‘Black Dragon’ cryptomeria (Cryptomeria japonica, USDA zones 6-9) is a beautiful evergreen tree for the garden. The foliage is a dark green with some twisting shapes that create an unusually contorted figure. It’s an amazing evergreen specimen for Japanese gardens or as focal points. This past spring I took some cuttings of our cryptomeria and this winter I found that they had finally rooted. Here is how I propagated our ‘Black Dragon’ Cryptomeria.
Rooting ‘Black Dragon’ Cryptomeria from Cuttings
In spring I made several cryptomeria cuttings about 3 inches long. I want to experiment with the length of the cutting in the future and see if longer cuttings may root faster. Then I placed the cuttings in a sand medium and put all of them under the shade of a tree. The shade slowed the transpiration of water and kept the cuttings from drying out too quickly.
Loss of water is one of the primary reasons for a cutting to fail.
I watered the cryptomeria whenever I watered my other cuttings with a light spray and checked on them periodically. Throughout the summer no roots formed. Several of the cuttings failed and then in January I checked this cutting and it had roots.
Since the root that formed is rather small I carefully put the cutting back into the sand mixture to let it form more roots. I’ll check it again in spring then pot it up. I’ll leave the other remaining cuttings alone until that point and hopefully have several cryptomeria cuttings to pot up at the same time.
Cryptomeria grows to about 10 feet tall and wide at maturity and prefers a full sun location.
You can see a little more of this cutting in the video below. I’ve cued it to the section on Cryptomeria.
Are you interested in learning more about plant propagation? Here are some past posts that may be interesting to you!
The Care and Propagation of Japanese Dappled Willows
For many years now I have really enjoyed the beauty of our Japanese dappled willows (Salix integra). Japanese dappled willows (or tri-colored willows) are gorgeous shrubby willows that grow up to around 10ft tall. These willows are known for their variegated foliage that emerges initially as pink before gradually turning…
Float Testing Acorns for Viability
The majestic oak is one of Tennessee’s most beautiful native trees. It’s also an extremely useful tree for our local wildlife as it can host over 200 species of insects and animals. You can see why you would want to cultivate more oak trees! Recently I gathered some acorns from…
Protected: Plant Propagation Presentation
For Plant Propagation Videos check out my YouTube Channel: How to Propagate Plants – Links to plant propagation topic and individual plant posts as well as some basic information on propagating plants.
5 Easy Perennials to Propagate from Cuttings
Isn’t it great to have a few easy to propagate plants that you can grow to increase your garden? The plants in the video below are all easy to grow from cuttings. Salvia, catmint, creeping phlox, monarda, and lemon balm. General Propagation Procedures for These Plants (and Many others) Before…
How to Pot Up Rooted Cuttings
Once your plants have rooted they need potted up or planted. In most cases I will pot up the newly rooted cuttings to help them grow stronger and more established root systems before planting in the garden. Potting up cuttings is a very simple process but there are a few…
Fall Plant Propagation Updates: How my Summer Cuttings Rooted
In my latest YouTube video I went through and checked on many of the plants I’ve taking cuttings from this summer. There are a variety of plants in the video including rosemary, ninebark, fothergilla, boxwoods, crape myrtle, and cherry laurels. This was actually the first time I’ve tried rooting fothergilla…
