hardest part is keeping up with summer watering needs since they can dry out quickly. The potting mix I make was based on many suggestions, posts, blogs and websites from other propagators and growers and everything else seems to transfer well to it except for the viburnum.

    I just read someone else who propagates viburnum uses a commercial potting soil mixed 1/2 with sand. I may try rooting them directly in that and then just up-potting as lyndapaz suggested instead of rooting in the propagation sand box.

    I may also attempt air and/or ground layering with my large mother plant. As for timing, I prefer to work with soft wood to semi-hardwood cuttings in mid-late spring/early summer on most things and that's typically what I've been rooting from the viburnum. I am less familiar with hardwood cuttings and never tried them much, mostly because of the patience needed for them to root. Perhaps I should give those a shot as well on this one.

    Danielle

  • Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
    10 years ago

    Danielle, best of luck! As you can probably tell from what I said, I have no patience whatsoever. That's why I love layering so much. Not all plants are pliable enough though, and layering can't yield as many individuals as cuttings.

    I didn't offer any specific advice for this particular plant because I've not propagated it before. Sounds like you didn't really need the general info though. Hope someone with experience with this particular plant pops by with something more helpful.
    - Tiffany

  • squirrellypete
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks Tiffany! Looking forward to trying some different methods this year and with luck I'll finally have some success at making them happy.

  • Keely Valentine-mcclure
    8 years ago

    I had 2 long shoots sprout last spring/summer on a chinese viburnum that I planted, so i clipped them off (they looked weird) and decided to just poke a hole and stick them in the ground in a different spot (like propagating hydrangeas) and viola...they have leaf buds already this year.

  • tete_a_tete
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I haven't seen this thread before, as it is an old one. Are you still around, Danielle?

    In my previous workplace we used to propagate several different species of Viburnum with no trouble, and pot them up with no trouble too, in just an ordinary potting mix. They would then go and live in the bush house until wanted by somebody. Fuss free plants. The Snowball Tree was one such Viburnum.

    What do you do when your Viburnums have rooted? Are your pots of cuttings placed in an unmisted area (and with no bottom heat) to harden off before being potted?

    We did this with all of the pots of rooted cuttings. They would go onto the side benches of the propagation house for a week or two. No heating there of course, and no misting, apart from whatever fine particles of stray mist came their way.

    I would love to hear about your propagation set up.

  • gardenprincethenetherlandsZ7/8
    8 years ago

    When talking about Viburnum / Snowball it is always a pretty good idea to use the exact Latin name as there are so many viburnum species. In this case: Chinese Snowball Bush = Viburnum macrocephalum.


    I just checked what Dirr has to say about Viburnum macrocephalum in his book on viburnums*. He writes: "This species resists moving after rooting" and refers to Viburnum carlesii for how to treat rooted cuttings of V. macrocephalum. About V. carlesii he writes that rooted cuttings should be moved to a cold frame or likewise in the fall and temperature should be maintained at 35 F. He does not say if the carlesii cuttings are potted up the following spring. However, he says that a big Tennessee grower leaves his rooted carlesii cuttings in the beds two years before lifting.


    The 'secret' seems to be that you should not pot up your V. macrocephalum cuttings up too soon. I also would use a well draining professional potting compost as the medium the thread starter used can become too wet.


    * Michael A. Dirr, Viburnums: Flowering Shrubs for Every Season (Portland: Timber Press, 2007)

  • tete_a_tete
    8 years ago

    I know the Snowball Tree as Viburnum opulus 'Sterile'. The other species that we grew were V. carlesii and Viburnum burkwoodii. We also grew an evergreen one - Viburnum tinus.

    The only time we ever had trouble with Viburnum was the time that I conducted a foolish experiment. I potted rooted cuttings of Viburnum tinus directly into 6" pots and placed them into a glasshouse. I believe their failure to thrive was due to over-potting.

    (Though, there is an element of doubt in my mind. For we always used to pot up cuttings directly into bags. These bags were roughly the equivalent size of a 6" pot. They were plastic.

    At the time, I thought plastic bags were the pits. Totally awful. Should be abolished and all the rest of it. But now I think they were wonderful. The 'potted' plants sat there all snuggled up against each other on the ground in the bush house, or whatever growing area in which they were put. And they protected each other from the heat and cold. And wind. It would only have been the edges that were exposed. Our plants grew so well in those days. And there was only one person in charge of watering and he watered correctly.)

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