Okame Cherry cuttings

I want to know if anyone has tried propagating Okame Cherry (prunus campanulata x incisa). I have a Okame Cherry tree in my backyard that flowers in early spring.

How will hardwood cuttings do if I take them in late winter/early spring?

Here is an update to my experiment:

I took a hardwood cutting and the buds have swollen. One of the buds is showing fresh green growth. I am not yet out of the woods... once I see prominent leaves, then I might conclude that Okame Cherry can be grown from hardwood cuttings.

By the way, I did not use any rooting hormone or any heated pad.

I asked a friend who is a propagator how he does it. Here on the coast he takes softwood cuttings in April, and treats with a hormone. He also said they are pretty fragile that first year as far as the roots go, so they must be handled gently.

Campanulata (Taiwan cherry) does very well here, the Japanese cherries don't. Okame is great here too, I'm surprised it's happy as far north as you are.

R

I've taken some cutting of a prunus of mine (lusitanica), stick them in ground and they are doing very well. Some leaves are begining to show.

I know it's earlier to say but for now it's doing ok.

It's not the same cultivar but, they are prunus... try it, you loose nothing!

João Santos

suburbia wrote:I want to know if anyone has tried propagating Okame Cherry (prunus campanulata x incisa). I have a Okame Cherry tree in my backyard that flowers in early spring.

How will hardwood cuttings do if I take them in late winter/early spring?

Suburbia,

I have taken many many cuttings of x Okame with great success. I usually take them in the early summer once the current seasons growth has hardened off. Use of a medium strength root hormone and keeping them in a high hummidity environment will improve your rate of success.

Russell,
Apparently, Okame Cherry grows well in Chicago. I have a young tree that I planted in Spring of 2008 growing healthily in my backyard.

Randy / Joao,
Thanks for your reponse. A lot of people have told me that most small leaved prunus species propagate well from softwood cuttings in summer; that includes Fuji and Taiwan cherry.

Guess what, the first bud that swelled and sprouted was actually a flower. I had to nip it off to avoid the flower draining all the energy away from the cutting. Hopefully, the other swelling buds are leaves.

Interesting. Most sources list Okame as hardy to Zone 6b. A few claim it for Zone 5. Chicago itself is Zone 5b, while its suburbs away from the lake are in 5a. I wouldn't bet on Okame in the garden in Central NY, but as a bonsai, I could probably winter it in the ground with a rose cone.
For readers from other climates, a rose cone is a structure a couple of feet high made of very thick Styrofoam. You put it over a dormant plant in the fall and take it off in the spring (end of March-early April around here). It will gain you one or two hardiness zones.
Iris