Rooted Cuttings & Liners

Van Veen Nursery offers plants for sale as Traditional Bench-Rooted Cuttings and Spring or Fall Liners, propagated either from our own stock plants or from material provided by our customers to root on their behalf.

Rooted Cuttings

Every fall, we propagate over 100,000 rhododendron cuttings. Fall is the best time to take cuttings because we have greater control over environmental conditions such as temperature regulation and pest levels. Furthermore, taking cuttings in the fall allows them to have a natural cold spell which helps them break and grow faster in the spring.

Turgid cuttings are taken, rinsed and sanitized.  They are catalogued, double wounded to increase the rooting surface, treated with hormone powder and set in new media on our greenhouse benches.  We then employ the overhead mist system invented by Theodore Van Veen Sr. that regulates the humidity and keeps the cuttings turgid.   The cuttings are then sprayed with an anti-transpirant, which protects them from wilting and disease spores, and smothers any insect eggs that may have survived.

Temperatures, humidity, water and light levels are monitored closely so that the cuttings have the best opportunity to grow.  Typically, bed temperatures are maintained at or about 22°C/70-72°F from October through February, then slowly lowered as winter passes.

They are rooted within nine months (but many root more quickly).

Liners

Each year, we root cuttings from our own stock plants and grow them for sale the following fall or spring. They are "lined out" in raised beds containing clean media and are thus known as "Liners".

Fall liners are one year old plants.  Spring liners are held over for six more months and available for spring planting.

Custom Propagation

If you have a favorite or special rhododendron - species, hybrid, maddenia or vireya - or evergreen azalea and would like it propagated, this is the service for you!

Van Veen have been offering this unique service to gardeners and growers alike for many years - we are happy to root just a few or a few hundred cuttings.  We charge just $1.50 per successfully rooted cutting and return all plants to the sender - none are retained for sale or to add to our stock plants. Cuttings should be taken September through November from the current year's growth on healthy plants.  They should be approximately 6" long to enable us to trim back the leaves to one or two whorls and leave a three-finger width of clear stem to insert into the media. (Please do not trim the leaves yourself, as this may allow bacteria to damage the plant during shipping!)

To send us your cuttings, use zip-seal bags.  Use one bag for each variety.  For large groups of cuttings of the same variety, use multiple bags (if one cutting goes bad, it could spoil the entire contents of the bag).  Carefully mark each bag with a tag.  They will be planted as you label them.  Put a small amount of water in the bag and then empty it.  Seal the cuttings in the bag, but be sure to leave some air inside, not only so the plants can breathe, but also to provide cushioning.

Send them US Priority Mail to:
Van Veen Nursery
PO BOX 86424
Portland, Oregon 97286

or send them UPS/FedEx 3-day to:
Van Veen Nursery
4201 SE Franklin Street
Portland, Oregon 97206

Either way, please let us know they're coming and we'll eagerly await their arrival!

Regrettably, import restrictions mean that this service is currently only available to customers in US and Canada in areas certified P. ramorum free, unless accompanied by an inspection certificate.  If you have questions, please call us at 503-777-1734.

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