Interesting, didn't know Wollemi would root from cuttings. You are in Australia right? We have an extensive Wollemi Pine thread where I mentioned a specimen at Washington DC's Smithsonian Castle. This plant was damaged by the recent record cold and was removed.

That's a pretty cool way of rooting an unwanted branch. Thanks for sharing.

Yes I'm in South Australia. Wollemi do very well here & grow rapidly. They strike from cuttings easily & I would compare the ease of rooting with say Metasequoia which strikes like a weed from hardwood cuttings. The Wollemi has become absurdly expensive to buy retail here & the sooner everyone realizes how easy they are to propagate maybe the price will come down to a reasonable level. I am associated with a garden where there are 4 Wollemi of about 20' & they are hardy & drought tolerant. Also the feral deer which do so much damage to many conifers there seem to almost ignore them.

How discouraging to discover...that there are feral deer in Australia! I think the "average" somewhat-informed American knows about the rabbits, of course (from the famous book), and might have seen the terrifying video of rampaging swarms of field mice. But I had truly never heard that some idiot released a plague of antlered rats there!

But anyhow...great post! I might use this technique to create "back ups" of some very rare, borderline plants I'm planting out this year, like the exceptionally desirable Cinnamomum wilsonii. Probably won't be hardy here, but I want the chance for a redo as a wall shrub, if it comes to it. Without waiting to buy another one.

Pet peeve but - please - nobody bump that old Wollemi thread. Let's start a new one if the topic of adaptability to the US SE climate, or whatnot, is to be discussed. I keep meaning to email houzz about bump-locking really old threads.

Yes David there are 6 species of deer feral in Aust!! They are even protected in a couple of states.....luckily not in SA where I am. The battle against varmints is constant here where some are native & protected & some major pest introductions & others populations spread from other areas in Australia which are protected in some infestations & declared pests in others. Right here I have to contend with: rabbits, kangaroos, possums, rats rainbow lorrikeets (spread from Queensland) rosella parrots. The lorrekeets & parrots are the worst makinbg any uncovered fruit growing impossible. I haven't had deer at my home but they are common within 10miles each side of me. They destroy any upright conifer of the cypress or Calocedrus/Libocedrus groups & will attack sequoia etc. They don't eat them but debark them to almost ground level with their antlers. The only time I've seen them try it on a Wollemi there was little damage, just a few leaves scattered I guess there's not enough resistance in the Wollemi's soft leaves. The other thing they do is take off & trample plant protectors (for rabbits) around young plants. In some instances I've had to replace these daily for months until the deer get used to them. Incidentally I've had great success with Cinnamomum loureirii (cuttings off mature tree) in pots with plastic bags on top.....slow but reliable especially under lights. I use IBA @ 4,000ppm in 50% alcohol.

Thanks, I was actually wondering which species of Cinnamomum are commonly grown there.

"I use IBA @ 4,000ppm in 50% alcohol."

Is that what you are painting on the debarked stems, in the pictures above?

Yes is the solution I use for concentrated dipping of cuttings. Note I leave a strip connecting across the cinctured area. I do this with all air layers & find that it actually improves rooting rates. I don't know the reason for this but it is a habit I learned from some old plantsman now long gone.

Here are some pictures of the larger Wollemies (is that the plural of Wollemi?) If you write 'Wollemis' it reads"Wollem is"...........

These 4 are growing in Scary Gully Garden just to the east of Mount Lofty

Tree 1&2

Close up of the base of the trunk showing the bubbly bark

Wish they would grow like that here, but I'm afraid Phytophthora will prevent that. I've grafted it on Agathis robusta - so far 5 going on 6 years I the ground in Florida.

The rest of the air layer photos are getting further & further away they are here: http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3855279/wollemi-propagation-part2  

Here are a couple of pictures of a young Wollemi grown from a freshly struck cutting I gave to my son 2 years ago, at that time it looked just like the ones in the first photo above:

I have about a 2 meter/ 6 foot Wollemi in a pot. I keep it in a connected garage during the zone 5b winter, outside above freezing. The biggest problem is finding a spot that gets enough sun, but not too much, while keeping the tree from falling over during a storm. It is okay but has grown rather uneven.

I was thinking of trying to cut off the top and start a fresh new tree. Can I get any advice on... (1) what part of the year is the best time to root the top? ... (2) how much growth should be used? Two years growth? 3 years? ... (3) How? Pot with potting soil and a bag on top of the foliage to keep humid? How wet? Warmth? Chemicals?

Wollemi are easy to root from small thin cuttings though they can take some months to have enough roots to be potted up. As you can see above I have an air layer set on a larger potted plant but the cuttings you'll see in the first picture are more the size to take to make detached cutting material. I guess you could try the top of yours, say 6" - 10" long. I use IBA at 4,000 ppm in 50% alcohol as a concentrated dip for stimulating rooting & put the potted cutting in a plastic bag while rooting. I use standard potting mix (minus fertilizer) mixed with perlite for aeration & keep the medium moist but not soaking. One thing to consider when growing anything using rooting stimulants is to wait until the following day to water the cutting in as if you do it right away you'll be washing the rooting chemical off. The good thing is that your plant will probably produce multiple new growths after beheading & you can use those for cuttings. Really anything over 1/2" thick will be harder & slower to root though.

Hi Peter, Great discussion post. Hopefully I can replicate. I have multiple small shoots sprouting up from the base of my tree ranging from a couple of inches to 2 foot. What time of year did you take the cuttings and perform the air layering? Spring, Summer? Was the potting mix wet or dry? Will the air layering work on such a small header shoot? Thanks

Paul, this strikes so easily that cuttings can be taken any time of year with the possible exception of soft active growth. I set that air layer in April (autumn here) last year but an air layer can be done any time. I only used an air layer on this as the shoot is so large that rooting it as a cutting would be unlikely to succeed or if it did it would take years to get enough roots to sustain itself. For anything smaller than little finger thickness I'd use detached cuttings. As I don't have a fog house (the ideal facility) at the moment I just use plastic bags over pots for cuttings Also don't be afraid to 're-hormone' cuttings that seem reluctant to root. I take out & pot cuttings as they root & after many months if there are some that haven't done it I usually open the base with a small nick or longitudinal cuts with the knife tip & re-dip them in 4000 ppm IBA. This usually results in quick rooting from that point. Sometimes these cuttings will make only one or two roots which seem brittle but they are quite resilient & quickly develop into strong root systems on potting up & feeding. I would characterize Wollemi (like most Araucariaceae) as slowish but easy to root from cuttings. Hope this answers your questions?

Thank you Peter. I'll let you know how I do.