Cecil,

Thanks for the link. The page looks familiar, I think I came across it once before.

October 14, 2008

No roots yet on any cuttings. In general, browning of initials is still seen and more pronounced. Same trends as before are noted for Groups A, B & E. Group E leaf buds continue to develop. First leaf bud was noticed on a Group B ½” cutting with very pronounced initials. No buds seen on Group A. The chilled cuttings from Groups C, D & F all have initials. At 3 days into the heating cycle, both the chilled and un-chilled groups showed a similar amount of initial development (no difference observed in their progressions when paired groups are compared at the same durations into the heating cycle). So far the 1 week chilling has shown no advantage or disadvantage. This will be monitored later in the root development process to see if differences emerge.

Steve-
Funny, I really would have thought A and C would have had the most ! Interesting..  B is definantly got a lead.

I had the same assumptions regarding A&C but so far that is not the case. It is early yet and things might change regarding pushing out roots. We'll have to wait and see.

October 17, 2008

First root appeared, this was on a Group A cutting (Last year’s wood, un-chilled) after 13 days. The cutting was moved to rooting media (50% vermiculite & 50% perlite). The other Group A cutting was returned to warm storage. Comparing Group A with Group C (Last year’s wood, chilled 1 week) at same number of days of warming (5 days +/- 12 hours) both showed a similar amount of initials.

Group E (Green wood, un-chilled) shows a significant amount of leaf development but no roots at thin time. Comparing Group E and Group F (green wood, chilled) at the same number of warming days, also show a similar amount of initial development.

Group B (Current season wood, un-chilled) shows a few green buds that are not yet growing leaves or roots. Comparing Group B and Group D (current season wood, chilled) at the same number of warming days, they show a similar amount of initial development.

What an interesting turn of events! Sure enough A puts out a root, and what a showy root ;)

Yup, just after we commented about Group B, there goes Group A trying not to be outdone! I'll have to check them later today to see if anything new is developing.

Nothing new to report - no other rooting seen. The rooted Group A cutting is budding in two places already.

Still no new roots other than that one Group A cutting. Leaf buds are growing on several of the Group B cuttings. Group E leaves are really growing a lot but show no roots. Again, no observed differences between chilled and un-chilled. We'll see what happens when roots start to pop-out.

October 20, 2008

No other cuttings have developed roots yet. Budding/leafing continues on the groups that were not chilled (these are a week ahead of the chilled groups).

Group A – Last year’s wood

The remaining cutting is beginning to show buds but no roots. The first cutting is beginning to leaf-out and the developing roots are continuing to grow.

Group B – Current season’s lignified wood

No roots apparent but buds and leaves observed and growing.

Group C – Last year’s wood (chilled 1 week)

No roots or buds. Similar to Group A for initial development at the same amount of heating time.

Group D – Current season’s lignified wood (chilled 1 week)

No roots or buds. Similar to Group B for initial development at the same amount of heating time.

Group E – Green current season wood

Advanced leaf growth observed but no roots.

Group F – Green current season wood (chilled 1 week)

No roots seen but budding is occurring similar to Group E at the same amount of heating time.

It is interesting that only 1 cutting has produced roots (3 days ago) and that there is such a difference within each group.

Close-ups of the first root forming on 10/14 and just before transfering to rooting media on 10/17. Thought this might be interesting for some.

Steve! Ok we got one root on one cutting over here. Its almost identical to yours :)

Kim,

Congratulations. Is that on the ones I sent? How many days did it take? I think I took the cuttings around 9/14 so that is about 37 days??? That's a long time. Send us a picture if you have it.

Some observations/questions for the group ...

What I see is that what we have been calling root initials really are 2 different phenomenon. First there are little white bumps that stay firm and clearly are some sort of vegetative mass. After some time they seem to brown a little. The other looks the same at first but upon closer examination seem to be some sort of flaky starch-like material that will fall-off if touched. This also begins to brown after some time. What might be the two different structures/results? You can see these in the close-ups posted on 10/9.

Steve,
I will post a picture tonight on this thread. Yes the one you sent me is the one that got a root.  I also have noticed the white bumps that fall off when touched.  they dont seem to be the start of roots or I would be in AWSOME shape right now haha. They kinda just come out and rot off. 
Kim

October 22, 2008

No new roots observed on any of the cuttings but many are producing significant leaf growth. It is interesting to note that only the 1 cutting has yet developed roots so much in advance of the others. It is growing well in rooting media and is developing leaves. One possible explanation for this outlier might be that there was a dense grouping of “joints” in the stem at the middle of this cutting where growth was slowed for a period. The additional joints might be an indication of greater vitality or stored energy/resources as suggested by Ottawan. One Group F cutting looks like it might have 1 or 2 infant roots forming as indicated by raised white initials (doesn’t look like the “flaky” material seen elsewhere). Similarly, a few Group B cuttings show these raised initials also. We will see if these develop into actual roots in the next few days.

Steve, its been hectic over here! I will try to get pics up in the next few days but now there are two cuttings with roots.. The first one has two now and the second one has one small one.

Whenever you get a chance. So that would be about 37 days on the first cutting and 39 days on the second one. I think they were woody cuttings from this year's growth if I remeber correctly. If you get a chance, describe the method you used to see if it is similar to the experimental method. Some questions ... did you have any mold issues since I do not think I scrubbed them with diluted bleach first? The experimental ones have had little or no mold issues (they were scrubbed). Did you plant the cuttings yet?

October 23, 2008

Key (for easy reference)

Group A – Last year’s wood

Group B – Current season’s lignified wood

Group C – Last year’s wood (chilled 1 week)

Group D – Current season’s lignified wood (chilled 1 week)

Group E – Green current season wood

Group F – Green current season wood (chilled 1 week)

A small root appeared on the first Group E cutting. Today is 19 days of heating for this cutting group. The cutting was moved to rooting media. At least two other cuttings from this group look like there are infant roots forming and there is advanced leaf/foliage development on all. Group B cuttings also show signs of what may be infant roots and advanced foliage growth. Group A cutting shows leaf development but no signs of roots (unlike the other from this group that formed at day 13).

For the chilled cuttings that are now 12 days into heating, Group F has significant leaf/foliage development, leaf buds are beginning to show on Group D, no growth is seen on Group C. Comparing the chilled and un-chilled groups at the same time into the heating cycle, no significant differences are seen at this point (rooting time differences are still unknown).

October 24, 2008 

No new roots appeared but many of the cuttings show a new round of “initials”. These initials are not the flaky substance first observed early in the experiment. These initials are firm to the touch and are vegetative matter. It is likely that these are “true” root initials and are the start of potential roots.

October 25, 2008

Key (for easy reference)

Group A – Last year’s wood

Group B – Current season’s lignified wood

Group C – Last year’s wood (chilled 1 week)

Group D – Current season’s lignified wood (chilled 1 week)

Group E – Green current season wood

Group F – Green current season wood (chilled 1 week)

A second cutting from Group E now has roots after 21 days into heating. The roots formed at the highest node (near the top) right below where a branch and leaves formed. The base of the cutting had to be trimmed shorter when moved to rooting media to insure that the roots were planted deep enough (the top of the soil looses moisture more rapidly).

Results so far are: 1 group A at 13 days, 1 group E at 19 days and 1 group E at 21 days. The remainder of the cuttings continues to show development of this “second round” of initials and continue to grow leaves/foliage. Comparing the chilled and un-chilled groups at the same time into the heating cycle, no significant differences are seen at this point (rooting time differences are still unknown).

Steve,

I have followed your rooting experiment with great interest. Good work.

Jack

Thanks Jack (I'm having alot of fun and the kids ask every day "how is the experiment going"). What is also interesting (see post "cuttings potted") the differences in rooting time for different varieties - we all knew this but now I have some data. Those varieties all rooted within a few days of each other (each type was consistent). I am suprised to see the great variability among the experimental cuttings (at least in group A, group E times seem to be clustering together so far).

well Steve,  Im a bright one!  I potted the cuttings the same night I said I would take pics, our weather took a dip and I had to bring some rooted cuttings in and just potted up the bellas without even thinking until the next day... But they looked just like the ones in your pics, at least we know the day the got roots!  I did have to take all the leaf sprouts off before they would put any roots out though, it was like 2 days after that the root showed up.

Kim,

So you ended up pinching off the leaves, then they put out roots. Do they now have new leaf growth or is it to early to tell?

I forget what I'm doing sometimes also. For example, I was inspecting all the experimental cuttings this morning. Had a bag of 6 of them that I carefully unwrapped, put them out to photo, then wrapped them all up again and put them away. Then I realized I totally forgot to take the picture! So I ended up doing it all over again.