i dont understand where you are going with the question ...

are you thinking that you can cut years to maturity.. by taking cuttings of older parts??????

to put out flowers.. a plant has to have a mature root mass .. to process the energy requisite to generating flowers ...

i dont understand ...how you can cut short the time it takes.. by selectively choosing different age cuttings???

perhaps if you reword your question.. or be more specific ... it would help ..

ken

ps: the key might be in the word 'maturity' ... as in 'plant' maturity.. here thinking about root mass.. versus 'sexual' maturity ....

Well if I plant a bush from seed it might take 3 years to flower/fruit. The flower buds are already on a normal young cutting / shoot, and if left on the parent would flower that year. But if cut into a new plant, I want to know if that plant is going to need 3 years to make flowers / fruit.

If I root a lilac cutting when would it make flowers?

I have two thick black raspberry plants I cut away from the parent and potted - the root mass is about an 8" clump on each. Would they make fruit this summer or need to be 2 years old - since they were rooted from new growth of the parent that if left on would give berries this year?

if there is INsufficient root mass.. for a plant to thrive.. it will abort budding.. to 'save' the part with the lack of roots ...

a plant itself.. needs to mature enough ... to proceed toward sexual maturity.. which is the flower itself ..

i know what you want to do.. cut the number of years .. but it just doesnt work that way.. producing the flower.. takes a lot of energy.. and you need roots to [produce the energy... to produce maturity ...

so in your lilac example.. if it wont flower until its 3 feet tall.. presumably .... you are not going to snip a 6 inch cutting off.. and have it flower ... [just maybe.. anything possible.. that that bud might flower.. but i would bet a buck.. it will be 3 years before it flowers again ]

think of it this way .. if its root mass is as big as the plant above ... some little wisps of roots are not going to compare to the root mass of a mature plant ...

if it were only as you wish ....

ken

this struck me last night..

sexual maturity.. the ability to flower and set seed ... is triggered by the release of hormones ...

so what you are suggesting.. is that a new cutting/rooting.. will retain the hormones of a fully established mature plant ...

and that is the root of your question [see what i did there.. lol ..]

i doubt it will.. but i dont know the science behind it ...

ken

There's not really one set answer to this question, so discussing it theoretically in general is only interesting, not practically informative. What are you wanting to propagate?

Some types of plants, grown from cuttings taken from sexually mature plants, retain their sexual maturity. Some consistently revert to a juvenile stage. Some revert to a juvenile stage but mature more quickly than a seedling.

Mostly shrubs, for example the lilac lost a nice bit that I would like to root rather than throw out, it has nice little buds and I didn't know if those would flower since they're already there.

I have made a few black raspberry plants from layering, two were large when I cut them and potted them up once they went to sleep. They normally fruit on growth from last year - these if left on the parent would be fruiting. But I want to know if they'll get fruit this year now that they are their own plant? Big roots and one thick main stalk.

But I want to know if they'll get fruit this year

==>> we can NOT answer that ..

it will if it can.. and it wont if it cant ....

ONLY time will tell ...

ken

For the lilac, are you talking about a sucker with roots, or a cut piece? I would expect a cut piece to give up on those buds, but expect it to flower next spring. The sucker with roots, a much better chance of seeing those buds open. (And, of course, the plant will do what it will no matter what anybody expects.)

Raspberries aren't my thing, but good luck on both!

This post was edited by purpleinopp on Wed, Feb 27, 13 at 9:43