Raft cutting with a difference. Any help?

[Bush bunny]

I am in the middle of my Hort IV from TAFE I have completed other certs in Horticulture and Organic Agricultural production and received a Diploma. But this is on bonsai only. It is a massive task, and I am writing a thesis with pics and videos of my bonsai through from seeds, re-potting and you name it. I would appreciate any help from the forum, even privately if possible if someone has the time to mentor me.

My first question for you experts is raft cuttings. Now I know the principals except this one does not fall into the classic cases.

It is sprouts from the end of a branch that was cut off a beech, it has a silvery bark and catkins hanging of the deciduous branches. Nice tree too.

It was cut off to let the postman more rights of passage? LOL It is not on my land but near the boundary stone fence. It has sprouted several branchlets from the knob.

So the cut branch is only a few inches big, so it is too small to layer. I was thinking of separating the whole piece with some bark attached from the main trunk, removing some bark from the knob and put root hormone on the rest, and planting it in moss and some sandy mixture.
I can take a pic of it to help you. Just give me a few minutes.

Bush bunny from Armidale NSW

[Bush bunny]

I've taken a pic but don't know how to include it. Any help?

[Isitangus]

Are you using the web or tapatalk?

[Bush bunny]

I've never heard of tapatalk, so I just Google Aus.Bonsai.com.au and go from there. I have the pic but when it asked to attach a file, I did, but then it said it was an invalid file.?

[cre8ivbonsai]

reduce file size to under 1mb and try to attach again

[Jason]

There are also a lot of helpful threads already created for this purpose, I still rely on them despite having posted a lot of images already

Here is the one for posting pictures: viewtopic.php?f=97&t=54&p=165&hilit=%5Btutorial%5D#p165

Just note that the maximum file size is 1mb, not 2mb, which is stated in that thread

Let me know if you're still having issues though, and I'll be happy to help

[Bush bunny]

Beech knob with sprouts..jpg

Many many thanks It was 3 mg and I scanned and reduced to 259 kb. Here goes.

[shibui]

If you are going to do this for certIV you'll need to get the species correct first. That appears to be a Birch - Betula sp. I was a bit worried when you said your beech had catkins?????

I have not tried striking birch as cuttings because they pop up from seed all over but I assume they would be relatively easy to strike. I would saw it off as close to the trunk as possible, treat with rooting compound and keep humidity high (can you use TAFE mist propagation facility?) The branch collar has lots of active cells and will give best possibility of striking roots if you can include it on the cutting - just don't tell your teachers because you will have to demonstrate 'natural target pruning' - leave the branch collar intact to pass the pruning component of the course.

[Bush bunny]

Thanks shibua, actually it was my next door neighbor who told me it was a beech, he was an Assoc.Prof of UNE! But you are right, and I thank you. I'll do more research on Birches.
But I suspect all deciduous are the same anyway. Thank you and any more advice is welcome. I've just made a mistake identifying a plant I got for nothing. Mind you the ID is not settled yet. I've already taken cuttings with no roots of a Chinese flowering and fruiting Quince. My garden.

[Bush bunny]

I am doing the course on line. So have no contact with TAFE in Tamworth as I live in Armidale. We have a rural skills centre in Armidale, but all the greenhouses are now unused, but I did my Cert II hort there, plus Cert IV and Diploma in Organic Agricultural production. I had to sit the final exam three times to pass the diploma. Not being a farmer myself, some things were very very hard but I scraped through in the end. The pass mark was 85%. But now the on line way of doing things is popular and broadens the scope for external or distance students. But I will take your advice, because that is near what I was thinking anyway, except the humidity. But we'll wrap the cutting in a plastic bag for starters.
Thanks again. But soil mix for cutting any suggestions?