Miscanthus Giaganteus propagation from cuttings.

[dipper]

I harvested 26 cuttings, and have them try to get some better nodes before I put them in the ground. Wonder how much growth they need to be protected from the cold?
My first year plants put on 7' feet, and some have 8" diameter clump. I'm very impressed as long as they hold up to mother winter. Those zone 3 said they lived last winter, so I should be good.

 

[homegrownbucks]

I think soaking looks to be a good idea, i have gotten nothing from the nodes i put in potting mix and i didnt soak them.

 

[dipper]

I think soaking looks to be a good idea, i have gotten nothing from the nodes i put in potting mix and i didnt soak them.

I just wonder if this new node growth will survive winter at this point of the year? The plant might not want to grow for a reason. I don't know.

 

[bat man]

Do we need to mulch these? I have tried to go maintenance free, but the best growers are in bare dirt, and they are 6 foot tall with 2 - 6 stems.

I planted some right in a clover field, and thought they were a bust and even had a guy cut and bale the field, but now I can see the miscan plain as day, but its only 2 foot tall single stalks.

 

[Bill]

I think soaking looks to be a good idea, i have gotten nothing from the nodes i put in potting mix and i didnt soak them.

Don't give up on them. I did the first year I tried growing them and ended up pulling a bunch that had roots and no top growth.

 

[Bill]

As for winter I don't mulch established plants. I put the potted cuttings in the garage. Last year I left 20 outside above ground. Only about 3 made it.

Having said that I don't know how anything lives through WI or MN winters, it's freakin cold up there!

 

[dipper]

As for winter I don't mulch established plants. I put the potted cuttings in the garage. Last year I left 20 outside above ground. Only about 3 made it.

Having said that I don't know how anything lives through WI or MN winters, it's freakin cold up there!

Can't leave anything above ground in a pot, I learned that the hard way.

 

[OakSeeds]

Do we need to mulch these? I have tried to go maintenance free, but the best growers are in bare dirt, and they are 6 foot tall with 2 - 6 stem

For miscanthus, I am convinced less is more in the sense that I need to plant a relatively small number of plants that I can carefully maintain .. especially with regard to mulching to eliminate competition. Grass is the worst enemy of miscanthus; I will post pictures in the next week or so that demonstrate the extremely harmful effect competitive grass has on the growth of miscanthus.
I have seen test/demonstration plots at two universities where they planted miscanthus in strips of black plastic to reduce/eliminate competition within/between rows. My best performers have extensive wood mulch around them; however, this year some grass invaded one well-mulched plant and you clearly can see the dramatic effect even a small amount of grass can have on overall growth. Another miscanthus gracillimus plant was very robust for 2 years; however, I didn't eliminate grass competition this year and the stunted growth is amazing. My advice; if you are going to use it for a dense screen, attempt to reduce/eliminate competition or plant several rows to offset the lack of density resulting from competition. Hope this helps.

 

[Bill]

Weeding seemed to help. My first year screen as of today. It's about done growing for this year.

 

[scott44]

Looking good Bill!

 

[homegrownbucks]

Did you rototil between row or what kind of weeding did you do?

 

[Bill]

Thanks Scott.

Homegrown,
between the rows is old plastic that I had down for trees. I couldn't get them to grow because of two years of drought and deer browse.

I left it there and went a different route. I will say that the plastic is full of holes and always had weeds growing through it. Something about the Atrazine and plastic kept anything from growing there. As for weeding I hand weeded between plants in early August.

 

[Spiider]

Those look great! I didn't weed mine other than pre-planting prep, but they are all around 5-6' tall at the end of their 1st year. I was going to test with some late summer weed control but lost my nerve. This is my 1st experience with these and I'm a little more cautious than I used to be :)

 

[dipper]

I think I'm done planting cuttings for the year. I Think my system is going to work pretty good. I purchased around 60 rhizomes for $50 this spring. I harvested and planted 43 cuttings this fall. I had stalks get 8' in my nursery. The initial clumps are looking pretty thick. I wouldn't be surprised if I have 600 rhizomes in the ground. Does a stalk or nub represent a rhizome? Cause I have at least 10 in each clump.
Mg can be pretty affordable if you can give yourself an extra year or 2. It really hasn't been any work I just planted the rhizomes in a mound, and mulched. Now they just have to survive a zone 4B winter

 

[Bill]

Dipper,

No a grass shoot does not equal 1 rhizome. You'll see when you dig one up. The rhizome under an established plant is all connected. It just one big tangle that you can cut apart.

Spiider,
Those look good.

 

[Honker]

I think I'm done planting cuttings for the year. I Think my system is going to work pretty good. I purchased around 60 rhizomes for $50 this spring. I harvested and planted 43 cuttings this fall. I had stalks get 8' in my nursery. The initial clumps are looking pretty thick. I wouldn't be surprised if I have 600 rhizomes in the ground. Does a stalk or nub represent a rhizome? Cause I have at least 10 in each clump.
Mg can be pretty affordable if you can give yourself an extra year or 2. It really hasn't been any work I just planted the rhizomes in a mound, and mulched. Now they just have to survive a zone 4B winter

They seem to be able to handle a 4B winter pretty well. I have some on their third year that are holding their own with little attention the last 2 years..

 

[dipper]

That's good news, I'm going to mulch the heck out of them.
How many rhizomes u think I have in a clump with 12 shoots? I'd say they are 8-10"s across.

 

[Honker]

It depends how big you cut them and how much you want to baby them. I would guess about 25 from a clump like that.

 

[dipper]

25???? Than I have over 1000. I might have to dig some up this spring. they really took off for me

 

[Honker]

You don't need much of a root to propagate a new plant with those. If you don't want that many cut them bigger and they will grow faster.