Trying (unsuccessfully) to root elder cuttings

[Kent88]

For the second consecutive year I am trying to root elderberry cuttings I took. I'd like to make some elderberry wine and/or elderberry lambic with home-grown berries.

Last year I seemed to have a pretty good number of cuttings leaf out and look really nice before they fell apart, with the last of them dying in June. This year I tried again and I've just lost two that looked nice, and I only have three more that have leafed out. They look decent enough... most of the time.

Has anyone managed to root elder successfully?

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Not with elderberry bushes specifically but I've done basil cuttings several times. What's your process?

If it works anything like basil you might be better off starting in water only until the roots begin to develop. If you've got a bright light it probably wouldn't hurt to keep it under there for a while. Change out the water every day or two and I would think it would take off eventually.

Found this article that might be of use
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/elderberry/rooting-elderberry-cuttings.htm

 

[Kent88]

My process...

Last year, I brought some rooting hormone to the site where I took the cuttings. I immediately dipped them in rooting hormone and put them in water. I then left them in water until I saw plenty of leaf growth, and then I put them in some compost mixed with topsoil. Throughout the process I kept them by windows with a decent amount of sunlight, south facing early on, then south-west facing.

This year I took the cuttings, put them in water for a day or so, applied rooting hormone, then put them in a store bought starting medium/soil. I figured I didn't want to wash off the rooting hormone right away. They're still in a south facing window.

 

[twd000]

I'm trying this for the first time this year. Rooting some 1/2" diameter cuttings from a elder tree at a friend's house.

I root my cuttings in a soil-less mix - equal parts sand, peat moss, and perlite. They don't need nutrition from topsoil or compost yet, and those tend to be heavier ingredients. You want light weight, easily drained mixture.

I've rooted some cuttings in water in the past but I read that water roots are not the same as soil roots - they are weaker and don't transition as well once they are potted up.

If you got the elder to leaf out, that is half the battle. What did the roots look like when you pulled them out? Weak and rotted? May have been over-watered. It takes 2-3 weeks for a sturdy rooted cutting to take hold, depending on temperature and sunlight.

 

[Kent88]

What did the roots look like when you pulled them out?

I don't know. I didn't think to check the roots after they died. I'll have to do that.

 

[Kent88]

If you got the elder to leaf out, that is half the battle. What did the roots look like when you pulled them out? Weak and rotted?

Finally got some time to inspect the roots. What do you think?

 

[twd000]

Boy the size of those roots indicate you were close to success. Had you started moving it into full sunlight yet? I see some white spots on the stem and roots- is that some sort of mold or fungus? Sometimes when I root in peat moss I have to break the tendency to overwater. I now wait until the leaves just start to wilt before watering, so I know I'm not rotting the roots

 

[Kent88]

They were in my basement next to a south facing window. Plenty of light through the middle of the day. Still fairly cool temperature compared to the rest of the house.

Perhaps I should rinse the roots and the stems and take another picture. I'm not sure if the white on there is the rooting hormone powder or some kind of mold.

I've probably been overwatering the survivors for the past week or so. I was actually worried that I was underwatering. I keep these in 4" peat pots, and for a while I was just trying to keep the peat pot itself a little damp. These two dying got me jittery that they weren't getting enough water.

 

[CodeSection]

They were in my basement next to a south facing window. Plenty of light through the middle of the day. Still fairly cool temperature compared to the rest of the house.

Perhaps I should rinse the roots and the stems and take another picture. I'm not sure if the white on there is the rooting hormone powder or some kind of mold.

I've probably been overwatering the survivors for the past week or so. I was actually worried that I was underwatering. I keep these in 4" peat pots, and for a while I was just trying to keep the peat pot itself a little damp. These two dying got me jittery that they weren't getting enough water.

When I enlarge your pictures, the white spots do not look like mold. Instead, they look like the hormone powder that you used. Especially, the round and oval clumps......

 

[Kent88]

I have two left. I noticed that the roots were getting through the peat pots, so I just put them in bigger pots. Here are some pictures of them before they settled into their new pots.

 

[Kent88]

Just an update, I have one elder cutting still thriving. The other...

 

[Dinadan]

Has anyone managed to root elder successfully?

If you have access to mature berries, have you tried just planting them? I have never tried to root elderberry. But, I have to uproot it every year. It definitely springs vigorously from the seeds here in my garden. (Alabama) I think it takes only one summer to go from sprout to six feet tall. It probably grows more slowing in the Midwest, but it should still sprout.

 

[Kent88]

I have not tried to grow them from seeds. I've considered it, but I thought maybe rooting cuttings would save me time. If I can get some berries this year maybe I'll throw them in the fridge and try sprouting them in the spring.

I think I'm slowly getting the hang of this. I kept a few alive for longer than I did last year, and I have ideas for next year.

This year I didn't rinse off the rooting hormone and I put the cuttings in soil soon after collecting them. I didn't have the cuttings get covered in green slime waiting for roots to develop like last year.

I gave them hydroponic fertilizer for a while, I think that was a good move. An easy access source of nutrients for the cuttings new roots is probably a good idea. I just need to not overwater when I feed them.

I'm getting a better eye for how much water is too much. I think that is what killed my last cutting. It shouldn't be an issue with my remaining cutting, as the roots have expanded enough I think I can water from the bottom tray rather than from the top.

I'm starting to question how much light they need. The last one to die had more direct sunlight than my remaining cutting. Not by much, though. My remaining cutting is stretching out a bit to get better light. I think I'll keep letting it do that. It seems stable enough, for now.

 

[Kent88]

One still going strong. Roots poking through the drainage holes in the pot:

 

[Kent88]

I guess since I have new content to share, I'll also say that one of these cuttings is still going. I need to plant it out in a yard this fall.

But now I'm trying new growth cuttings rather than hardwood. It worked wonderfully for currants last year, so I thought I would also try with elder. There was something growing in a spot where it definitely wouldn't survive a transplant, so I cut it off on Friday or Saturday and put it into some potting soil. It almost immediately fell over and looked near death, but I watered it heavily and kept it out of direct sunlight, and here it is on Tuesday:

So I guess the lessons I will take from this are

• New growth cuttings (mid May in my climate) are a perfectly good option for elder
• Keep cuttings out of direct sunlight for a couple days. Don't put them in complete darkness. Acclimate them to more light after that.
• Keep the medium they're in damp, maybe looking slightly over-watered for the first couple days. Then try to water through the bottom.
• Don't give up on them if they only look mostly dead, keep watering until there's no doubt that they're dead