Casuarina cutting advice please

[Jan]

I've collected some Casuarina or Alocasuarina cuttings which are currently in a Seasol mix. I noticed in the species guide that they can be grown from cuttings, and while I agree generally with the Species Guide in the propagation paragraph, re the wealth of material available, (I'd have preferred to layer this one ), it was a case of grab a quick cutting of this unusual branch or miss out, so I thought that it was worth a go.

20140407_165113_CasSport.JPG

the bark has a reddish tone and the greenery is more like a Cyprus than a Casuarina

I want to give the cuttings the best chance so I have the material in a seasol mix and am looking for tips on the best way to proceed to maximise my chances of success with this unusual branch.

I'm thinking that I'll try striking cuttings from this small branch in a seedraising/spagmun mix in a couple of my soft drink bottle propagators, and include a "glasshouse" of another cut off bottle over the top to stop them drying out too quickly. I'm thinking of using both honey and hormone powder to maximise my chances, and positioning the propagators in a repurposed fish tank to minimise the temp variation (we're getting single figure night temps at times)...... Then crossing my fingers

Any suggestions/comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jan

[shibui]

The only casuarina cuttings I have managed to strike have all been just the green stems (which most people think of as 'leaves'). Whenever i have used traditional stem cuttings from brown stems with green 'leaves' they just die.

There are some pictures of some rooted cuttings on this thread - viewtopic.php?f=9&t=9902&p=113376&hilit ... gs#p113376

Good luck getting some to grow.

[Jan]

Thanks, Shibui. I hadn't found that thread in my searches. The material is about pencil thick so I'll try some that size, some finer ones with brown bark, some thicker green cuttings and some "needle" cuttings

I found Pup's thread, Restyling Mother, where he speaks of taking cuttings while restyling, and a few other treads mention cuttings but little info on the propagation method/s used.

The pictures of the struck needles are most heartening!

Please excuse my ignorance but "witches brooms" on Casuarinas were mentioned - what are these and could my cypress-like branch be one of them?

Thanks,

Jan.

[shibui]

My first thought when i saw your photo was 'witches broom' Jan.
I believe 'withes broom' is a generic term that describes unusual growth coming from an otherwise normal plant. Often takes the form of a dense cluster of compact shoots like yours appears to have had (though it also has some longer shoots as well? Are the coming from the same area or from the normal part of the plant?) I believe it is caused by a cell mutation but not sure of the causes.
Because we can clone plants through cuttings and grafts we can maintain the new variety if it proves to have interesting or worthy characteristics and some dwarf and weeping varieties of trees we use in gardens have come from such sources.

[Jan]

Thanks, Shibui.

If you look at the image you can see that this is just a single branch that has grown off the main trunk (red arrow), with a different habit and bark to the rest of the plant. The earlier growth has died off as the branch grew (blue arrow) much the same as Cyprus can do, and it had been dry out that way until recently.

20140407_165113_CasSportCrop.jpg

The original plant has a longer "needle" habit (no idea of the variety but it grows wild in sandstone country out near Walachia, western Sydney). The bark has a red/brown tone rather like a shore juniper and without the casuarina roughness/crinkle.

It will be interesting to see if it will strike and, if so, how it will go in cultivation.

Again, thanks for your help,

Jan