# Redwood propagation advice



## Philobite

All,

I'm looking for advice on techniques to propagate redwoods from cuttings. I'd like to do cuttings off our own redwood trees to do reforestation instead of buying seedlings from elsewhere.

Thanks, Eric


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## Sprig

Philobite said:


> All,
> 
> I'm looking for advice on techniques to propagate redwoods from cuttings. I'd like to do cuttings off our own redwood trees to do reforestation instead of buying seedlings from elsewhere.
> 
> Thanks, Eric


Don't really know how well they'll grow from a cuttings as you'll be basically growing just a branch, so I have my doubts, that said 'rooting hormone' should work. Seeds are available from many sources, just google 'em. Oh, I believe this was also discussed here in early '06 (?), try to search it out.

 & welcome to AS!

Serge


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## Frank Boyer

The CA Dept of Forestry sells them for cheap in Ben Lomond. They sell them by 500 and 1000 lots. You could still get them this winter.


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## Philobite

Frank Boyer said:


> The CA Dept of Forestry sells them for cheap in Ben Lomond. They sell them by 500 and 1000 lots. You could still get them this winter.



Frank, do you have a phone number for Ben Lomond CDF? I can't find it on the CDF website. Thanks!


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## Sprig

should be able to track down the info you need here> http://www.fire.ca.gov/resource_mgt/resource_mgt_statenurseries.php



Serge

And good luck on yer new forest


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## windthrown

Be careful when buying and transporting live redwoods. They are on the list of restricted trees suseptible to and carriers of Sudden Oak Death (SOD). Counties on CA and OR that are infected are not going to be allowed to send those cuttings to other counties in either state unless they are certified SOD free. Ben Lomand is in Santa Cruz Co., a restricted county. 

I have tried to make hundreds of redwood cuttings from stems and branches, and few have ever rooted. I tried to clone some of the great old trees that I found in central California (before the SOD restriction was put into place). I used heeled cuttings (stem with about an inch of the branch that the stem grew from) which are the recommended method. I have found that it is actually faster to grow redwoods from seeds, and seeds are not restricted by SOD transport. Redwood seedlings seem to grow faster than cuttings do.


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## Frank Boyer

[email protected] or call the Magalia Reforestation Center at (530) 872-6301. 

They said that 2004 budget cuts limited their supply.

I get small volunteer redwoods from seed all over my property.

This site had seeds for $100 a pound.


F.W. Schumacher Co.
36 Spring Hill Road 
Sandwich, MA 02563-1023 U.S.A.
Telephone 508-888-0659
FAX: 508-833-0322


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## M.D. Vaden

Frank Boyer said:


> [email protected] or call the Magalia Reforestation Center at (530) 872-6301.
> 
> They said that 2004 budget cuts limited their supply.
> 
> I get small volunteer redwoods from seed all over my property.
> 
> This site had seeds for $100 a pound.
> 
> 
> F.W. Schumacher Co.
> 36 Spring Hill Road
> Sandwich, MA 02563-1023 U.S.A.
> Telephone 508-888-0659
> FAX: 508-833-0322



I read the number of seeds per pound somewhere last month.

But just how many seeds are there in a pound?

I remember that ryegrass has several hundred thousand, and bentgrass has over 5 million seeds per pound. But I don't know any numbers for tree seeds per pound.

For redwoods, wouldn't a pound have thousands of seeds per pound?

Is a pound the minimum order? Or could somebody buy ounces of seeds?


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## windthrown

There are lots of Redwood seeds for sale on Ebay by the 50 and 100 count lot. Be sure to order Coastal Redwoods though, as they sell Dawn Redwood and Giant Sequoias there as redwoods too. I have a large dawn redwood, and it is a nice tree. Loses it leaves this time of year.


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## Philobite

Thanks for the replies all.

I was hoping to propagate from trees on our own place, since they're obviously adapted to this micro-climate. But if it doesn't work well to do that then seedlings or seeds may be the trick. Maybe I'll try an experiment with seeds.

We get lots of volunteer fir trees, but I generally try to knock them out and rebalance back to redwood. The redwoods do sprout well from stumps and roots after felling, but not as much from volunteer seeds for some reason. I understand from some of the old-timers that forest fires here used to help get the seeds going.

BTW, we're a SOD county (Mendocino). None on our place, but lots in the valley we live in.


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## windthrown

Sorry to hear that (Mendo + SOD). I love the Anderson Valley. Best pinot noir is at Navarro Vineyards. One good thing about redwoods is that you do not have to replant them after logging. We have mostly volunteer grand (piss) firs that sprouts all over, as well as some Doug firs. Redwoods should do well here, and I have been planting some of the cuttings that have rooted. My brother has a huge grove of redwoods just outside of Portland. Everyone thinks that they are cedars, but they are coastal redwoods.


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## Philobite

windthrown said:


> I love the Anderson Valley. Best pinot noir is at Navarro Vineyards.


Ha! My nearest neighbor is the winemaster at Navarro! Great guy. His daughter teaches ballet class to ours. He's been narrowly missed by a SCUD missile during Gulf War I!! You'll get a kick out of this: He called me because he'd been cutting down a madrone tree and it had fallen the wrong way and gotten hung up in a crotch. Very dangerous. So I took my loader over and grabbed it down for him. He proceeded to _try _to cut it up (emphasis on try). I watched him work on one cut for a couple minutes. It was smoking hot! and the chain was hanging down at least an inch from the bar.

So I asked him when was the last time he sharpened the chain. He replied with that puzzled look, "sharpened?" Hey, when was the last time you put bar oil in that Stihl man? Reply, "Bar oil?" Just then his Israeli wife comes over and shakes her head and wags her finger at him, "Oh Jeem, Jeem. Let Eric cut zee vood. You goink to keel yourzelf."

Oh well, still the best pinot maker in the world. Just keep him away from zee zaw.



windthrown said:


> One good thing about redwoods is that you do not have to replant them after logging.


True that. I stand amazed at how vigorous and prolific they are following the logging season. If you want more redwoods, log 'em.


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## joesawer

I have heard many times that redwood seeds need fire in order to regenerate well. This is just what I have been told by those who are supposed to know.
It is supposedly one reason that the hated and demonized slash and burn clearcuts of the past came back so well.


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## windthrown

joesawer said:


> I have heard many times that redwood seeds need fire in order to regenerate well. This is just what I have been told by those who are supposed to know.
> It is supposedly one reason that the hated and demonized slash and burn clearcuts of the past came back so well.



Don't need to slash or burn redwood cuts though. The stumps all re-sprout on their own! Doug firs do well after fires, as do Monetery Pines. They both need lots of light and fire is a means of natural clearing.


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## windthrown

Been doing more research on this one, and it seeems that most redwood seeds are not viable, and they are indeed tiny! As quoted from Sacramento County UC master gardener Liz Haines, "A single tree may produce 6 million seeds a year, but the seeds are so tiny that a million seeds weigh only 8 pounds. Unfortunately, 95 percent of the seeds are not viable and of those that do germinate, very few actually grow into seedlings.

Instead of relying on seeds, the lumber industry propagates redwoods by sprouting redwood buds cut from burls collected from the base of a redwood tree. A burl is stem tissue that forms at the base of young trees. It never elongates into a shoot but is a reservoir of dormant buds that can sprout new growth should the parent tree die. 

The burl tissue provides a source of carbohydrates to its growing sprouts and can generate roots. The burl buds are placed in glass tubes filled with a small amount of water. After the small tree is well rooted, it is planted in long fiber tubes filled with coarse compost to encourage heavy root growth. The tree is ready for field planting in late winter when it is about 12 to 18 inches long." 

So, instead of rooting heeled cutting on redwoods like I have before, I will try burlwood cuttings. I can use my brother's redwood trees in Portland as sources, and avoid any chance of transporting SOD from CA (also legal).


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## Frank Boyer

I live in Redwood country. We have seedlings sprouting all over. They love to sprout in flower beds/pots. After they are about a foot tall we move them to where we want them. Dec to Feb works well for transplanting. They need water the first year or so. Get some seeds and plant them in a flower bed and see what happens.


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## Elmore

Philobite said:


> All,
> 
> I'm looking for advice on techniques to propagate redwoods from cuttings. I'd like to do cuttings off our own redwood trees to do reforestation instead of buying seedlings from elsewhere.
> 
> Thanks, Eric



If Sequoia sempervirens, some root at 90%. Use terminal or lateral cuttings in March. 8000 ppm IBA, mist, peat : perlite and bottom heat. Cuttings may callus rapidly and this needs to be rubbed off. Stake the strongest shoot and trim back the others to develop a leader.
If Sequoia giganteum, more difficult. Winter cuttings, 2000 to 4000 ppm IBA-quick dip, organic medium. Cuttings from young trees root in satisfactory numbers

Info from The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation/From Seed to Tissue Culture by Michael A. Dirr and Charles W. Heuser, Jr.

peatperlite


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## Philobite

Elmore,

Sequoia Sempervirens is what we have - Just the info I was looking for. Thanks!


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## Elmore

Philobite said:


> Elmore,
> 
> Sequoia Sempervirens is what we have - Just the info I was looking for. Thanks!




My pleasure. I used to live in an old Redwood forest near Pescadero.
Look for the book.
I have a friend back here in Dixie who roots some in small pots placed in large, clear plastic kitty litter containers. Places some water in the bottom to supply the moisture and controls that moisture within the container by venting the lid.
Good luck.


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## Dan Dill

windthrown said:


> Don't need to slash or burn redwood cuts though. The stumps all re-sprout on their own! Doug firs do well after fires, as do Monetery Pines. They both need lots of light and fire is a means of natural clearing.



One thing to note about burning vs not burning is that in some locations your sprouts will take from the top section of the stump and may be prone to windthrow as they grow and the stump slowly rots. The burnt stump sprouts from the ground level and the roots and is not prown to this problem.

Best this to do is call a nursery. There is an orchid nursery with greenhouses and labs in both Alton and Loleta California that does redwood cultivar clones from your cuttings. I do not have the number, but you might find it during a search.


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## Sprig

windthrown said:


> Been doing more research on this one, and it seeems that most redwood seeds are not viable, and they are indeed tiny! As quoted from Sacramento County UC master gardener Liz Haines, "A single tree may produce 6 million seeds a year, but the seeds are so tiny that a million seeds weigh only 8 pounds. Unfortunately, 95 percent of the seeds are not viable and of those that do germinate, very few actually grow into seedlings.
> 
> Instead of relying on seeds, the lumber industry propagates redwoods by sprouting redwood buds cut from burls collected from the base of a redwood tree. A burl is stem tissue that forms at the base of young trees. It never elongates into a shoot but is a reservoir of dormant buds that can sprout new growth should the parent tree die.
> 
> The burl tissue provides a source of carbohydrates to its growing sprouts and can generate roots. The burl buds are placed in glass tubes filled with a small amount of water. After the small tree is well rooted, it is planted in long fiber tubes filled with coarse compost to encourage heavy root growth. The tree is ready for field planting in late winter when it is about 12 to 18 inches long."
> 
> So, instead of rooting heeled cutting on redwoods like I have before, I will try burlwood cuttings. I can use my brother's redwood trees in Portland as sources, and avoid any chance of transporting SOD from CA (also legal).


Thats very cool Windy! Keep us posted on your results as I know there have been a few folks trying the same thing. I have never heard of 'burl buds' before but it makes sense. I am wondering if digging out opportunistic sprouts works too if you get a goodly amount of the surrounding soil? Nm, I see Frank B. answered that very question, and great info there Elmore too, I have what I believe to be a black spuce, banzai, that we have used as a x-mas tree for the last 10 or so years and I think I may try to root some sprigs as there is new terminal (end?) growth, cool beans as thall would say 
Just wonderin' 



Serge


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## techdave

*Wow, nice posts you guys*

Good to see Redwoods getting looked after all across the country!


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