forsythia cuttings

I did search the forums first, honest.thanks for previous replies,wot a nice bunch youz guys are.How long can a forsythia cutting be?I've waited diligently for july/august for semi hardwood cuttings time to come (or whichever it is) and come it has but the shoots are now three foot long.Do I really have to just wop the last four inches off and bin the rest?I'm using them for standards,five foot lolly's on a stick,and if I could root a three foot cutting I'd be half way there already.can it be done?

 

I tried to take cuttings of Jasminum Stephanense in case I lost it when I moved it. It has quite long shoots and finding some that were only 4" long with some leaves was difficult. One by one most of the cuttings failed - and as they did it was the longer ones that went first.

I don't know enough about this yet, but I'm guessing that with no roots, there's not enough moisture being pushed up the stem, therefore the smaller the stem the more likely it will stay alive long enough for the roots to develop.

Fortsythia's grow at quite a lick anyway, but I believe with all cuttings it's about being patient while the roots form.

I suspect to keep something several feet long alive it would need to be grafted onto something else, probably not worth the effort!

 

what you say does seem kinda obvious now you mention it .I was expecting it to be something complex about hormones passing from the tip and transfoming into something else on the way down the shoot.Nice car any chance of a cutting?Thanx for the reply.

 

If possible humulus you could try layering, but thats providing you can pull the shoots down to ground level.
Its just an idea, but a cutting rooted this year would grow like a rocket next year if fed and watered and kept to a single stem.