Things I learned today

Today was the greatest day!! I made several discoveries. Y'all know I love to experiment and will try anything.(well, within reason) Here are some things I learned today:
1) I learned that the seedlings with the seed stuck on will eventually push it off and look just fine. I just misted them a couple of times a day, the seed popped off and the little leaves are none the worse for it.
2) I learned that the seedpods that I accidentally broke off of the plant will mature if you leave them intact for a couple of weeks. They are ready to open when you can hear/feel the seeds rattle inside.
3) I learned that the seeds that were harvested too early, still white, will germinate. Mine from a very unripe pod that I just HAD to open germinated today, 14 out of 18 seeds.
4) I learned that CG and suaveolens seeds take longer than any to germinate; some had been planted 8 weeks came up today.
5) I learned that cuttings put in water will root much faster than those in dirt and they don't have to sit on the heat mat. I took cuttings, was too busy to stick them in soil and just chunked them into a pan of water; they are rooted today and didn't get all wilty like the ones in soil.
6) I learned that no matter how many times I removed the Compeed bandage and peeked at the EP pod, it didn't hurt it. The ones with the New-Skin did good too.
7) I learned that sometimes even when the penduncle isn't yellow, the seeds are ripe. They were a nice tan color and you can tell by feeling if the seeds are ripe, they feel "loose" inside the pod. I handled everyone of my more than 100 pods today.
8) Most Important.........no matter how many pods are ready, it's not enough!!!!! I want more. I've decided I like pollinating, love to see the little pod form, hate waiting for it to ripen, love to see that yellow penduncle, love to plant the seeds, hate waiting for them to germinate, love it when they finally do, then I want them to bloom(right now) I hate waiting for them to grow. Now, who said I was impatient, lol.
This is a photo of the CG pod that had the "bandaid".

I find that the one thing I have learned is that their is no golden rule when it comes to Brugmansia's...at least none I have found yet. There is always an exception to every rule. I too share your enthusiasm for pod starting if you will though with a vengence. Never enough seeds and never enough pollen.

thanks for sharing, I feel like I learned thru you.

Wowsa!! I gotta read that again!

Thanks Cala!

I have to say, I had a good day today.

congrats calalily we have all learn from you thanks much
Pete

Wow, you did have a good day. Think I better print all of this off so I don't forget and have to re-learn later. Good information and I'm so happy for you and your babies.

An exceptional day I would say! Lol, we would all be happy to have that many seeds on any given day.

Cala I always root my cuttings in a fruit jar of water...only takes a few days to get roots....Very seldom do I root then in Vermiculite or soil. :-)

Sounds like you had a fabulous day.

Thanks for sharing your learning experiences Cala.The information will help us all.

Cala, i agree. i found 3 pods yesterday, have planted the seeds of one outside, will get the rest planted in a day or too. pods are all shrived up but i peeled a few seeds and they look good to me. gonna find out. i'm sure some of my seeds that have come up were ones i thought were frozen, they were all wet inside when i opened after our one very hard freeze.
i agree with the water until summertime, cuttings sitting under my oak trees in 1-3 gallon pots never wilt.
i also have a baby culebra that has been outside ALL winter...even through our hard freeze, it has never wilted.... took the cutting the first of december. it looks great...gonna move it up to a 3 gallon pot this week...

Arlene, I've been moving things up to the biggest pots I've got. It looks funny with a little seedling in a 2 gallon pot. I don't move them out of the 4.5 or 6 inch pots till the roots can hold the soil in a ball, but they aren't rootbound. They don't even notice they were moved and keep growing.
I experimented with a cutting of FP, kept one in a little 4.5 pot and one in a 5 gallon pot right from the start, you wouldn't believe the difference. The first one that was stunted didn't catch up to the other all summer.

Cala, i did that too last summer. the difference even between a 1 gallon and 3 gallon was at least 50% more growth in the bigger pots. even rooting for trading, they just get such nicer roots in a shorter time. i have a cutting from ms brugie i stuck straight in the ground.... it frosted back, and is coming back really nicely now...wasn't in the ground 2 months i don't think before it frosted. nice hardy plant.

Oh Boy. You gals are gonna drive to divorce court. If I move all these seedlings and cuttings into BIG pots I'll have to chuck the couch, TV, and dining table out into a snowbank. I can hear DH hollering now! LOL!.. "Wot honey? You don't need a TV ... watching the brugs grow will be much more entertaining"

LOL, Poppysue, you are so funny!! My DH has quit asking "just HOW many of those things do you think you need?", he knows it's hopeless.

I got one for you. My 3 year old grandson wants to know why I have "sticks" in jars. He tries to "help" by taking them off the table and heading for the trash. He is getting the hang of it, you don't touch Ma Maw's "sticks".

Calla, I just knew you would find a good reason to touch all those pods. I think things grow better with a kind and loving touch.

Lets face it, everything Cala touches grows just wonderfully. Some people have a green thumb...others are just plain green altogether.

Brugman, you haven't seen my compost heap have you? I don't really kill that many, I forget where I put them!!! I'm still looking for the EP, I KNOW it's here in this jungle somewhere and now I've lost a pot of seeds too!! I've got to be the most dis-organized person in the world.

poppy, I'm with you, I want to move mine up, but I won't have enough light if I do! I'm pushing it now, but I have about 50 or so that need to be moved up bad. Now reading that it might stunt them permanently scares me, that's NOT what I want. May have to bite the bullet and do it anyway, and worry about the light then.

I have a few unknown cuttings that continually sprout up in my compost pile as well. Not to mention seedlings that get tossed out of the seedling trays that just don't appeal to me...leaves not wavy enough, not wrinkled enough, etc. Of course I always tend to pick a few with plain leaves from each cross to compare with the others as well.

LOL. My DH asks everytime he sees me with my gallons of blue water if I'm sure they need more fertilizer. He outright refuses to raise the sunporch roof for the Brugs. I am also running out of room and hope the weather breaks soon so I can start heating the greenhouse.

Cala - tell me more about the pod ripening off the plant. A pod that has been forming since December was knocked off yesterday. Just the pod, no branch. This is one of the ones that take 8 months to ripen. Was going to toss it after opening and seeing the white seeds. I just went down and taped it shut until you tell me to throw it out. What do I do?

Liz, I stuck a FP pod that I broke off with only a little bit of leaf attached to the pencuncle. I just put it into first water, then after a few days, I stuck it into some potting soil. It finished ripening.

You're kidding! Alrighty then! Feeling better already. Thanks!

heres a real dumb question I know what DH means but what does it actualy stand for???

DH-Dear Hubby

Thanks i was thinking of dumb....lol

Dumb Hubby?? ROFL ~~

it can mean darn hubby, depending on the day :)

Oh, Cala, counds like you had a banner day!! Thanks for sharing! I learned much!

"He outright refuses to raise the sunporch roof for the Brugs." Oh, Snow! Tell your DH (whichever way you want the "D" to stand for! LOL! Y'all are TOO funny!)...Tell your DH that you need a higher sunporch roof so you can fully enjoy your hobby, but if it can't be raised that's fine, you'll just start fully enjoying your other hobby ~ watching exotic male dancers. ;-)

Snow - seeing your DH won't raise the roof - ask him if he'll lower the floor. LOL

Hey Liz, never thought of that. I'll hit him with that idea tomorrow. LOL

Liz u r 2 funny...Canuck humour...lol.
Joydie

Great info Cala...thank you..I too will need to print this out for reference!!!...I have been rooting cuttings in water since I started this past summer.....I had some cuttings not work out in soil but never had a problem with water rooting. I potted up the other week from 1 gal to 5 or more gal....the little brug brats are growing faster than I can keep track...think I will need to go up even more soon!!!

LOL...we have been having two days straight of steady rain......the plants love it....but I used the water holding crystals when I potted up....and now they must be getting FULL of water....some of my pots look like muffin tins...the soil and plant have raised up two inches.....it does push back down.....

Sharbot, the harder to root ones i believe will rot in water, could be wrong, like culebra, HG, Knightii, P&C..

Thanks for that info Arlene.....what would be best for them?

i have rooted culebra, HG and P&C in potting soil, just wet the soil good before planting and don't water again for a few days. monika started a thread on hard to root ones but if i could root like this i think anyone could. hoping someone else comes by with better info for you.

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