A couple months ago I managed to root a dogwood tree from cuttings. Only 1 of 3 cuttings rooted but I still considered it a success. After all it was the first time I had managed to root a dogwood tree from a cutting. You would be happy to! Since then I did another experiment. These are the cuttings I took in the how to propagate dogwood video (YouTube Link) I put together. Today I’m very happy to share the results. Keep in mind this is for Cornus florida but other tree dogwoods should root similarly. Red twig or yellow twig dogwoods are in fact a lot easier than tree dogwoods to root.
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Cutting Size Matters
We’ve all heard the saying “Size matters Not” but actually, it might! Sorry Yoda! The cuttings I took in this batch were different sizes. The smaller ones were all successful while the larger one failed. the smaller ones were 3-4 nodes and only 3-4 inches long. The longer cutting was 5 nodes and was about 6-7 inches long.
I believe the smaller dogwood cuttings rooted because they had less vegetation to maintain and the energy could go into the roots and keep the cutting alive at the same time. This was a very small sample size with only 4 cuttings, getting a 75% rate, but I’ll take more cuttings in the future and observe how they do.
The cuttings were taken in June and took just under 8 weeks to get to the point you see in the picture.
Dogwood Tree rooting tips
- Take shorter 3-4 node cuttings no more than 4 inches long
- Use Hormodin 3 rooting hormone
- Keep under lights if possible out of direct sun
- Root in 6-8 weeks.
These young dogwoods are now ready to be potted up and grown on, and I’m looking forward to planting them in the yard next year.
The complete how to post is here if you would like more info: How to Propagate Dogwood Trees from Cuttings.
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