36. Bins Month Three
Status of my bin cuttings after three months.
I tried something new last fall for propagation — see my post on propagation inside stackable storage bins.
Curious to see how my cuttings are doing 3 months later? The plan is to let them “cook” for a few more months.
Here is where we started, back in October 2023; technically the rhododendron cuttings (box on the left) were cut in September, so four months ago.
Rhododendron Bin
Here is a snap shot of what the cuttings looked like on October 14, 2023 on the left and January 14, 2023 on the right. Looks like some varieties fare better than others, I will have to do a bin debrief per rhododendron type when I pot up the cuttings.
Cryptomeria and Arborvitae Bin
Here is a snap shot of what the cuttings looked like on October 14, 2023 on the left and January 14, 2023 on the right. Mystery bright green arborvitae on the left, cheer drop arborvitae in the middle, and black dragon cryptomeria on the right. The cryptomeria has little cones, not sure if that is a good sign? The mystery arborvitae looks more vibrant now, whereas the cheer drop arborvitae has turned a little brown.
Mystery Bin
I don’t have a before picture for this bin, as I threw it together in a state of emergency after deer attached several of my recent plantings. The deer targeted my Katsura tree, Yellow Anise shrubs, and Cryptomeria, so I picked up the pieces and threw them in some sand. Looks like some may have actually survived. I also added a couple of Pieris cuttings from a mature Pieris located in our front yard and also some Madrona tree cuttings.
Here is a snap shot of what the katsura cuttings looked like on October 15, 2023 on the left and then snapshot of the bin from January 14, 2023 on the right. The Katsura leaves have all shriveled (the cuttings are tucked into the upper left corner of the bin), but they do have new buds on them. The Anise cuttings look happy (bottom left corner). Hard to say on the Pieris (bottom middle). The madrona tree leaves look great (top middle), although I have understood that Madrona is very hard to root. The Black Dragon Cryptomeria looks about the same as the cuttings in my other bin. I think there are also two Sekkan Sugi Cryptomeria (second row from the right with the lighter tips), but since I did not label or keep track, I am not 100% sure what these are.
The next step is to wait a few more months before I pull out the cuttings and see if any have taken root. Fingers crossed!