Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Starting Standard (Topiary) Brugs, 1 by LeawoodGardener

LeawoodGardener wrote:
Last summer I saw a post about starting new plants from large branch cuttings. I have taken small cuttings each fall to start new plants because I don't have the indoor space to dig up and bring in the monsters I grow each season.

The article gave detailed instructions and, frankly, made it sound like it might be difficult. Being a lazy gardener, I decided to try my hand at it, using my own, less detailed, guidelines.

Here's a report on my experience (so far):

I cut back the large (4'-6') branches from my plant (no, I didn't clean my saw with alcohol or use some exotic tool - I used the same bow saw I use to cut limbs from my bushes and trees and shorten the trunk on my Christmas tree). I stripped the branches of all leaves and bloom buds and put them all in a 5 gallon bucket, filled with tap water, in my basement (no additives, no recirculating pump, just a bucket of water in a dark corner of the basement). To keep them all upright, I bound the bundle (10 branches) with electric cord and checked them every week or two to make sure they still had water.

Around Christmas time, I noticed root sprouts on the branches and tried to figure out how to plant them in my basement, and keep them from falling over (or being toppled by my two young cats, who are VERY curious of everything new in the basement).

This week, I decided they needed to be planted before all of the roots grew together and the whole bundle had to be planted as one. I pulled them apart and rigged a system to hold them upright by running string from a beam overhead to the branches. I planted them in large pots (about 2-3 gallon size) in front of windows and now they are on their way.

The photos below show the progress - here is the 'mother' plant. I cannot figure out why the photo is on its side - it is upright in my file when I open it to my desktop. Consider me technologically challenged.





This message was edited Apr 25, 2009 7:21 AM