Grow Room Clone Tree Experiment

[Rasterman]

I've bought apple trees with multiple apple species, planted them outside so the gophers could eat their roots. At least I don't have to worry about that in the grow room.

 

[throwstuffatme]

Any Updates @Rasterman

 

[Rasterman]

Any Updates @Rasterman

@throwstuffatme, funny you asked! I was just looking at the rootstock two minutes ago, thinking about making a post today but it's slow. (I read a book on bonsai when I was a kid and haven't played around with it in a long time.) It's getting too big for its pot so I'll be doing a bonsai technique - exposing its upper roots, trimming the lower roots and putting it back into the same pot to control its size.

It's ready to use, but I don't yet have a clone to graft. I have a clone and am waiting for branches large enough to clip a branch and make my first attempt.

 

[Rasterman]

There's a bonsai technique called root trimming I think, where the top roots are exposed, bottom roots are trimmed and the whole plant is moved "up." This normally done to move the plant to a smaller pot. I don't know how well this is going to work to control size because I won't be moving it to a smaller pot. Anything smaller than this is one and I'd be watering it at least every day... But here goes...

Disclaimer: This is me trying something I have never tried. If a reader is considering doing this, I recommend you wait around to see how it works for me first.

Before:

As you can see, he has a well-developed root system...

I'll be using a pressure sprayer and moderate pressure to gently wash a couple of inches of soil off the top and an inch off the bottom.

After doing so, around 30% of the soil has been removed. Looking at the stalk below, you can see where the green fades to yellow. That used to be the top of the soil.

I added some soil to the bottom of the pot. This is a departure from the bonsai book I read when I was a kid, where the bottom roots would be trimmed along with the top. I trimmed off a little of the top roots - under 1/4". In the picture I tried to show the level of the soil I added in at the bottom of the pot. Anyway, it's exactly enough to replace what I took from the top of the root mass.

Then I stuck the plant back in the pot and tied it down because it's not really stable in its new condition.

I sprinkled a little soil on top to protect the exposed roots so they'll dry out more slowly and the plant can hopefully slowly acclimate to them becoming part of the trunk. If you've seen bonsai before, you probably know that progressively the plant is trained so that upper roots become part of the exposed trunk over time.

Then I topped all the beautiful colas...

As you recall, I originally manifolded him for 8 colas. But really, there's no limit to the number of grafts I can do. In the future. I had wondered what I would do at this point. Part of this technique includes removing enough vegetation from the plant to correspond with lost root mass. I'm mainly interested in keeping it short, but dealing with the plethora of branching is going to be a challenge in the future.

I will be taking scions from the following plants as soon as they're ready.

This is a cross I made - Chick Magnet x Black Widow. The mother is in flower right now (so untested) and I just want a permanent copy.

She just got really going this week so it's going to be a couple of weeks. The other plant I want a clone of is this Ace Golden Tiger 3rd Version because I'm doing a small pheno hunt over six seeds and this is the first:

This "mother" is only 16 days from soak I think. I won't be able to take a scion and backup clones from her until late June because of travel plans.

And that's it for now. I'll post a picture in a couple of days. I have been scaling back my grow op until later this summer due to travel plans, so the only other scion sources would be autos and that wouldn't work out so well.

 

[throwstuffatme]

Amazing update @Rasterman thanks. the Afghan Mix landrace is really looking vigorously healthy, I do believe as you said this to be a solid rootstock. That’s a really interesting technique to cutback and expose the roots, I have seen a few great looking plants with ornamental roots. I wish you Good luck with your transplan, will you using the tape method you posted on a Previous thread?

 

[Rasterman]

Amazing update @Rasterman thanks. the Afghan Mix landrace is really looking vigorously healthy, I do believe as you said this to be a solid rootstock. That’s a really interesting technique to cutback and expose the roots, I have seen a few great looking plants with ornamental roots. I wish you Good luck with your transplan, will you using the tape method you posted on a Previous thread?

Thanks for the kind words! I honestly don't expect it to do much to keep it small, but I have only been feeding it bloom nutes.

There's some tape at Walgreens and CVS. It's waterproof and sticks to itself very well. I'm a little (lot?) nervous about doing the wrapping because the twigs are so small and my fingers are so large. But if I can keep them in the right position it will hold it perfectly.

I decided that hell or high water I'm making my first attempt next weekend. I'll get the tape tomorrow and post a picture. The tape has been out just a few years and it's great for kids' booboos but I think it will be revolutionary for this.

 

[throwstuffatme]

Thanks for the kind words! I honestly don't expect it to do much to keep it small, but I have only been feeding it bloom nutes.

There's some tape at Walgreens and CVS. It's waterproof and sticks to itself very well. I'm a little (lot?) nervous about doing the wrapping because the twigs are so small and my fingers are so large. But if I can keep them in the right position it will hold it perfectly.

I decided that hell or high water I'm making my first attempt next weekend. I'll get the tape tomorrow and post a picture. The tape has been out just a few years and it's great for kids' booboos but I think it will be revolutionary for this.

Im wondering if a medical tape like Micropore might work well, it’s breathable and water resistant I think. Good luck.

 

[Rasterman]

Im wondering if a medical tape like Micropore might work well, it’s breathable and water resistant I think. Good luck.

I haven't heard about Micropore but will check it out.

 

[Rasterman]

I made my first try this morning. Before:

First I selected a branch on my Afghan Mix Rootstock and trimmed it down. I left plenty of branch because I need to select a place the same size as the scion I'm grafting on.

I stripped off all the leaves on the entire branch. My understanding is that's important because the stem's purpose must now be to supply the scion and you don't want anything to compete with that.

I somehow didn't get a picture of the branch afterwards, sorry.

Then I chopped the clone and put it in water.

Next, I held the branch of the clone next to the branch on the rootstock and decided where to make the graft happen. It might be better to use a fully green branch, but I was worried about stability so I chose an area where the trunk was transitioning from new to having bark, I guess. Not completely green, but not completely brown.

Next I prepared the scion by making a 45° cut with a clean razor blade and stuck it back in the water. Next, I prepared the graft point with a 45° cut, and got the tape ready.

Then I cut the head off a needle and inserted it into the stem, leaving the sharp end for the scion. I know that the rootstock will heal more quickly, so it got the dull end. I may be the first person to think of this, or maybe not. But I thought it was a great idea that worked out perfectly.

After trimming up the scion, I pushed it down on the pin.

I didn't do a good job centering it, but it should be fine. The pin did go through the side of the scion at an angle, but the important thing is to mate the two surfaces perfectly. So I left it as it was.

Then I wrapped it up with tape, being very careful not to allow it to move from where I placed it. That might have been difficult without the pin, which is why I used it.

Notice also that I removed most of of the vegetation only leaving new shoots. I feel that the more vegetation needing sustenance, the less chance the scion lives.

Yet another note: This scion is now the tallest branch and should be granted a full dose of auxin. I think that should give it an advantage an I can always tie it down later if I want to.

In wrapping, I used many short pieces of tape (not one long one). Then I followed up by wrapping the entire branch. Again, that wasn't necessary but I thought it might help prevent suckers for the first couple of weeks until it mends.

The wrapping job went very well and I feel the graft is stable. But you're supposed to cover the scion with plastic or something to keep the humidity high and I didn't want leaves to contact the baggie I'm using. So I built a scaffold to hold the bag away from the leaves, using.... (drumroll please)... chopsticks.

It didn't really work that well so I added a cross piece. Then I put on the baggie and sealed it except for a 3 cm length to allow some air interchange and prevent mold.

Voila!

Here it is, finished.

I bet this works the first time. When I was a kid I read about grafting and tried it a couple of times without success. I'm much older now and presumably wiser and more skilled, so I'm optimistic.
I will keep you posted!

Oh yeah, this is the tape I used. I love this stuff.

I'm going to leave the plant in the coolest room in my house out of direct light overnight before putting it back in the closet.

 

[Rasterman]

Im wondering if a medical tape like Micropore might work well, it’s breathable and water resistant I think. Good luck.

I looked at Micropore and started worrying that it might let it dry out more so decided to go with the waterproof tape. Either one would probably work though.