The Hedge Cutting Results Are In!

OK so at the end of April and the beginning of May I started a hedge cutting's experiment. I trialed three different methods of taking cuttings to see which was best:

1. Bung the cuttings in a pot with some fertiliser
2. A more conventional method i.e. taking it seriously
3. and as above but attempting to root the cuttings in water first

I took 10 cuttings using each method, so a total of 30 in all. Some died along the way (RIP) however 21 were still standing to some extent this weekend. I decided to repot the cuttings in a pot one size larger then their current housing and while doing so I could inspect them to see if their roots had taken.

Of the 21 remaining, 4 had no roots at all leaving 17 in total. Not too shabby, but not out of the woods yet. I assume that a few might perish along the way, especially as the weather cools as some of the roots did not exactly look that healthy. Still 17 still going so far.

So for each method:

1. Of the 10 that were bunged in pots (and I am not talking premier league football bungs) only 3 survived. So 30% success. Interestingly though the root balls on these cuttings were by far the healthiest and largest.
2. Of the more conventional manner of rooting 7 survived through the summer so a higher 70% success rate. The roots on these were larger than the last group, possibly simply because they have been in compost for longer
3. Of the cuttings rooted in water, again a 70% success rate, however as mentioned above the root balls on these were by far the smallest. Describing them as root balls might be stretching it a little. The roots were very immature, however they were definitely taking. Again I am wondering if this is simply because of the fact they have not been in soil as long as the others. Most likely.

The 8 other pots that you see in the foreground of the above picture are 8 other cuttings that I took about 6 weeks ago and have left in water since. I potted these, possibly a little late given Summer is almost over, but lets see what happens.

So varying results. In terms of numbers the latter two, more sensible methods, seem to be correct but in terms of success of each individual plant the crude bung method works a treat also - you will simply get fewer plants taking for your efforts.

There we go.

Cheers

m