So I dug this wisteria stump out about a month or so ago (didn’t really have a choice re timing since the previous owners wanted to get rid of the plant). As you can imagine the plant had sent out long runners and I couldn’t really retrieve the big roots. Nevertheless I managed to get some roots with the stump. I wrapped it in moist sphagnum making sure to avoid it from drying out. Since then it’s been planted in foam box with the stump sitting on sphagnum and surrounded by native mix - just what I had at hand then. It’s been sitting in partial shade since. I didn’t get any leaves with the stump since this was a well established vine - at least 9 years in the same spot - and the leaves closest to the stump were 4 feet away. FWIW there are plenty of buds on the vines.
At this point I’m imagining that it should be dormant and with any luck will wake up in spring. I’ve been keeping it moist and watered for the last month when it was still warm. My question is how much do I water it over the winter? Should I be concerned about over watering? I’ve read that wisteria wood is soft and prone to rotting. Is this something to be concerned about? Should I be doing something differently now to maximize probability of success?
Hi, I have a wisteria which I had to extract slightly later in the season than you have, and it only had one long root. I found that there was significant dieback to pretty much two inches above soil level. Then in spring it shout out three shoots of which I retained one which had grown well now. My approach was to plant it in a mix of potting mix and old orchid mix with watering only when the mix was dry in on the top layer which roughly translated to every two to three days in winter. Once growing it was pretty much every day. Good luck with your wisteria and keen to see your progress as there aren’t many wisteria threads for some reason
Yeah I’ve done something similar - orchid mix, sphagnum wrapped stump and topped with native mix. I cut far from the stump trying to account for dieback. Sounds like I should keep doing what I’m doing. Thanks for your input - I had to go with instinct and had no clue whether this would work.
Has yours flowered at all after you transplanted it?
Without leaves it will not need much water. You can even let it get a bit dry at times now.
i would have left out the sphagnum but I know sphagnum is a really good rooting medium so maybe it will help?
The wood does rot easily but not much you can do about that. Rotted wood will not hurt the tree. Only the heartwood rots and the living sapwood keeps growing. You have probably seen pictures of old, hollow trees. Rotted centre is no problem for a tree.
Long vines is no problem but could also have been cut short. Wisteria can bud on bare wood so you should get lots of buds when it decides to grow.
You will not see any leaves until growing season in spring so not really anything else to do but wait until then. Wisteria are really hardy so it should survive despite what you do to it.
I dug one last year in similar circumstances, it did nothing till nearly Xmas when it finally sent up a few shoots from the very base of the vines I had collected. Don't give up on yours too soon come spring
shibui wrote: ↑June 8th, 2020, 4:12 pm
Without leaves it will not need much water. You can even let it get a bit dry at times now.
i would have left out the sphagnum but I know sphagnum is a really good rooting medium so maybe it will help?
That was my thinking too - to have sphagnum so it can root when it was somewhat warmer. I'll be patient.
Akhi wrote: ↑June 8th, 2020, 6:43 am
Hi, I have a wisteria which I had to extract slightly later in the season than you have, and it only had one long root. I found that there was significant dieback to pretty much two inches above soil level. Then in spring it shout out three shoots of which I retained one which had grown well now. My approach was to plant it in a mix of potting mix and old orchid mix with watering only when the mix was dry in on the top layer which roughly translated to every two to three days in winter. Once growing it was pretty much every day. Good luck with your wisteria and keen to see your progress as there aren’t many wisteria threads for some reason
No mine hasn’t bloomed yet it grey a bit in the first year and in the second year which was 2019 put on longer growth when we moved back to Melb so fingers crossed I will see some buds this year as it was from a mature vine.
Thanks for asking. It put out new leaves in late September almost October, but then it grew like a weed and seems to have put out a lot of fibrous roots from what I can tell. It’s lost it’s leaves over autumn. I’m actually looking to change its potting angle and put it in a deeper pot. Suggestions welcome.
