time to repot/transplant cuttings?

[MRay]

I took cuttings in the winter and potted all of the cuttings in a pot of decomposed granite, with no expectations that the cuttings would root. Now, in March, ALL appear to have survived and all have buds, some more developed than others but I'm astounded they are doing so well. I didn't even use rooting hormone and they have had rain and not much else. I'm not sure how long to leave these new cuttings in their pot before I repot. Should I wait until next year? Should check to see how they are rooting and transfer to a medium that has more nutritional value? Should I leave them and give them light feeding? This is all new territory for me.
Many thanks for your input!

 

[Lorax7]

Leave them alone until next year. Just because they have put out buds says nothing about what’s happening underneath the soil. I’ve had plenty of cuttings that budded and leafed out in the spring only to die off once it got hot in July/August. After they died, I found they had no roots when I pulled them out to look.

Leafing out in the spring just means there was sufficient energy stored in the cutting from the previous growing season and that it managed to make it through the winter without being desiccated by the wind. The real test is what happens when it gets hot and transpiration rates are high. That’s when the cutting lives or dies by its roots (or lack thereof).

 

[penumbra]

Generally it is advisable to wait until next year but it is species dependent and also according t your location.

 

[MRay]

Thanks so much for your feedback! Since this is the first time I've tried to root cuttings, and we do get a bit of heat in the summer (I live in Santa Rosa CA) but the weather is pretty mild, would you recommend that I tent the cuttings and water them daily even when it is mild? I normally give all my bonsai trees filtered water daily and I will be watering the cuttings too. But if I should tent them in plastic too, I will. They are tender little things!

 

[Shibui]

Still no indication of what plants these cuttings are. Care is very species dependent so it would help to know. Photos also helps us work out what stage they are up to and whether they are in individual pots or community pots.
Many species can start to grow in spring even though there are no roots. They use up the stored nutrients in the stems to grow buds and, sometimes, even remarkably long shoots but if no roots the store eventually runs out and the new growth collapses.
Hopefully yours do have some roots growing by now.
I wait until I can see little white roots emerging from the drain holes in the pots then transplant. Checking for roots can be detrimental as new emerging roots are easily damaged. Wait until roots reach the drain holes when they will be a little more robust to cope with transplant. Transplant rooted cuttings can be any time of year so don't think you need to stay with the 'bud swell' timing many bonsai growers talk of.

Whether to tent your cuttings or not will depend what stage they are and what species. Some plants don't like humidity and can die when enclosed. Others love it and it may just give them the extra help to get roots started.

Fertiliser is only useful if there are roots to absorb it. There's usually plenty of stores in the stems to get by for a few weeks and strong fert may even damage tender roots. Just use water until you are confident they have roots and are growing well.

 

[MRay]

I haven't tried to identify each cutting because they were simply cuttings from my winter trims that I decided to try to root. Not a planned rooting (next time I'll be more purposeful). I do know that I have some coral bark cuttings and two or three dwarf varieties of JM that I could probably identify. I merely placed all of the cuttings into a plastic pot with DG in it. This attempt was a spur of the moment experiment and I expected all of the cuttings to fail. I live in zone 9b in Santa Rosa, California, and we are still having our winter/spring rains. I'll take your advice and keep them hydrated and out of the sun. Many thanks!