Chopped up 18 foot Japanese maple and replanted the branches but it didnt grow

[lettucehead]

i thought i could make 6 foot clones. why cant i? i kept the dirt watered by a sprinkler every day. but its been 4-5 months now and im throwing them away. why cant i make 6 foot clones?

 

[cpp gardener]

You can use 6 inch cuttings but 6 feet is too long.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Years ago reading about propagation, everything was cuttings about the length and diameter of a pencil, then it came to willow trees. "Take a piece about an inch and a half to an inch and three quarters thick and about six feet long, make a hole in the ground with a crowbar ..."
There are things that grow from six foot cuttings, well, one anyway., but not most things. Think that the cutting needs to support itself without a root structure until it can grow one. Most woody cuttings you take in Autumn and heel in over winter, Roots grow during the winter months, when there is no foliage to support, and by the time it starts to bud in Spring it has something to back that up with. Enough to back up a couple of buds on a short bit of stick anyway.

 

[cpp gardener]

Willows and Ficus (and a few other tropicals) will grow from almost any sized cuttings. Maples won't.