Cuttings will create
numerous trees that are hereditarily identical to the "parent If you prune
an apple tree,(which I did ) or if a branch breaks off, nothing has got to go
to waste. Of course I’m not going to waste my precious pruned apple cuttings that
can be used to make a new plant or clone to a new tree. While I have enough
cuttings from my pruned apple tree’s so
why not try to experiment propagating apple tree from branch/pruned cuttings!
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| 1 week in honey water |
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| Pruning Apple Tree |
Now how to go about
things. Put cuttings in water until you are ready to plant them, so that they
don't dry out! There is rooting hormone available, good and pricey, and works
like a charm, but I don’t have it. It is also said that Weeping Willow tree or
shrub of the willow family with the scientific name”salix” can be made a Willow
Tea to make rooting hormone used to propagate plant cuttings. And, best of all,
it’s free. Willow bark contains natural plant growth hormones; namely,
indolebutyric acid and salicylic acid, but I don’t have it either but definitely
will try it. So let us used my raw natural unpasteurized honey (2 tablespoon mix in 1 cup of water
where all my branches and stems of apple will be stay in for about a week.
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Left: Apple Cuttings in honey water for 1 week
Right: Apple Cuttings Planted about 1 week already |
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| Before: Newly Planted (no roots) After: 2 weeks (look at those apple baby leaves) |
Plant cuttings directly
into soil, where you want the tree to grow, or into giant pot, ensuring the
noded section of new tree-to-be is well covered in earth. (FYI all stems I planted has no roots at all before I planted)
Stake the tree well so
that the cutting will not be at all moved by wind. Or placed it in safe fenced
area.
Water well and keep moist.
The roots will grow all through the rainy months, and be established as soon as
it produces more leaves.
Keep tree well watered
specially during summer, (don’t over
water in rainy months) be sure not to let the new roots dry out. Keep the tree well-watered for
the whole summer, in order to get it established.
And voila! You have a nice
new apple tree! And it didn't cost you any money at all! Just TLC and patience
more of it!
As you can see, this technique is very
simple, and you can use all the cuttings left over from the pruning of fruit
trees to propagate more apple trees. Its better than tossing out, mulching or
composting the prunings, and if the cuttings fail, then you can do that. At
best, you’ll end up with more trees to plant in your garden.
