In 1940, my mother and father brought a son into this world. On his first Christmas, they got a live cedar tree for the Christmas tree, and planted it afterward. They had 5 children in all, and did the same for each. Four of the trees are still living ( and all 5 children are still living, thank OG.
Now to today. My sister lives on the old homestead and called me today to remove a broken branch from one of the trees. It happened to be on the tree planted on my first Christmas in 1942. The tree is still healthy, and the branch is green. I cut it off and brought it home.
My question is this- is it possible to grow another tree from this branch?
And, how would I go about it?
I doubt it. An entire branch requires too many nutrients to survive from a cut end. You can clone a tree from a twig or a leaf (some easier than others), but it takes a lot of luck.
You can get auxins, i.e. rooting compound, at many garden stores.
That said, it’s the wrong time of year, and you’d have to move fast to maybe get something. That cut off branch is degrading by the hour.
It might be better to do a little research on the process this winter, and try it with a fresh branch in the coming spring.
Thanks. The branch is large enough to get quite a few cuttings from the fresh growth on the ends. Maybe I can pot them or keep them in water till the right time to grow them?
Some of the wood is large enough for me to dry and use for small woodworking projects.
It is red cedar and quite aromatic.
Tree cuttings require a moist environment to root.
I used cut apple tree twigs about March first to mark seeds for a plastic cold frame. In May when I was transplanting, the twigs had leaves. They lived until mid summer, and that was because I didn’t want them, so I let them dry out. Little root nubs were around the circumference of the inner bark on the bottom of the cut. I never new that apple trees could be rooted.