I took some Cedar (Cedrus) cuttings a week ago and some have started budding, but they have no roots. I was wondering why this is happening?
The cuttings have bottom heat, humidity dome, and are kept indoors. (took the cuttings in march (10th-15th) and were brought straight inside), the weather around the time I took the cuttings was around -10 Celsius to 10 Celsius, and were left to root in a space with a temp of around 20 Celsius to 30 Celsius.
Soil: Sand
Temp: Around 20-30 degrees Celsius (both soil and air)
Amount of cuttings: 23
Cuttings budding: 2
Cuttings rooting: 0
Cuttings dead: 1
Thank you for contacting Toronto Master Gardeners:
Thank you for the image of your Cedar cutting. Placing the cuttings in a warm location and adding water will, in fact, start the budding, or new growth, even without roots.
I have found four types of cedar trees, Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica, zone 6 to 9) with dark green foliage, Cyprian cedar (Cedrus brevifolia, zone 6 to 9) with bluish-green needle-leaves, Himalayan cedar (Cedrus deodara, zone 7-9) with bright green needles and moderately large cones, and cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani, zone 5b to 9) with its glaucous, bluish-green foliage.
There are also False Cedars that belong to the family Cupressaceae (cypress) which includes Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) and Eastern Red cedar (Juniperus virginiana). There are false cedars in the cypress family which can also be distinguished by their scale-like needles — as per this YouTube video: Evergreen Identification
Please note: you need at least 8 to 12 weeks for hardwood or softwood cuttings to root, so it is early for you to expect rooting to take place. The soil mixture requires a blend of 50% sharp sand, 50% potting soil/soilless mix. Our Toronto Master Gardeners website has a step-by-step instruction on how to propagate Cedrus cuttings: Propagation of Cedrus
The NC, or North Carolina, extension website provides extensive detail on the type of cuttings to make, based on the type of tree or shrub, whether it is a hardwood or semi-hardwood cutting. It also describes when the cutting should be taken from the plant for best propagation. NC propagation information
Another YouTube video of hardwood cuttings, demonstrates some have taken as long as 6 months before any results: Propagation Rooting Time
Good luck with the propagation of Cedar Cedrus.