This Is a Test,from the ....

frosty pink last week

this weeks pink

Brug. Suaveolens on 3-16

Brug. Suaveolens 3-21 today. Keep your fingers crossed for me, I still have several more that I need to pull through.
I'll post pics of the other 1's on monday Clare;). Those roots barely count imo but they're roots I believe.
Goodnight all.

Very nice pictures indeed, Jeff. I think those roots count too. That's fantastic. My fingers are crossed for you for the others. I bet they will root too:-)

Well the roots on P.Amethystina are now an inch long and there are 3 seperate 1's. Sadly I've lost quite a few cuts over all. I pulled atleast six tonight, the stems went brown. I pulled them from cubes to inspect, they were really swollen w/ the bumps but never did more than that. The only 1's left were 1's w/ leaves or a partial leaf like the P.Amethystina. I have 2 healthy looking Ruby's and maybe a pair of Morifolia, singles of the other. These all look like they will pull through. They all have new leaves but no visual roots yet. Oddly the P.Amethystina that rooted doesn't show much new foliage. I'm stumped and bummed but optimistic. This is my chance to multiply my Passiflora collection several fold, pray I do right w/ the others.
Am I the only 1 loosing cuts so far?
Tropicman. If it's not a hassle, please do what you can to get me some other Passiflora's. Only if you can, don't go out of your way. Your emails kinda confused me as to what my options were trade wise. I think we have very similar taste when it comes to plants and flowers. Thank you kind sir;)
Jeff

Hi Jeff! It sounds like you're doing great. I lost cuttings all fall and winter, but the ones I have now are still all green, but no sign of roots yet. Ruby is difficult to root so if you still have two of those, you are doing good! P. Morifolia, P. Amethystina, and P. Ruby Glow are three really good growers so your yard will be covered in Passifloras in no time!

Clare and jeff,cuttinngs are still green,I think lady margret is the one with a set of leaves,still cannot see roots coming out of thre potting soil.
Jeff,in a week or so,I'll be on vacation,if by then you don't have any sucess on your rootings I can send you some from my collection.

Neat, Tropicman. Mine are doing well too, but I haven't checked for roots yet this week. I still have mine in this set up:

WOOHOO P. Morifolia is the 2nd to root. Three little spikes poking out the bottom of the cube. P. Amethystina(The 1st to root on sat.) has turned it's roots back into the cube. I need to get some vermiculite under all them asap so the roots have more media to reach into,I'll quit watering the cubes directly now. Yesterday when I was all done playing w/ the cuttings, I went to the filterbox on my aquarium, that's where I put the other 2 Brug. Suaveolens. Those 2 have several 1 inch roots on them! LOL I thought they would be the last to root since its so similar to cuttings in a glass of water. The only difference being:This water is circulating around the cuts at a rate of atleast350-400 gallons per hour then back into the pump and then the aquarium. The water stays around 76-78F and there is just a tad of nutrient in the water from the fish.
So...Do we think it's the saturated oxygen in the water or the water temp or the nutrients? Maybe all three? The cuttings never had any kind of dome over them either. HMMMMMMMM
They don't have much new growth up top, I think that's due to no dome. The same cut in w/ the Passiflora's has several small new leaves but no roots to be seen.
I bet it's the amount of oxygen in the water personally. I can't wait to start eliminating possibilities w/ different cuts asap. Probably try plain water w/ an air pump 1st..I'm not sure yet.
I slept in late today and I'm almost late for a doctors appt..
I'll take pics and write more later when I can look closer.
WOW this is great!
JD

Hi Jeff,
Congratulations on your success. I'm sure more will root for you too.

Brugmansias root super easily in water, especially B. Suaveolens. There are some other kinds which do not root as easily in water and often rot. Your saturated oxygen is probably great for warding off root rot. The warm temperatures can encourage root rot too sometimes with certain Brugmansias. I think they normally like cooler temperatures.

They have to be loving the nutrients and will reward you with beautiful dark green leaves. The leaves will come shortly. You don't really need a dome for Brug cuttings. If you have leaves on your other Brug cutting that is in with the Passifloras, then you probably have some roots starting there too.

Here's a picture of Lady Margaret today:

Clare, I can't wait til my lady looks like that. Here is Lady Margret as of 3-25 posing with Brug Suaveolens. I'm having camera problems so bare with picture qualities or lack of.

Here is P. Amethstina on 3-25. These clones are 13 days old now I think.

Here is the same clone top to bottom

OOOPS. The 2 of P. Amethystina above are actually P. Lady Margaret. This 1 is really P. Amethystina.
All the other Passiflora's have roots sticking out of the bottom side of the cubes, but they a much smaller in diameter. More like thick hairs unlike the thick furry roots above(providing this camera can show the details.

Here is the Brug Suaveolens again. When I get home a little later, I'll try to post more pics w/ more descriptions.
I'm soo envious, none of the cool flowers around here have popped up yet. We're getting very impatient, I hope we don't let it bite us in the rear!LOL

HOLYCRAP! I forgot about the Brugs I put in the aquarium filter box. I broke off about 1/2 the roots because they had grown into my filter medium. I thought the above brug clone was impressive. I MUST do some brugs in aquaponics or atleast a hydro/aquaponic hybrid system. This cut spent 3-4 days in the mail so I'm not counting those days in the clone days. This picture was taken on day 13 or 14(Clare it's the 2nd Saturday since I've had these, is my day count correct?), it's getting confusing.
Check this 1 out!

Same cut, different view.
THANK YOU CLARE!

LOL, Jeff! You did good! I'm so proud! I'm especially impressed with the roots on the Passifloras. They really like the treatment they are getting at your house:-) I had to look up the tracking number again because I can't remember the date either. It shows your cuttings arrived on March 12 so you've had them about 16 days. I can't believe how fast fast your Passifloras have rooted. See, I knew you could do it. The Brugmansias look great too. That's awesome. You're sure to have a gorgeous garden this summer. My Passifloras are still in a jar of water and still doing nothing! I've pulled a couple brown stems out, but the others are green. By the way, if you ever accidentally mix up P. Amethystina and P. Lady Margaret, you can tell them apart because Lady Margaret has light green leaves, and P. Amethystina has fat, dark blue-green leaves.

Great looking roots jeff.
Still have a couple that might set roots,brugs have set new leaves.
What do you contibute to your sucess on rooting process?

Tropicman and Clare. I maybe the fastest rooting guy around but man...I have sticks in my cubes w/ lotsa roots, just NO LEAVES!!! I've NEVER seen anything like that before. I wonder if it's possible to "trick" a plant into rooting(gels and superthrive) too much that it forgets all about new growth? I think I've left the humidity dome on too long for some of the passiflora's, they must be getting water via foliar from all the condensation in the domes. On the other hand, the 1 brug I rooted in there is already in soil now w/ several new leaves. The big cutting I showed you that was in the aquarium w/ lotsa roots started some new growth...UNDER WATER! A nice little pale green branch w/ probably 3 leaves on it and roots above and below that branch.LOL I think that's due to the root zone not being in a totally dark place. I put a opaque sleeve around the roots so the roots won't get any light but that wasn't the original reason. I have a painted turtle that's been living w/ my fish for 2-3 years, when he found those nice roots...MEAL TIME! Luckily I caught him in the act. I have another brug stem of the same species in the same place w/ lotsa foliage and no roots at all. It did fall over 1 time leaving the root zone I wanted out of water, that has to be why it hasn't rooted.
Clare my Pink Bower vine is soo long, I'm thinking about taking cuts off of it for more. I'm going to start a new tray of cuttings: Tropical hibiscus cuts, ficus tree cuts and whatever else I haven't tried cloning before. This should be interesting.
Any thoughts Tropicman? Clare?
;) Jeff

Jeff, that's fantastic! Don't worry about the bare stems, leaves and growth will follow the roots. In fact, you will probably grow new branches as well as leaves, I would imagine.

Also, it's not uncommon for brugs to send up new shoots from the stem below the ground (or water in your case). You could detach it if you want to and make a new plant if it has roots. Brugmansias are quite poisonous to humans and animals so I hope your little turtle doesn't get sick. Feel the bottom of the brug stem that has leaves but no roots and see if the stem is soft and squishy. If it is, then the stem is rotting and you can cut off the rotting portion and try rooting it in soil. If the stem is hard, then it should develop roots in time.

You can definitely cut the Bower vine if you wish and and make more cuttings. Pruning it from the top might help it branch out more.

My Passiflora cuttings are hanging in there. A few of them have turned brown, which I've discarded. I've also removed the plastic humidity bag, and so they are still in a jar of water, sitting in a tub of water, but none have roots yet. I am really looking forward to trying to root some Passifloras in the Oasis cubes that you have sent me with the rooting gel. I am really excited about that. I will let you know when they arrive:-)

By the way, I got an email from you today, and I sent you a reply, but I'm not sure if you are receiving email from me. Hopefully, you got today's email.

Hello Clare. Heres an update on 1 of the cuts of C. Grimaldi at week 3. Then I'll post another picture of the rooted Grimaldi you sent me. This is obviously a rookie question but that's me w/ brugs. I have 2 different kinds of leaves on some of these Brugs, the Oval shaped and the jagged shape. Normal?

LOL that's a odd looking photo, it looks like a bad fake. Cheap webcam. OH BTW, The above pic is the Grimaldi I rooted in a cube under the dome. I didn't bother posting pics of the other 2 cuts of that same plant cut, they both look as they did lastweek darnit. No leaves, just longer roots. There are pics above of these cuts I speak of. That may have something to do w/ the cubes, gel, dome and heat mat. I'd like to narrow the variables to see which piece of the puzzle fits where. This does a little I guess.
Here are the leaves I mentioned above, 2 totally different.
OH And does any1 remember what critter causes leaf curl? I can only see them under 30x magnification and they're still tiny looking. They're all clear bodied w/ what could be 2 eyes or the like. I didn't count how many legs, but I suspect those are the 1's causing the leaf curl.
Thanks, JD

Hi Jeff! Your brugs look great and healthy! Yes, Charles Grimaldi has both rounded leaves and serrated leaves, and that is normal. The B. Suaveolens should have lance-shaped leaves.

Jeff, when you say other two cuts of the same plant cut, are these separate Brug cuttings that I sent you, or did you cut up the cuttings that I sent you further? The reason that I'm asking is that the leaves only emerge from the nodes, and that could be one reason why you don't have leaves. However, if there are no nodes for branches and leaves to emerge from, then after it develops a substantial root system, it will send up a new shoot from the roots. This process may take longer than if there were a node or two above the soil line.

Spider mites and whiteflies can cause leaf curl. It sounds like spider mites. Try neem oil or insecticidal soap. If you are able to rinse the leaves in the kitchen sink, you can use water with a few drops of dishwashing detergent. Mites are a very common problem when Brugs are kept inside. Warm, dry air seems to invite them. When you have them outside, spraying the leaves with water on a regular basis helps to keep them at bay.

I can hardly wait to start some cuttings in the Oasis cubes that you sent me. I hope I can start some tomorrow if I can find some time.

Thanks Clare
The cuttings I was talking were the 3 bundled cuts you sent, Not Grimaldi now that I think of it. Suaveolens are the 1's you sent w/ no roots. I never take cuts w/o nodes above the rootball. I was trying to show you the difference between the 1 I rooted in the cubes(the lil 1 in the peatpot) and the other 2 I'm rooting in w/ the fishies. The 1 in w/ the cubes is week ahead ofthe other 2. Amazing isn't it?
These pests I think are left over whitefly eggs that just hatched, obviously I didn't get them all the 1st shot and knew I would't. Them **** spidermites are another story. Mites make whiteflies look like pets. I've battled them in the past. If you don't learn their life cycle and spray accordingly, your screwed. I've used neem and soaps on and on. Then I found a miracle called "avid". That stuff is the end all to mites. 5 drops per gallon and its byby mites, providing you hit the underside of every leaf.
We set up a large growroom indoors a few years back to keep all our tropicals blloming all winter and them mites popped up. I ended up having to kill all the plants, bombing the room 3 times, bleached walls, floor and cieling. We left the room empty, in the dark for 1 month before moving in our other healthy plants. There is no way IMO to actually kill them ALL. With avid, you can atleast keep the #'s down and manage them w/o them managing me. OH and alot of people think humidity slows the mites down...NOT here! I had 3 humidifiers running 24/7 and the rooms over all humidity was never below 75% and the mites still flourished. They become so tuff after fighting them, I think they drink saffer's soap and eat neem for dinner! LOL My pulse rate goes up just thinking about them. When I can gets the plants outdoors where they will thrive and get much healthier, bugs won't be a problem. I do get white flies on my hardy hibiscus every fall. I used fly parasites on them(www.planetnatural.com) and they were history.
EVERYONE needs to look at planter natural b4 using any pesticicdes IMO. I use tons of their products on everything green around here. I even killed off grubs in my lawn after fighting them w/ chems for years. I put down "Japaneese Beetle milky spores" and we have no grubs or junebugs. Its amazing that a microscopic spore can hatch and take over the grubs bodies then release millions more untill the spores have spread all over the nieghborhood. They go dormant every year and will stay that way unless more grubs come back. They haven't comeback, the spores will live here forever too. Its awesome.
OH BTW Clare, you need to find a humidity dome of some sort to use over the cubes imo to keep them and the cuts moist for the 1st week or so. Well that's what I do anyhow. Just make sure the cubes stay moist.
Time to end another marathon post for now;)
JD

Where can you buy Japanese Beetle milky spores?

Japanese Beetle is just a fancy name for june bugs BTW everyone.
LIZH I'll post a link or 2. The 1st link is the 1 I mentioned above,
http://www.planetnatural.com/japanesebeetle_control.html .
The Milky spores are great but it takes them a couple months to really take over. On the same page right beside the milky spores are "beneficial nematodes".
"Beneficial Nematodes penetrate and destroy over 230 different pests including fleas, fungus gnats, black vine weevils and white grubs. Naturally occurring, they are not harmful to people, pets, plants or earthworms and will continue working for up to 18 months. Killing action begins 24 hours after application." That's a quote from their description. You use these guys in a combination by spreading them w/ the milky spores, the nematodes work NOW where as the spores are the long term solution. The nematodes are packaged under the name "Scanmask", After buying them the 1st time, I found the maker of scanmask's website. You can buy from them at a slightly cheaper price if I remember correctly plus they had another product named Hetromask. http://www.biologicco.com/index.htm
That's the website for the company that makes both of them, everyone imo should visit both sites before using any chemicals. I buy Praying Mantis and lady bugs from them every year aswell as many other lil critters. They have a "variety pack" that I think is a pretty good deal and has a bunch of critters in there. OK>>>I gotta stop now. LOL

Hi Jeff! Thanks for the info. I understand now. You are right that those three are Suaveolens cuttings. I see what you mean about the cutting which rooted in the cube. They are amazing! I can't wait to try mine which you sent. Thank you so much, and thank you for the rooting hormone too:-) I will be sure to put them in a humidity dome while they are rooting.

I battled spider mites all summer last year. I've heard about Avid, and I think I might invest in some this year. I bought the Neem oil and the systemic insecticide which is supposed to work on mites, but I agree with you that you can never get rid of them all. Whiteflies are a real problem here as well in the summer. Last summer, we had the giant whitefly here which was so much bigger than the other ones we had had before. The nice thing is that I do have a lot of beneficials here too so I try not to use insecticides that will hurt them.

I have lady bugs and praying Mantis on the way right now so I'm not too worried. I just get on a roll while looking at them and then I end up going postal on them RIGHT THEN. LOL Man I'mma mess, I need a check up from the neck up! LOL
Rootdoc was just over and I showed him the difference between the suaveolens that were all cut the same day, were all in the mail together etc etc. so everyone would now it's a good side by side comparison of root techniques. The cubed clone in the picture above, the lil plant inna peat pot is soo far ahead of the others! It's amazing and I'd like to do some trial and error side by sides so I could try to figure out just which step or combo of steps I can attribute the super advanced speedy growth too. Just imagine what kind of reproduction via cuttings you could do if you KNEW these were the results you WOULD HAVE FOR SURE at 3 weeks. I"d like to try selling Passiflora's and brugs or whatever other plants you don't see for sale at any of the Lowe's/Home depot kinda stores. Just imagine having your cloning techniques down so well that you could take an order from a customer wanting 15 certain Brugs and a few different Passiflora's and knowing you could go home that night, make the cuts and know they would be ready in 3 weeks tops. I know it will probably never happen but I like the idea of people knowing they can find the "far out tropicals etc." at the market via me. I live in the 3rd largest growing city in the nation per capita sadly, I hate it. It used to be a little hick town and you could drive for 5 miles or so and be out in the country rather than this massively growing, over developed yuppie haven. I miss the gravel roads and farms. Tis life I spose.LOL Another marathon post!
Will I ever shut up?

Heya Clare and Tropicman
I got cocky imo w/ those cuts, I left them in the humidity dome a good week or so too long. I lost all the P. Incense and Ruby Glow. Man I want the ruby bigtime. I ended up w/ 1 and a couple of the others had 2 survive. Other than those few, I have all the rest transplanted and hoping they take to that well. Would you guys help me replace the 1's I killed and any others I may not have? Pretty please? LOL
I sure learned alot about rooting passiflora's man. They behave(or so it seems) so different when it comes to cloning. I'm going to do a 2nd round of Passiflora cuttings to see I can get the same or better results.
I also need to take some Brug cuts other than Suaveolens and see how they do in cubes under a dome. IMO, short/skinny w/ multi nodes cuts do the best.
Well I'm gonna plant some bulbs w/ my wife, itsa darn nice day

Hi JD, I'm going to be trying to root some more Passiflora cuttings with the cubes you sent me, and I will see if I can get them to root this way. If I can root the P. Incense and P. Ruby Glow, I will certainly send them to you. You may want to save your cubes for more difficult cuttings because typically Brugmansias root easily in soil or water. In the summertime, you should be able to stick a cutting in the ground, and it will root easily there. The thicker, hard wood cuttings root the easiest, but if you are going to root thin softwood cuttings, then maybe your method is best because those type of brug cuttings do occasionally succumb to rot the easiest.

I checked my cuttings in water today, and three of them are sprouting roots. All three are P. Mollissima, which I was specifically rooting for Don, but one has a brown top with no healthy nodes so probably only two will survive.

Congrats Clare!
Sorry to say mine bit the dust.
Been busy planting a few things in the ground,and wouldn't you know it a cold front is coming with freezing temps this weekend,and will have to cover up everything!
Been working 10 to 11 hours a day at work,and helping the wife,hopefully she will get to being her old self again soon,so she can take care of my old tired body!!!LOL!

Hi Don! I hope you are taking care of yourself. It sounds like you are really busy. I figured you were busy since I hadn't heard from you. I'll send you an email.

Hi Jeff! Here are some Passiflora cuttings that I took today. I used the rooting hormone and stuffed them into the Oasis cubes. Then I put them in a humidity dome.

Jeff, you said you left your cuttings in the humidity dome too long. Is there a time limit? Once they develop roots, should they be removed from the humidity?

Yes Clare. I'd say after 10 days or when you start seeing roots, start letting in more fresh air everyday in little incriments.I usually have soo much condensation that the dome is covered in mist. Then I will open a little window(i cut 1x1inch squares in the dome) so they can be open and closed. 2 weeks ins.t too long imo, it's really a guessing game imo. Just ween them off the humidity dome slowly and also mist them alot the whole time. I sure hope you have great luck;)

Hey Jeff,
Keep an eye on your mail,package is on its way.
Delivery Confirmation number is:
0303 3430 0001 4766 3412
since were so close,might get it tomorrow,hope so,cuttings will stand a better chance.
Good luck
Don

Hi Guys! Maybe we should wrap up this thread since it is getting to be so long and hard to navigate through.

Jeff, I just discovered that my Passiflora Incense vine has the virus which is inherent in this Passiflora. I may have to destroy my vine to keep the virus from spreading to my other Passifloras. You should destroy any Passiflora Incense cuttings that you received from me as well.

Tropicaman my main man;)
I can't thank you enough. You're a very kind man, I hope I can return the favor asap. I hope this finds you and yours doing well.
Clare, thanks for the heads up. I'm afraid incense is 1 of the few that have taken well to transplant darnit!LOL Such is life. How did you discover the problem? I need more education on such problems rather than racing around after the fact. Thanks