Bald Cypress from cuttings

BunjaeKorea

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Should've added!... Two year old wood seems much better t last year's growth. Most of my cuttings this year are on the smaller side
Going to have a try!
 
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Cadillactaste

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Ok so heres how we are going to do this.....you box this up for me.....express post to Korea........customs arrest you or I get an awesome tree lol.

Very nice....gives me hope!!! False hope perhaps but hope none the less!
Mailed it out on Monday...but I have a feeling that will also bring you false hope. Lol ?
 

BillsBayou

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Hey Bill, if you begin a quest of BC cuttings, please document here or on your YouTube channel.
And also, only use rooting hormone on half of them, or try powder on a third, liquid on a third, and nothing on a third....
Then you'd have something there worth noting, in my humble opinion.
I was chewing on this idea. It doesn't take up much room to have three or four small tubs of soil with 100 cuttings in each. I want to do pre-bud break, during bud break, and after leaf-set. My tests will be nothing, rooting hormone powder, honey, and honey with cinnamon (see below). 30 to 35 cuttings at three different times of the year for 3 rooting compounds and a control group. 400 cuttings. Sheesh.

I like @GGB's idea about using at least second year growth. That'll give me cuttings with a wooden core. I also like the idea about using honey. I had never heard of that before.

Here's a video where a woman tests different compounds and concludes that blended honey and cinnamon make a better rooting compound than honey alone or rooting hormone powder.
 

GGB

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I use cinnamon on the soil surface if I see any mold. I wish I had used it on the cuttings bases.
 

Anthony

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Just took 20 cuttings and placed them in an open mayonnaise filled with
both liquid and powder rooting products and mixed into 1.5 inches of water.
Top off and in a brightly lit location.

Let you know if it works.
Good Day
Anthony
 

Paul F.

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I have never been able to root bald cypress. They grow fast from seed, so I just plant a few seed when I want some more.


DO you have to cold stratify? I really want to grow some from seed but dont really want to wait 90 - 120 days for them to get their thing on. You have luck just planting the seed straight up from the tree?
 

Mellow Mullet

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No, they need no stratification. I have a pot right now that has about 10 freshly sprouted seedlings in it. Picked the cones in late December or early January. Pot the seeds in a pot mid February, seedlings today. you. Easy-peasy...
 

Underdog

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I've got some cuttings started. We'll see... Couldn't find any cones under this lonely tree.
 

Underdog

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Maybe they're teasing me but...IMG_20180503_193305431.jpgIMG_20180503_193242645.jpg
 

BillsBayou

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This is a great start! Now.... Will it grow roots? That's the kicker. I have no idea and the suspense is killing me!

Note on style: You appear to be on your way to a broom style bald cypress. I don't recall ever seeing one in the wild. Doesn't mean you can't do it our shouldn't do it. I've seen famous artists styling bald cypress as formal upright evergreens. They look fantastic as bonsai, but it's not my thing. I love bald cypress so much that it breaks my heart to see them squandered on Japanese styles. This is all my problem. I'm a weirdo that way.

So...

When I look at a tree styled in a way that that species never appears in nature, I know that the artist is leaving the species behind. It becomes all about the style. I'm all for pushing trees into styles that are alien to the species. It moves the art of bonsai forward and makes me think.

Then again, you may be forcing the tree to push out solar panels and pump nutrients down to force roots out and get them to grow. As cuttings go, this might be the best technique to get bald cypress cuttings to take root. Once you get a good root base, you can cut off the top of the tree and go back to a more traditional bald cypress style.

THEN AGAIN! This is YOUR tree, NOT mine. I suggest you keep on keeping. Rock those cuttings it Underdog style.
 

Underdog

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Then again, you may be forcing the tree to push out solar panels and pump nutrients down to force roots out and get them to grow. As cuttings go, this might be the best technique to get bald cypress cuttings to take root. Once you get a good root base, you can cut off the top of the tree and go back to a more traditional bald cypress style.
That's more of the idea in my mind. I must admit to no thought givin to style at this point. Only roots. I have cuttings in the garden, pond, and these in pots just to see what happens. That was one of the largest and may only be stored energy but we'll see. The Ohio BC these are taken from is a natural pine style upright and would likely be where these would go.
Personally I'm tired of the flat tops which seems like an easy cop out on styling. Blame it on a hurricane LOL
Just my opinion... That isn't how they are supposed to grow.
 

BillsBayou

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.... Only roots...
Yes!
Personally I'm tired of the flat tops which seems like an easy cop out on styling.
LestradEyeTwitch.gif

Blame it on a hurricane LOL
SteveMartin.gif

Just my opinion... That isn't how they are supposed to grow.

tortured.gif

Why would anyone want to make a bald cypress look like anything else? A style so unique and majestic and old should never be LOL'd into the corner. NOBODY puts baldy in the corner!

I'll continue to use flat-tops as my bald cypress template. Not only that, but the crown will tilt as close to 30° as I can make it. Why? Because I live at the 30° parallel and that's how the flat-tops tilt.

1545097_656859784371506_347489757_n.jpg

Ohio. Pfft. LOL hurricanes? No one LOLs hurricanes along the Gulf Coast. Talk to me the next time there's a black ice 20 car pile up in Ohio. Send me some LOLs.

Bald cypress where the limbs are wired at a downward angle from the bottom to the top make me say "LOL snow load". I'd post examples, but I know and love these people.

Maybe when Dale Cochoy visits in two weeks, I'll send him home with some good Cajun hogshead cheese for you. You know Dale?

Peace and love, brother.
 

Mellow Mullet

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That's more of the idea in my mind. I must admit to no thought givin to style at this point. Only roots. I have cuttings in the garden, pond, and these in pots just to see what happens. That was one of the largest and may only be stored energy but we'll see. The Ohio BC these are taken from is a natural pine style upright and would likely be where these would go.
Personally I'm tired of the flat tops which seems like an easy cop out on styling. Blame it on a hurricane LOL
Just my opinion... That isn't how they are supposed to grow.


Typically, the "flat-top" style is found in swampy areas. I think the "flat-top" comes more from growing in water and crowded conditions usually seen swamps, rather than hurricanes, other trees growing with them oaks, bay, etc. grow the same way - straight up, not many lower limbs and when they get to the top of the canopy, they spread out, flat top style.

Bald cypress, when planted in the landscape ( like a yard), grow quite differently and look more like a formal upright, even after they get quite old and large. I like styling them this way, too.

The flat-top styling that I have seen has not been very convincing to me as resembling a cypress from the swamp. Chopping the top and growing some branches up there, is well just like it sounds like, a fat trunk with some branches up top, it looks cool, but doesn't really look like a BC from the swamp. There are a few out there, but not many. I think it has to do with scale and taper, one with a 10 - 12 inch base would need to be 6-8 ft tall to look convincingly as a flat top, and have a lot of taper. I still want to make one this way one of these days, but I like the upright style better, it shows off the feathery foliage better.
 

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I appreciate you passionate response, as well as your work. I've watched most of your videos and learned from them. I enjoy your posts while must admit to not always making it all the way through some of the lengthy "Sorce Like" ones. I'm still new and learning as much as I can from everyone here and elsewhere.
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Ohio. Pfft. LOL hurricanes? No one LOLs hurricanes along the Gulf Coast. Talk to me the next time there's a black ice 20 car pile up in Ohio. Send me some LOLs.
I think you read too much into those 2 sentences above where I described my opinion of an easy way to justify the large chops on tops. I have a healthy respect for hurricanes having a sister in Sarasota who lived on a boat for 25yrs and friends in the middle Keys. We were there in November and the devastation was overwhelming.

I was shocked to find this lonesome Baldy growing in a old strip mine pond. Assume it was planted during the reclamation projects in the 70s. Have yet to find any more. It has knees as well cold hardiness to survive our winters. This is the reason for this thread. I want some of this tree around my pond. I will try a few more cuttings this summer after it leafs out. Obviously not as impressive as the trees you posted but... it's local and if I can "get sum" of it home I will.IMG_20160418_161241853_TOP.jpgIMG_20160418_161316661.jpg
 
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Underdog

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The flat-top styling that I have seen has not been very convincing to me as resembling a cypress from the swamp. Chopping the top and growing some branches up there, is well just like it sounds like, a fat trunk with some branches up top, it looks cool, but doesn't really look like a BC from the swamp. There are a few out there, but not many. I think it has to do with scale and taper, one with a 10 - 12 inch base would need to be 6-8 ft tall to look convincingly as a flat top, and have a lot of taper. I still want to make one this way one of these days, but I like the upright style better, it shows off the feathery foliage better.
Pretty much my thoughts as well MM. I certainly would not argue anything Bald Cypress with either of you whom I've read and learned so much from.
I would prefer to see your propagation methods rather than wading thru "The Swamp" of design and styling them.
 

Mellow Mullet

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Pretty much my thoughts as well MM. I certainly would not argue anything Bald Cypress with either of you whom I've read and learned so much from.
I would prefer to see your propagation methods rather than wading thru "The Swamp" of design and styling them.


I don't mind a "friendly" argument from time to time, sometimes we learn something from them. I guess a friendly argument is more like a spirited debate, of sorts. I don't claim to know everything about BC, I only present what I have learned from growing and caring for them. I only try to comment on trees that I actually grow and responded to this thread because I felt the same as you did about the styling, flat-top is not the only was to present them. In fact, I think it is the worst way because it is so hard to pull off convincingly. Most of the ones I see end up looking like a power pole with an osprey's nest built on top that you often see in the delta here.

As for propagation, it is very easy to propagate them from seeds. I have about twenty that I am growing right now. I just gave away all of the seeds that I had left over to a friend who wants to start a grove of them on one end of a huge pond on his property, but if you hit me up in the fall, I will be collecting more and will happily send you some, as many as you want.

John
 

Paul F.

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As for propagation, it is very easy to propagate them from seeds. I have about twenty that I am growing right now. I just gave away all of the seeds that I had left over to a friend who wants to start a grove of them on one end of a huge pond on his property, but if you hit me up in the fall, I will be collecting more and will happily send you some, as many as you want.

I just ordered 50 BC seeds from a guy in Louisiana. I'm gonna start a grove in my backyard! lol! If you pick some freshies, Ill trade you for some..
 

BillsBayou

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I think you read too much into those 2 sentences above where I described my opinion of an easy way to justify the large chops on tops.
I knew exactly what you were saying and meaning. I got very hyperbolic in my response, but then again, I posted GIFs from three comedies, so my mood was not one to be derisive.

As for the easy way to justify large chops... (After writing the paragraphs, below, I'm left thinking "LOL Hurricanes" for the same reason you used the words)

Hurricanes shape the environment where I live. They topple trees, erode barrier islands, and decorate the landscape with cars in the water and boats on land (which remain there for years). The most interesting bald cypress are not the massive Formal Upright pyramids which were planted on dry land 50 years ago. The most interesting trees are the survivors of centuries of hurricanes, boring insects, lightning strikes, and rot. Left alone in the muck to be happy, bald cypress trees will produce their classic flat-top style. Introduce Mother Nature's fury and they become icons for survival and perseverance. I've seen nothing in the list of Japanese styles that can represent what ancient bald cypress bring to bonsai.

I don't see the merit in using bald cypress to create anything but those styles that are unique to bald cypress. I recommend this for any and all trees that have their own iconic shapes. A great example is to search Google Images for "birch forest" and then do another search for "birch bonsai". The difference is obvious to anyone with eyes. The differences leaves me asking "WHAT THE HOLY FUCK?!" White bark birch forests are magnificent to behold. What I see in bonsai are trees done in classic deciduous styles. Even the forests on the "birch bonsai" are hard pressed to represent the tall slender beauty of these trees. "THIS FOREST", however, is a birch forest done right. It blows my mind. It showcases the slender nature of the trees and the white bark shines through.

But back to reality. I don't know birch forests from personal experience. As much as I can extol the virtues of that masterpiece forest, I have no frame of reference except from Google Images. I don't live with white birch to say that any other tree or forest would be a fair representation of the species. Which is why I shudder when I see someone not living in the lands of hurricanes trying to use Google or YouTube as their only source for bald cypress styles and then push it to the next level by introducing hurricanes when they don't live their lives riding out hurricanes.

Oh... I just realized something. Let me go back and write "LOL Hurricanes".

I was in Walt Disney World (which I hate) this past February for Mardi Gras break. While being shuttled about, I watched the bald cypress we were passing. I suddenly blurt out "I just solved my problem" and the tree was gone and I said nothing more. The tree I saw gave me an answer to a problem I'm having with my BC "Saint Kateri"'s branch placement. Three days later, my wife asks me what I meant when I blurted out "I just solved my problem". She doesn't know much about dendrology, but she's highly intelligent and was able to walk me through my thoughts to an exciting revelation about the mathematics of flat tops with respect to auxin distribution. I owe my understanding to her as much as the trees themselves.

The point is this: I live among, and breathe the oxygen produced by bald cypress. It's literally in my blood. There are no styles for bald cypress other than Louisiana hurricane styles. If I have a question, I go outside and ask the trees. Okay, I go into the bayou with a kayak or canoe and then I ask the RIGHT trees. What I don't do is ask the bald cypress planted in my neighbor's yard, on campus, or along our landscaped boulevards. I use their answers to help me understand my own trees. When I look at a collected bald cypress, I ask it who it wants to be. I take that answer and then I hit it with a few hurricanes. LOL

This all goes back to my belief that the best bonsai come when people use local species and local species styles.

Shit. I'm rambling. Thanks for taking my mind off of the personal nightmare that's keeping me from making videos. I'm hoping to pull "Hollow 13" (needs a better name) and "Saint Kateri" off the shelf and put them in front of the camera some time soon. "Heartbreaker" is taking her time being a heartbreaker. I'll give her some liver pills for iron and see if that perks her up. "Torque" is being a beast and needs to come out of the wings and take center stage. "Fat Rat" and "Bill's Bayou" died recently from neglect (per viam nightmare). The latter will be remade this winter. And nobody is sitting in water tubs like they're supposed to be. And I haven't started testing wood preservatives... and ... and... and...

It's been a shit Spring.
 
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