As always I’m excited to get new plants through plant propagation and I’m pretty excited to add 5 new dwarf arborvitae to the collection! I bought the ‘Little Giant’ arborvitae (Thuja occindentalis) last fall on the discount rack and planted two of them in the birdbath garden on either side of the pathway to the bench spot. The idea was to create a formal look to the small pathway by placing symmetrical plantings flanking the path. ‘Little Giant’ is a small rounded arborvitae that gets about 4′ in size.
How Long Does it Take to Root Arborvitae?
I took the arborvitae cuttings in August and they took about 8-10 weeks to get to this stage. Right now they only have small tiny roots emerging from the nodes. I transferred the rooted cuttings into 4 inch pots with a soil mix to grow on longer before planting.
Can You Root Arborvitae in Winter?
Arborvitae can be successfully rooted over the winter but rooting tends to be slower. The advantage of taking winter cuttings of arborvitae is that they need a lot less maintenance. The cut ends will begin callusing and you will only need to maintain the moisture levels for your cuttings. They will not dry out as fast as growing season cuttings will. You want to increase rooting speed you can adjust the speed of rooting by adding bottom heat with a seedling heat mat. For cuttings over the winter leave them in their potting medium until they have some good root growth in the spring.
How Long Does it Take for Arborvitae to root?
It depends on timing but generally you should have roots in 6 to 8 weeks. I have left cuttings alone for a whole season before replanting with very good success. If you do your cuttings in the winter you should have roots forming a few weeks into warmer weather. I recommend always to leave the cuttings alone until you see roots emerging from the drainage holes of the pots you are using. That’s usually a good sign that they are ready to transplant.
Here is a more complete step by step post on Arborvitae Propagation.
I’m hoping to take cuttings from our ‘Emerald Green’ arborvitae as well as several other evergreens soon (possibly ‘Otto Luyken’ Laurel, ‘Golden Globe’ arborvitae, and boxwoods).
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I had no idea you could root arborvitae. What a great idea. My arborvitae got a bit crispy in the heat and drought this year. I may need this to start new ones off the one that looks the best. Good luck with all your cuttings.
I have Lemon Geraniums and magenta Coleus that I am going to propagate. Both originally came from cuttings and are doing very well in my Southern California garden!
I am going to try this. Never attempted rooting arborvitae.
I remember being quite excited having successfully intuited and laid out our materials needs and I used Alex’s figures for what we would need concerning labor. I had shopped the plant list, found reasonable soil and compost suppliers and received much praise from the owner for my contribution. I was positively aglow and barely able to contain my enthusiasm for the project.