FYI, the age (or maturity) of the rootstock has nothing to do with precociousness. It's the characteristics of the particular species or cultivar of the rootstock that matters.

Interesting. In that case, a tree produced by grafting to an uprooted cutting can be ready in a year or less and have the same maturity as the tree taking 3 years to produce.

Thanks Leftwood. I'm learning a lot.

But back to the original question... I'm trying to grow Monkey Puzzle trees from cuttings. I was visualizing monkey cones on tiny trees because i grew them from branch tips of a 50 year old tree.

I'm down to 3 (from 25 cuttings) so this experiment may be doomed. I apparently made one major mistake. The guy giving me advice said shave the stems. I "shaved" by pulling all the leaves off with pliers but he meant with a really shape knife, cutting almost to the the cambium. Oops! Part of the tree is still lying out there so I'm going to check for new growth and maybe have a second chance.

My mind takes a lot of side quests - it's amazing i get anything done.

I didn't explain that well... The 50 year Monkey Puzzle I took the cuttings from was grown from a cutting so I know it can be done. And my tree didn't have its first cones until it was almost 40 years old. But I don't know the age of the tree my tree was originally cut from, maybe a young tree. I took cuttings from the tips, the newest parts of the tree, hence the original question (whatever it was... )

Who was snarky?

Lucy68 said: Interesting. In that case, a tree produced by grafting to an uprooted cutting can be ready in a year or less and have the same maturity as the tree taking 3 years to produce.

I am assuming you meant "unrooted", not "uprooted. Yes, in theory the new tree could produce apples the first season. But, if a plant has the ability to reproduce, doesn't mean it will. Consider that at nurseries, rootstocks grafted with mature cuttings don't bloom for a minimum 2 seasons. I don't know when apples normally mature when grown from seed. It's likely they mature years before they produce fruit.
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Yes, if you were able to actually peel the Monkey Puzzle leaves completely off down to the stem, that might have worked. You need to expose the stem itself to the growing medium and hormone. Remember that the living part of any woody stem is the outside layers, not the wood in the middle. The whole genus is very difficult to root from cuttings, as I understand.

Yes, I meant unrooted.

I'm hoping the tree will produce a couple more suckers before it's completely gone. The local woodworkers are having a fieldday harvesting pieces but I asked them not to cut the trunk by the roots as its still attached to the ground.

Crossing my fingers for a couple more chances.

Good luck

A bunch of plants . Fuchias, geraniums, and odds and ends. Hoping we will warm up soon.

Oh that's interesting, Lucy. I had no idea any species in that genus could ever produce suckers.

Araucaria grow new branches from old wood, like redwoods. They replace branches (each branch lasts about 15 years) by suckering off the trunk. Zoom in on this photo, you can see the suckers all the way up and down the trunks. After it fell, I was amazed at how much dead stuff was in the center of the tree. Its not a tree you can get real close to and survive the encounter.

I read that in the wild Araucaria are endangered species.

Wow! I hadn't heard that. There used to be lots of them up and down the coast, usually in front of very old houses. That's when I fell in love with them. Just Monkey Puzzles though, none of the other Araucarias.

Lucy68 said: Wow! I hadn't heard that. There used to be lots of them up and down the coast, usually in front of very old houses. That's when I fell in love with them. Just Monkey Puzzles though, none of the other Araucarias.

They call it dinosaur tree:
https://owlcation.com/stem/The...

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/17...

This past week I am working on propagating the desert bird of paradise, rose bud Montazuma. I have lots of other projects that I have started seb real weeks ago, like christmad cactus, babies breath, clematis, florist roses and african violets and a few succulents.

I would see the Monkey Puzzle trees now and then in the north of England and Scotland when I was there. Thankfully, they're not endangered in cultivation, only in the wild.

Lucy, when you talked about suckers before, did you meant from the roots, or from the above ground parts, or both?

I think so low on the trunk that it appears from the roots. Another photo:

And this one of a tree I grew from seed:

All my seedlings have been multi-trunked (got the seed from the UK) and the big tree had a second trunk.

Thanks, Lucy. As you may have guessed, I kinda have a special interest in this tree. A friend of mine back in the 1980s grew one in the ground here in Minnesota for several years. His winter treatment to keep it warm enough was quite elaborate, but it got too big I think (3ft) to protect adequately.

Yeah, that's a little cold for a Monkey Puzzle. I'm struggling with mine in a pot although the tree in the ground was good for 50 years.

I was thinking of getting more seeds but after 15 years, my potted tree is only a couple feet tall. On the other hand, I don't need to worry about it outgrowing its container. If the Monkey Puzzle project doesn't work, I'll think about more seeds.

My new project is Ginkgo biloba. I ordered a Ginkgo biloba 'gokusho-ba' from a really good nursery about a month ago. It finally arrived last week but a branch had been ripped off pre-shipment leaving a big hole in the trunk about 1.5 ft from ground level. I doubt the trunk will heal to hold up an entire tree so I thought I would cut my losses by removing the top before it has a chance to remove itself.


So,... I've been reading up on Ginkgo propagation. It doesn't sound too difficult. My book says use "elongating terminal shoots." The way Ginkgos grow in spring, I could have millions of trees in no time at all!

Yes, I did contact the nursery. I have ordered from them before and their trees are always wonderful and well worth the price. The Customer Service lady gave me a 25% discount and extended their warranty from 45 days to a year. She also told me it would heal and be fine, just use some pruning seal. As I got essentially half a tree, it seems to me a 50% refund would be a better enticement to get me to shop there again.

I bought one of these as a seedling from somewhere a few years ago, I can't remember where now. It was about 6 inches tall. Unfortunately due to my own negligence (it got stuck back in a corner of the greenhouse between other larger plants) it didn't get adequate water and it died. I'm not sure they will grow in Florida, will they? Is it too wet here?

Ginkgo? I think your area may be just a little too warm for them. I have a huge one out in the yard that has done well but consider my zone at the upper hardiness limit. But if I'm successful, I'll mail you one.