B.uneasy
Chumono
Can somone tell me what kind of tree this is? I have found a root with a small sucker growing on the top of it, and If I could grow it out it would be so beautiful! 
Identification thread / possible project!!!
- Thread starter B.uneasy
- Start date
Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
Looks like a weeping cherry. It's probably grafted, so the understock that's sending out shoots might be something different.
B.uneasy
Chumono
Do you or does anyone have any idea of what this could be grafted onto?
Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
Most likely a strong wildtype cherry. I have a couple of suckers like that in pots, they haven't flowered yet. But they should flower white and should look like something in between wild prunus and cultivated cherry. Very susceptible to aphids in my case.
B.uneasy
Chumono
You say you have a couple suckers in pots. Are they worth it from your point of view? Have you noticed a significant amount of growth?
Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
Well, yes and no.
It's a double edged blade basically; the root you can get out can act as a trunk, but it can also act as a nutrient and water buffer that rots away in the next couple of years, leaving you with a weird piece of tree.
They can be gnarly, but even though my suckers come from a 30 year old tree, I've never seen them flower. Not even on the parent tree.
Their growth habit is as any cherry, but they fatten up somewhat faster.
The pic above is what it looks like now.
The pic below is after two years in a pot. The entire gnarly right side was an old root. It died off in three years or so and only the left side was left. I laid it flat on the right side in the pic above.
It's a double edged blade basically; the root you can get out can act as a trunk, but it can also act as a nutrient and water buffer that rots away in the next couple of years, leaving you with a weird piece of tree.
They can be gnarly, but even though my suckers come from a 30 year old tree, I've never seen them flower. Not even on the parent tree.
Their growth habit is as any cherry, but they fatten up somewhat faster.
The pic above is what it looks like now.
The pic below is after two years in a pot. The entire gnarly right side was an old root. It died off in three years or so and only the left side was left. I laid it flat on the right side in the pic above.
B.uneasy
Chumono
Well that is definitely pretty cool. It naturally rotted away, so you have a nice piece telling the story of what happens when a tree gets started from a root! In my eyes, I really like it man. Did you put it through any special care when putting it in a pot? And just like my other collected trees, is Napa Oil Dry a good medium to grow this in If I cut it with a saw and it has feeder roots?
B.uneasy
Chumono
Haha I really like it honestly. You dont see that everyday thats for sure. Just gives it more character
B.uneasy
Chumono
Heres an old porcelain pot I'll throw it into. Im gonna try and dig as much clay off from around the roots as possible and then saw both sides off as clean as possible. Wish there was a way to avoid that because I dont want two large saw cuts in the final tree. Like you said, it'll probably rot away and I can just carve it.
B.uneasy
Chumono
Can I plant it in straight napa oil dry since im 100% sure it has roots
Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
When collecting roots like these, you'd want those roots to have their own adventitious feeder roots.
What you're doing is basically collecting a hollow tube that could drain itself if the cuts aren't sealed. So either go with the ones on the end of roots (those should show up about now, most lawnmowers rip them to shreds) or do a good dig around to see how the root is built. If there are finer roots on one end, and a big root on the other end, then chop the big one and dig the finer out. Sealing the big root with wound paste or wood glue does help.
Put them in bright shade and keep the wood lice at bay.
The first two years are most important, try to keep them frost free; I killed one last week by putting it out in the open too early.
Why two years? The attached root can act as a reservoir for both water and nutrients, after two years it should be depleted entirely and you'll know if the plant lives on its own roots.
Plant it in whatever free draining bonsai soil you have! I used akadama, but next year I'll switch to my own mixture because the akadama cakes up too fast.
just.wing.it
Deadwood Head
I have a similar weeping cherry in my yard. I'm thinking about trying to take a cutting this year.
Good luck with yours!
Good luck with yours!
B.uneasy
Chumono
Dug it out, it had fine roots on one side, but that's all. Didn't have any cut paste like you recommended @Wires_Guy_wires but I did make pretty clean cuts. I guess it will probably rot away from the sides, but we will see what I am left with in a few years! 
Attachments
Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
I think you can safely estimate how it's doing within a couple of weeks. If it doesn't die, then it's alive ;-)
Not sealing the heavy cuts could be problematic though: right now it's like a drinking straw, most veins are open on both ends.
It could very well be the case that they might close due to dessication, but that only happens when there's no water around..
Anyhow, good luck with it! If you find more, care for them for a year or so. Then dig them up. The mother tree fattens them up faster than any man can!
Not sealing the heavy cuts could be problematic though: right now it's like a drinking straw, most veins are open on both ends.
It could very well be the case that they might close due to dessication, but that only happens when there's no water around..
Anyhow, good luck with it! If you find more, care for them for a year or so. Then dig them up. The mother tree fattens them up faster than any man can!
B.uneasy
Chumono
So since I didnt seal the cuts your saying that both sides will pretty much consume a butt load of water since they are both open? Could it be possibly fine because of those feeder roots it has? Or being honest, if its not sealed its destined for the mulch pile?
Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
Look, I worked with plants in the lab, I worked with plants in nurseries, I worked with plants in agriculture and in my own backyard. They keep surprising me by surviving stuff they shouldn't survive.
Honestly and a bit blunt maybe: I think that you didn't dig around enough to find more feeders, BUT! it could very well be that the feeder roots you did save, are directly connected to the shoots. It's a pretty big chance actually.
So destined for the mulch pile? Not until it's a 100% dead!
If you can find some rooting hormones, whether they're powdered or liquid, sprinkle a dash of it in your pot. It doesn't do harm and might do some good.
If you have sphagnum moss lying around, sprinkle that over the top soil. It's always good to have some of that stuff in stock.
As for the straw reference, think of it like the schematic I've painted so well:
Roots take up water, they push this upwards.
Leafs evaporate water, they pull this upwards.
Open ends are open ends, they let water seep out from the sides and basically prevent the roots from building pressure, the shoot up top could at some point draw in air (it creates a slight vacuum by evaporation, and since the open ends are closer, this might happen). If that happens, the entire system collapses. They cuts are also a huge diameter compared to the amount of water the roots can push up. A 1 gallon pump ending in a 500 gallon tube, that's open ended, to feed a 0.1 gallon tube on top of that.
One possibility is that the open ends shrivel and dry up, they then close off somewhat. That means it's going to live. Probably.
Cherries can compartmentalize, meaning that there could(!) be a live vein running from the feeder roots to the shoot. Then it'll bypass the open-ended root and just feed the foliage above.
If that's the case, then the root will just die and the rest will live. It happened to mine! But it doesn't always happen.
You only know when you know. The work is done, it's waiting time now!
Honestly and a bit blunt maybe: I think that you didn't dig around enough to find more feeders, BUT! it could very well be that the feeder roots you did save, are directly connected to the shoots. It's a pretty big chance actually.
So destined for the mulch pile? Not until it's a 100% dead!
If you can find some rooting hormones, whether they're powdered or liquid, sprinkle a dash of it in your pot. It doesn't do harm and might do some good.
If you have sphagnum moss lying around, sprinkle that over the top soil. It's always good to have some of that stuff in stock.
As for the straw reference, think of it like the schematic I've painted so well:
Roots take up water, they push this upwards.
Leafs evaporate water, they pull this upwards.
Open ends are open ends, they let water seep out from the sides and basically prevent the roots from building pressure, the shoot up top could at some point draw in air (it creates a slight vacuum by evaporation, and since the open ends are closer, this might happen). If that happens, the entire system collapses. They cuts are also a huge diameter compared to the amount of water the roots can push up. A 1 gallon pump ending in a 500 gallon tube, that's open ended, to feed a 0.1 gallon tube on top of that.
One possibility is that the open ends shrivel and dry up, they then close off somewhat. That means it's going to live. Probably.
Cherries can compartmentalize, meaning that there could(!) be a live vein running from the feeder roots to the shoot. Then it'll bypass the open-ended root and just feed the foliage above.
If that's the case, then the root will just die and the rest will live. It happened to mine! But it doesn't always happen.
You only know when you know. The work is done, it's waiting time now!
B.uneasy
Chumono
Well actually I uncovered about 12 inches on each side of the main root. There were no feeder roots close to the sucker, only those that you see in the pic. I doubt those roots more than 10 inches away were gonna do to much! I scanned everything to make sure I could fit it into this pot and it worked perfectly because there were no roots directly outside the pot. Hopefully it does use this root system and something interesting will show up! I understand your statement, but I promise you there were no other roots anywhere near the sucker, just the ones I managed to take. I even dug a big whole underneath the root to make sure I was not tearing any feeder roots off! It was only cut off so small because everything else was unnecessary, I was ready to use a larger pot if it was needed.
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Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
Then it is what it is. No hard feelings, no judgement either because I did a couple like that myself. Some of them made it, some didn't. Some died after a year.
As long as you're having fun.
If you ever think about air layering the weeping parts of that cherry, don't forget to wire it upright before doing the layering, otherwise the roots might start growing on the wrong end.
If you were to use those upside-down parts: The weeping nature will then turn them into an upside down broom style. Could work, but I think it'll raise some eye brows.
Cherries tend to have a thing for gravity. I layered a couple of side branches, and they only rooted on the bottom. Wait with layering until the foliage has hardened off. It should take 6-8 weeks.
Just wanted to add that in case you're thinking about it.
As long as you're having fun.
If you ever think about air layering the weeping parts of that cherry, don't forget to wire it upright before doing the layering, otherwise the roots might start growing on the wrong end.
If you were to use those upside-down parts: The weeping nature will then turn them into an upside down broom style. Could work, but I think it'll raise some eye brows.
Cherries tend to have a thing for gravity. I layered a couple of side branches, and they only rooted on the bottom. Wait with layering until the foliage has hardened off. It should take 6-8 weeks.
Just wanted to add that in case you're thinking about it.
B.uneasy
Chumono
Look at this beauty taking in the morning sunlight! I put it inside, so it would not be exposed to the colder temperatures
outside
outside
eryk2kartman
Chumono
Well done!
But when i saw first picture, i thought it was sort of arm size
what a surprice to see it in the small pot
But when i saw first picture, i thought it was sort of arm size
what a surprice to see it in the small pot 
