Growing your own trees is a lot of fun, after all you accompany your house tree from the seed to the large specimen, the sight of which will certainly fill you with pride. There are several methods of growing a tree.
Trees can be grown from seeds or cuttings
Propagation by seeds
Although propagation by seeds is very time-consuming, it is worth it: there are numerous seedlings from which you can choose the most beautiful ones. New varieties can also be bred in this way, because seed propagation is not varietal and is full of surprises. For seeds to germinate successfully, they should be fresh - tree seeds do not last indefinitely. Therefore, collect the seeds yourself and do not keep them for too long. However, many tree seeds need a cold period with periods of frost to interrupt dormancy. You can also create this artificially in a refrigerator. Nevertheless, sowing in autumn or winter is preferable so that the seeds are exposed to winter weather. Protection from hungry birds and rodents makes sense. Exotic trees do not require stratification.
propagation by cuttings
Growing trees from cuttings is a very simple and effective method. It has the advantage that the starting material is already produced during pruning and can therefore be reused. There are woody and semi-woody cuttings. Woody cuttings are cut in winter, they are obtained from completely woody shoots, sometimes even perennial. Half-lignified cuttings, on the other hand, are obtained from the soft, this year's shoots. Semi-lignified cuttings are best cut in late spring or early summer. Plant the cuttings immediately in a nutrient-poor soil-sand mixture and ensure high humidity.
Mossing off, lowering and grafting
The lowering works similar to the cuttings propagation. However, the sinker remains on the mother plant until it has formed its own roots. Here you bend a shoot down to the surface of the earth and cover the part lying on the earth with garden soil. Removing moss works just as well, which is particularly common with bonsai. Select a well-formed branch and use a very sharp knife to peel off a ring-shaped piece of bark. To do this, cut once around the stem at the top and bottom. Now surround the debarked stem area with sphagnum moss, allowing the roots to grow from the stem into the moss. Fruiting trees (e.g. fruit or ornamental fruit trees), on the other hand, have to be grafted, for example by grafting.
tips
High humidity improves root growth. You can achieve this by putting a cut-off PET bottle or stretching cling film over the seed or cutting. Don't forget to air it regularly!