I'd leave them as long as you can. I have gallon pots with 5-1ft pieces rooting - 5 to a pot. I plan on leaving them there until roots are coming out the bottom - and then some. Then just up-end the pot and divide. By then they're tough enough to go it alone.
Welcome!
QUESTIONS
One thing about the seed coat sticking... A fella told me this last year when I had trouble with datura seeds. If you plant them a little deeper the seed coat will soften up more under the moist soil and shed easier when it pops through the surface. If they're just under the surface and sprout quickly the root pushes the seed through while it's still hard and the first leaves can't get out. Maybe it's bull but I think it helps.
I peeled my larger seeds but some of the smaller ones I just soaked. The seeds I planted today weren't peeled & I tried to put them a little deeper. We'll see how they do.
Poppysue, that sounds reasonable. I will try that. I've tried sprinkling water on the stuck seed coat, but didn't stay moist long enough. I usually end up picking them off with my fingernails. Sometimes it works, other times I break the plant.
BrugNanny,
Brugman posted a thread saying that he planted his cuttings horizontal.
First I took my hard wood cuttings that I received and cut them so that each cutting had one leaf eye. The new cuttings were about "2-3" inches long. I had to cut them with a really sharp knife as the "logs/hardwood" were really thick.
Next I placed the new logs horizontal on a tray with water with them only half submerged. Root nodes formed on the underside and when they were visible I then planted the cuttings into potting soil.
I then placed the new cuttings so they were half covered with soil with the leaf eye exposed. I soaked the soil well and within less than 2 weeks they were rooted and sending up leaves and stalks. From the original 8 logs that were about 6"-7" I received I got about 40-50 plants.
The second batch of cuttings that I received have not done much at all. I think they may have gotten frozen in transit as its been about 2 months. These ones I did not lay in water but planted them horizontal in soil so I expect they would take longer to root. I'm hoping that they still we do something.
Joydie
You can bury the nodes as well. This encourages the side nodes to root, faster growth, and one can simply cut through the green cuttings into the soil once they are a ft or so tall and one will have rooted cuttins all nice and green. I find green cuttings grow taller and faster than hardwood cuttings and are easier to graft as well. I, like many here, have had cuttings root that were simply tossed on the ground outside. I always seem to have some cutting that I find rooting this way outside in the yard....
Brugmansia
Jodie and Brugmansia
Thanks for all the information. I am going to print and save it for reference because if I dont' I am afraid I will have one of those "senior moments" and will not be able to recall all of the details a month or so from now. LOL
Also, I read and copied the post on grafting and it was very interesting. It is something that I want to try. What are the results that one is looking for when they do this? Is it a cross between the two grafted brugs? Do you get better results than pollinating? All of this is new to me and I feel this is the place to get accurate information because there is so much knowledge here.
This message was edited Friday, Jan 11th 4:45 PM
Oh now I have to go and print the post on grafting...gee there is so much great info in this forum that I can't keep up and I now have "rapid onset grandmother senility"
Joydie
Grafting is completely different from crossing (pollinating). When one grafts, it's like where you put different kinds of apples onto one tree.One takes pieces of different apples and grafts them onto the main tree. You take two or more different kinds of brugs and make them into one "tree". With pollinating, you are taking pollen from one plant to the stigma of another. You get seeds which grow into plants.These plants are completly different from the parent. I know I'm terrible at explaining things, but hope this helps.