My parents have a great silver poplar in their yard... can I transplant a sucker off the root?

Question

It's 35+ years old and has developed suckers off the main roots. Can I dig up and transplant a sucker successfully? (And how? I tried once and it didn't work b/c it seemed to just have 2 horizontal roots coming out of it. We watered it, but it withered up and died.) Does a sucker ever put down it's own roots?

Thanks!

Answer 1

when you find a sucker.... leave it till it gets a little size on it.... protect it with a barrier from the mower!!.... then, when you think it's ready, use a sharp shovel to cut between it and the main tree.... and then wait..... let the sprout get used to living on it's own for a few weeks..... you'll see when it's feeling better.... in that time, baby it a little... water it, put a little fertilizer in the water once.... if you have any root stimulator, that would be nice, too..... then, when you see it recovering from the shock of the cutting off from 'momma', THEN you dig it up and transplant it to where you want it.... that way it only has to put up with ONE shock at a time... better chance for it to survive the move......

Answer 2

dip it in rooting hormone

Answer 3

we have also tried this several times and have never had any luck with it.  If you can find a little tiny tree by itself, they will do fine and grow very fast, but suckers I think are a dead end and a waste of time.

Answer 4

TRY cutting off a piece and dip it root homone powder, its worth a try but dont do the sucker if it didnt work before.