I think as many of us as possible try this we’ll learn a heck of a lot. I’m going to try it on just about anything and everything.
August: Toothpick Rooting Technique
Dax
Thats an interesting method. It claims to be successful because “all cuttings need to callus before they will root”.
I too believed this to be true. But is it really a fact? I did some research in rooting cuttings and using rooting hormone. I stumbled over this website
http://www.rhizopon.com/en/stektabel
It is from a known producer of rooting hormones. There under the point “water” it actually claims this “Although many believe that callus is beneficial for root formation, the opposite is actually true. Callus hinders and slows down root formation.”.
I was quite perplex reading that. I tried to look into it more but didn’t find further explanations.
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This part of toothpick instructions make no sense to me: “2. Place the block of wood behind that point and make a single VERTICAL cut all the way through the stem, just below the bud.”
I guess it should be “make a Diagonal cut partially through the stem” or " make a HORIZONTAL cut partially through the stem." Am I not understanding this?
Edit:
Based on replies I didn’t understand the directions correctly. Step 2 is to make a vertical slit in the stem.
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When it comes to working with plants there is no shortage of contradictory information. Too often it is more art then science.
I read it as stabbing the knife through the stem and making a slit, so the stem is still attached to the plant, but has a split in it. The toothpick goes in between the two sides of the slit to hold them apart?
I’m just figuring; I have nevermind heard of this before 
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Excellent.
Dax
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I’m curious why there is an emphasis on putting the toothpick through the growth from the previous year. I’ve always thought to take the cutting from current year growth, but this suggests it will work better with 2 year old wood as the actual part you are trying to root. Or am I reading it wrong?
If this is the case, then for some plants you would have super long cuttings to try to root or else you would be cutting away much of the current year growth on top.
Maybe I’ll try it on some blueberries, and Carmine Jewel and Juliet cherries.
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I hope you do.
I really want someone to have a go at PAWPAWS and PERSIMMONS.
You know I’ve done maybe 50 already today and I’m trying oaks, maples, birches, bald cypress, viburnums, deciduous azaleas, japanese maples, sweet cherry; easy to root conifers and some I’ve had some success with in the past (Alaskan cypress); I’ve done paperbark maple, acer triflorum, acer truncatum, acer rubrum; I did about 8-10 serviceberry; Rhododendron;
I’m finally making it toward my orchard but came in to cool off for a minute. Going to go do grapes, then plums, peaches/nectarines, apricots, apples. I think I have some short growth on one pecan cultivar. I’ll get that hit.
LET’s GET THOSE PAWPAWS TRIED. I don’t have plants here to try this method.
Dax
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Hi Zenny,
I did peaches yesterday on this years growth at the very base where I could find rigidity. I know along the way I did other plants too, like that. Like you said, I had no other option.
A friend texted back this morning that dipping the toothpicks in a wet IBA solution (Dip n’ Grow’ for example) is probably a good idea. However, yesterday I stuck the tips of groups of twos to fives in my mouth and all it took was 30-seconds to a minute for them to become too soft to push thru. I’m now thinking that dipping them into the IBA and allowing them to dry and then head into the field is a pretty darn good idea. Gonna have to wear gloves of course.
Dax
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I stuck 12-14 pawpaws yesterday and 6-8 persimmons.
Wishing everyone who tries this success.
Dax
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Wow. Not believing that one.
Once plant tissue is damaged a redifferentiation of the cells begins to seal the wound and preserve the plant (remember, stop the bleeding, start the breathing). This guy may not see it happen but a callous HAS to happen to preserve the plant before roots form. A callous is a group of non differentiated cells formed from the cambium. These then differentiate to roots, or whatever the hormones of the plant (or exogenous hormones) promote. We’ve all seen roots form out of callous tissue. It is just an intermediate (and necessary) step.
Just sayin’ 
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I’m still not certain about this. Maybe both can be true depending of the kind of plant and cutting and the kind of callus we are referring to? 
If you say callus is necessary to close a wound and preserve a cutting I would agree. But is that the kind of callus you would call necessary for root developement? I have seen root developement from unhurt buds and stem tissue. So they can form from this tissue without callus. That seems to negate the necessarity of callus developement for root developement. And can we be sure roots did form “from” callus and not just “through” callus?
I did a little more reading about this topic and it seems there are different results in research about this. Some cuttings seem to root better from (through) callus and others do better without callus.
Here is one of those links.
http://www.avocadosource.com/WAC1/WAC1_p039.pdf
The paper supports your thesis. But in the discussion at the end of the paper it mentions other researchers that found no connection between callus and root formation. Its only one example but opinions about this seem to differ.
When I find some time I will try to find more about this.
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As undifferentiated cells they can develop into anything according to the hormones.
So how do the cells of the stem (cambium/xylem/phloem) ‘all of a sudden’ turn into root cells? The plant forms intermediate cells (in response to stimulus). A collection (visible) of these kinds of intermediate cells at a wound is called a callous. How many of these transition cells does it take to be officially called a callous? So maybe we are into semantics here. That is, transitional cells need to form. Too many (aka visible to the eye) of these may impair rooting (perhaps, but I doubt it, just from an Intelligent Design perspective). More likely ‘excess’ callousing may delay rooting or require more/dif hormone to push towards root development.
Good discussion you two. I don’t believe that stuff at all about non-calloused material and root development except if there are certain Genus/species that are listed so I could gather more reading material and/or photographs depicting it to show me. It may be they’re talking about some tropical Genus’/species’ from islands in the ocean that no-one has ever seen nor could they ever get to them either. Who knows?
Everything I’ve observed on my own or thru others work has always made callous tissue first. It’s true for grafts, as well.
Anyway, call me a skeptic for now.
Dax
Bend a branch to the ground and put some dirt on it. Eventually there will be roots. I don’t know for sure but I don’t think callous is involved.
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It’s getting late in the season for me since I only root cuttings outside. It will be worth a try next year using the toothpick method and also Alcedo’s method.
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Well, I wonder about things that readily root from the stem, like figs, currants, some perennial shrubs and of course tomatoes, etc. With things like that, y can just pin a branch to the ground with a rock and it will root into the ground within a few weeks/months without any need to wound it. I wonder specifically how the ground contact / moisture triggers the change, but either way their must either be an intermediate cell stage as @JustAnne4 suggests or perhaps the plant is able to sense the favorable rooting environment and new root cells are created directly. Maybe I’m missing something or other research explains it.
Really, I’m just happy that some things root so easily. I can just accept it as magic as long as it works.
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True that, true that. I’ve always assumed and I would guess now that I’m wrong that the nodules that form on fig cuttings or tomatoes would be callous tissue of some kind.
I don’t know any better I guess.
Thanks for pointing that out to me, zen.
@JustAnne4 same valid point I’m sure.
I’m retiring from this now
Dax
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Are there any updates about the toothpick rooting technique yet?