Contorted Hazel

[fred876]

As I get older I am finding it more difficult to look after our Contorted Hazel. It's been in place around 25 years. The number of whips that grow up from the root stock increases every year with me cutting them off. I am now finding it very hard to remove them.
I have told my wife that it will have to go but she is not happy. Is it possible to grow a replacement from a cutting from the contorted part? I am thinking that there would then be no whips growing from the base.

 

[cpp gardener]

Yes, you can grow contorted hazel from cuttings. You need a rooting hormone with IAA or IBA. Dip a freshly cut stem in the hormone powder/liquid and then plant it in potting soil. Keep it moist and warm. It should root in a couple of months. It is easier and faster with softwood cuttings in the Spring, but hardwood cuttings in winter will also work.

 

[Owdboggy]

Sorry to disagree, but no matter what you do, Hazel does not grow from cuttings.

 

[cpp gardener]

According to West Coast Nut Magazine and Oregon State University it can be done but requires IBA ( indole-butyric acid ) as a rooting hormone for success. They also recommend bottom heat (75* or so) and time (about 2 months). Not the easiest project, but it can be done. Apparently root suckers are easier, but those would be regular Hazels and not contorted.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Apparently root suckers are easier, but those would be regular Hazels and not contorted.

Does that mean that the contortion is grafted onto a conventional rootstock? If it is that might be an easier way way to go, the suckers would give lots of opportunities to provide a rootstock. I also wonder if the contorted version's natural rootstock is not all that great if nurseries bother to graft. I can't think of any other explanation. The root stock usually controls the form of the upper plant though, as in dwarfing, is the contortion down to something like an infection?

 

[cpp gardener]

Grafting is probably faster considering the numbers. I'm not sure if the contorted form produces many suckers, that could slow down the process if they don't produce many. I believe the contortion is genetic and not viral.
If it's easy enough to produce lots of standard rootstocks from normal plants and slower to produce contorted plants from cuttings, then you can make lots of rootstocks to graft onto and have more plants to sell.