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Anna's Magic Ball Arborvitae

I took a cutting of Anna's Magic Ball arborvitae last fall (2023). It rooted, but almost a year later, there has been basically no top growth. It's still the one leaf I stuck in the potting mix. The root system looks pretty good. I'm just wondering if this is normal for an arborvitae to not grow at all in its first year or if there is something I need to do to make it grow? Thanks!

Comments (5)

  • last year

    How much sun is it getting?

  • last year

    About 4 hours mid day, but the arborvitae I took the cutting from is in the same area and has grown nicely the last few years, so figure the sun is ok for it.

  • last year

    Doesn't sound normal at all.


    If the roots look good and the top is not growing it may be there are no nutrients in your soil.


    Most generic brands of potting soil are peat based with little else in it, at least nothing with nutrients anyways. (There are some brands of bagged potting mix like Miracle Grow, that contains a very small amount of NPK so if you're using something like that, you should be okay).


    Rooted cuttings don't need a lot of fertilizer, but they do need a mild amount of NPK in order for them to grow.


    I used 1/8-1/4 tsp of a broad-spectrum soluble fertilizer like Miracle grow in a quart of water.

    Just enough to turn the water a very light shade of blue.


    My potting media was 5-1-1 bark mix which contains zero nutrients so to see any good growth, this is what I had to do.


    Now another thing that helps to speed growth is to keep the cuttings warm and humid, even after they're potted.


    Here's a Thuja o. I rooted a few years ago. A two-inch cutting. It has quite a few roots by August when I potted it but even then, I would put the pots in a tray covered in plastic wrap, where I could keep them under high humidity for another month or so the can 'finish up'.


    The Arborvitae is in the center rear of this picture.


    Then I'd put the plastic cover (dry cleaner bag) over the basket and place it in a shady area for another month with dappled sun for a few hours.


    I'd open them occasionally to check for water and give them some air, but they stayed pretty moist, so I'd cut vents the plastic covering with a knife, little by little during this time to acclimate them to real world conditions, eventually removing the plastic altogether.

    It's after this they'd begin to get the fertilizer solution I mentioned above.

    When the weather was hot, mine got watered almost every day. I'd keep them in this shady/dappled sun for the rest of the season then store them in a cold frame for winter.

    And if I missed the solution for your problem all together feel free to post up again with further questions. :o)

  • last year

    Thanks for the suggestions! I will try them out and see if anything happens. I figured rooting it would be the hard part and it would take care of itself after that, but I guess I was wrong :P

  • last year

    You're welcome.

    Now that I think about it, mine didn't grow much at all on top until that next season.

    Sounds like yours are on track for making a full set of roots. Then the growth will come.