Stimulating dormant buds

my nellie

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... ... I did not know about this technique...the centuries have not found me until just now... ...
Neither did I until @Anthony 's cousin Khaimraj posted this technique on old IBC.
And now MichaelS forced me (kind of) to search a little further :)
 

TomB

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Your question had me making some search and here is what I have learned about the science behind this :

By making the cut/notch over the bud (or over where you suppose the bud to be) you force the tree to interrupt/block the downward flow of growth-regulating compounds/plant hormone from shoots above which keep the side buds dormant below. If less of these compounds reach the bud, it can break dormancy and grow into a shoot/branch.

By notching below the dormant bud we force it to develop into a fruiting bud because we interrupt the downward flow of carbohydrates.
The extra food (carbohydrates) then collects around the bud and stimulates it to become a flower bud.

The technique has been going on for centuries in Europe for all intensive espaliered culture of fruiting trees.
How does the keiki paste affect / interact with this phenomenon?
 

my nellie

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How does the keiki paste affect / interact with this phenomenon?
I am not an expert of course but I dare say that I cannot think a way that the keiki paste relates to the above two methods....
Perhaps @0soyoung could offer an explanation?
 

Victorim

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Yep. If you can't expose the bud or you can't see it (very common) maybe scraping down to the cambium just above or below it or both? Or cut close to where you suspect there is a bud and apply to the cut.

Woah now.. what happened to to inviting out to the cinema.. or to a nice meal...
 

MichaelS

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Your question had me making some search and here is what I have learned about the science behind this :

By making the cut/notch over the bud (or over where you suppose the bud to be) you force the tree to interrupt/block the downward flow of growth-regulating compounds/plant hormone from shoots above which keep the side buds dormant below. If less of these compounds reach the bud, it can break dormancy and grow into a shoot/branch.

By notching below the dormant bud we force it to develop into a fruiting bud because we interrupt the downward flow of carbohydrates.
The extra food (carbohydrates) then collects around the bud and stimulates it to become a flower bud.

The technique has been going on for centuries in Europe for all intensive espaliered culture of fruiting trees.
This makes perfect sense. In fact I remember reading a BT article about dwarf cumquat where this practice was used. No doubt adding a growth hormone can only further stimulate the bud.
With Phalaenopsis, all that is done is the protective sheath covering the bud is carefully removed and the paste is applied. There is no stem cutting involved. What is important is to get the cytokinin into the sap around the bud and nature does the rest.
 

MichaelS

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Ha ha ha. Yes, stampeding toward the bud with the lubricating juices is what we do now! Haha
 

0soyoung

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I am not an expert of course but I dare say that I cannot think a way that the keiki paste relates to the above two methods....
Perhaps @0soyoung could offer an explanation?
Auxins and cytokinins are antagonistic; auxins suppress budding, cytokinins promote it.
Cytokinins are produced in the roots and are transported up the tree in the xylem and, hence, are difficult for us to manipulate. Auxins are produced in the shoots (buds and leaves) and are transported down (toward the roots) in the cambium. When one prunes or notches just above a bud, the auxin level drops. The background cytokinin level then causes the bud to release. Dabbing Keiki paste on a bud would, instead, raise the cytokinin level at the bud and cause that one specific bud to release.

It doesn't seem to me that dabbing Keiki on a cut end would have any particular effect on buds below, just because the pruning to make the cut end already dropped the auxin level in the cambium 'bucket brigade'. If it is adsorbed into the cambium, though, it might induce new shoots directly from the cambium ring. In tissue culture, shoots emerge from the side of a blob of cells with a higher cytokinin level (relative to auxin) and roots from the side with a higher auxin level (relative to cytokinin). But is getting far aside from how notching above a bud is equivalent to dabbing Keiki on the bud.

Prior to @my nellie's mention, I have been unaware that notching beneath a bud had any notable effects ( :confused: - one more thing for the winter research todo list). I was only aware that fruit growers girdled fruiting sprouts after fruit-set to stop the flow of photosynthate down the tree so that these sugars would instead go into 'fattening up' the fruit.
 

Hyn Patty

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I can chime in here and add that the keiki paste trick also works on dormant buds on adeniums (desert roses). I have some on order myself (because my jar is packed up somewhere) and I want to test it on some of my trees that only produce a single flush of leaves or needles in a season, like my Mugo or my Burning Bush. I did wonder if anyone on this forum was using keiki paste. I hadn't heard of the cutting above or below a node but I find that interesting and worth testing as well, thanks!
 

Aiki_Joker

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Your question had me making some search and here is what I have learned about the science behind this :

By making the cut/notch over the bud (or over where you suppose the bud to be) you force the tree to interrupt/block the downward flow of growth-regulating compounds/plant hormone from shoots above which keep the side buds dormant below. If less of these compounds reach the bud, it can break dormancy and grow into a shoot/branch.

By notching below the dormant bud we force it to develop into a fruiting bud because we interrupt the downward flow of carbohydrates.
The extra food (carbohydrates) then collects around the bud and stimulates it to become a flower bud.

The technique has been going on for centuries in Europe for all intensive espaliered culture of fruiting trees.

Sounds like this could be used on roots too. Digging around BAP seems to increase root branching but decrease root growth with some plants. Used in the horticultural industry no doubt.
 

ysrgrathe

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Interesting. Is keiki useful for inducing growth in cuttings? Dirr advocates removing leaves to induce growth (by creating a hormone imbalance) prior to overwintering in order to improve survival rates. It would seem better to use this.

I have also read about gibberellic acid as a bud break simulator but I have not seen it in bonsai literature.
 
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