Help with taking cuttings needed

Hi Everyone,

I have a couple of Frosty Pinks growing in the ground that I thought I would take cuttings from for some of my family and friends that have never grown a Brug before. (I need to get a few locals addicted)

I've got some directions, just haven't found the nerve to start cutting.

One thing I am wondering is if you should let the cuttings sit and dry for any time period before trying to root them. If it isn't necessasary, is it ok to do this if you can't get them to the intended recipient right away? or should cuttings be put in water ASAP?

Can you take cuttings as large as you want or is there a certain size that is better than another?

Maybe I'm just not looking in the right place for these answers. (I know I'll find them here.)

Thanks for any help.

Kathy, you can take cuttings from any part of the brug, but the green wood doesn't root as easily. I like to use the material that has the little white spots on it or the more barky looking pieces to root. They don't have to be put in water right away like you would coleus cuttings. Brug pieces can be out of water for several days and still root, especially the more woody ones. I don't root in water. I take my cuttings and just stick them in a pot of soil and I usually use six inch minimum cuttings but even four foot cutting will root. I have a Becca Lynn that was Y'd several times and about six foot tall that I just stuck in a pot of soil and it rooted, but you want to remove most of the leaves and buds from them when rooting a piece that big. A plastic bag over the top will help them keep from losing moisture in the plant too. I received a box of cuttings a few years ago that even had a rooted seedling in it and there was no packing or paper towels around the ends of the cuttings....nothing. They all rooted and after about five days of having the rooted seedling in a glass of water, it came back from the dead and was fine.

Kathy, please check your mail. I need to hear from you.

Thanks Shirley,

I'll have to take a closer look at my plants and see how much of it is "woody". I was hoping to get a couple of tall cuttings with y's for my sister who has no patience for waiting for things to bloom. ;-)

I know most people don't want Frosty Pink cuttings, but for someone who has no Brugs at all it won't seem too common. Maybe it's because I'm a newbie, but I found it beautiful. I think I will always have one growing in my garden.

I sure appreciate all the help you offer up to us "students" here in the Brug/Dat forum.

Shirley,
I responded to your email. I'm just not sure how that works now since they changed it. (I do like how they changed it though ... no email addresses envolved). Do you get an notice when I reply just like any other post?

Go for it Tree_Climber. It is so easy to root them. I trimmed some brugs in my back garden and left the pieces where they fell. I was back there the other day and they are rooted on their own! The tallest I have rooted is 8 ft tall, though I am rooting one now about 13 ft. And the smallest was 1/2 an inch! Just do not over water them. Good Luck!!

Kell,
Does this mean that I could cut my brugs that are in the ground back at ground level and put the whole thin in water to root again?
Terrie

Terrie: If you want to save the entire plant, you would be safer to either dig it up in its entirety, or get a new set of roots started by air-layering. I think it would be pretty hard to get the main trunk rooted and maintain all the branches. Maybe Brugie will come back by here and give you a better answer... Gretchen

Gretchen,
I know you know I'm gonna ask . . . what's air layering?

Terrie...there's a thread around here somewhere with some good information and instructions. In a nut shell:

Take some sphagnum moss and saturate it.
Wring out the excess water so its just evenly moist.
Wrap the moist moss around the trunk where a node exists.
Wrap saran wrap or something similar around that and seal with tape.
Wrap foil around that to help hold it all together.
In a few weeks you should have new roots.

Some people cut a slit in the trunk, but apparently its not necessary with brugs.
I hope I didn't leave anything out...if so, I'm sure someone will correct me :)

Gretchen,
Thanks much!
Terrie

You're very welcome, Terrie :)

Yes! I root them all time. But not in water but I bet you could start them in water. I let my suckers grow on the mother plant because they grow much faster on her root system for it is so big. When the are tall enough for a good alley tree, I cut them off or even saw them if they are too thick.

I bring all my supplies to under a tree (here I have warm weather still). I cut off all the twiggy top growth and leaves, leaving just the bones of a good canopy. I stick them in a 5 or 15 gallon pot depending on what kind of support I need for the tall trunk. I put the trunk all the way to the bottom of the pot. You get a much better plant this way for your roots get massive much faster. I water the soil well. If needed, I use the tree for support to hold the tree upright. And then I do the hardest part. I leave it totally alone!!! As this is October, I might water this once a month but only if I need to.

Here is one I cut last weekend and potted. It is 7 ft tall. It has a very thick trunk. It is tucked in the empty pot corner of my yard that has a lot of overhead protection from trees. It wll stay here for the winter.

edited to caution you to make sure your plant is well hydated before you cut. Make sure your plant is NOT stessed before you cut. Its last drink must last until it grows more roots to get another drink.

This message was edited Oct 1, 2004 1:50 PM

Here is the canopy. You can see how I have severely cut it back.

So you just cut the sucker off, stick it in a pot and it takes off??? I have a bunch with very tall suckers. What have I to lose, huh? That one is in a 5-gallon pot, Kell?

Thank you so much!!!

Oh LOL! It took me so long to go out to take pics for you, I see Grechen answered you. Air layering is good also. I know I have threads wth pictures of doing it. I always got great roots. But then I discovered that I could bypass that step entirely. I am a lazy gardener. LOL. It is probably too late in the year to airlayer now, unless you can bring the mother into a warmer place to root. It is much slower to grow roots in moss then in soil I have discovered.

I found this pic of mine where I airlayered. I just slap on wet moss and cover with silver foil. I squench the foil tightly around the top and the bottom to make airtight.

LOL. You did it again to me Gretchen. I am so slow. Plus my keyborard is going. It is skipping lots of letters. I wonder what is wrong with it?

Yes, it is no mess, no fuss. Just cut and plant deep. Yes, a 5 gallon pot. Keep in shade till it roots. I will not have any wilting on this for it is all older wood. But if yours is lots of green wood, attach the top to a post so when it wilts, it will stay upright. Mine do fine even if they look very sad at first do to wilt. But if you are a good mother, put a damp clear plastic garbage bag over the canopy of the tree and tie the bottom and this keeps it from wilting. I will find pics later tonight for you.

Wow, thanks for so much info, Kell and Gretchen. I need all the help I can get. I have some brugs in the ground and then some small seedlings in pots. I have a sun room in my house that I can close the vent for heat in the winter. It would probably stay about 60 degrees in that room. Do you think I could just bring them in and leave them in pots in the sun room? I do want to see if I can get them to come back from roots and that's why I was thinking to cut them at ground level and root them again. Does any of this make sense?

Thanks Kell! I'm going to cut some of my suckers tomorrow or Sunday and see what I can accomplish... You are the best!

Terrie -- that makes perfect sense to me. I am doing the same thing (leaving many of mine in the ground to see if they'll come back), but I have a few one of a kind seedlings that I have taken cuttings of AND dug up and re-potted. If I am TSWV-free this Spring, I'll have rooted cuttings to send out for evals.

Gretchen,
We'll have to compare notes in the spring to see how our brugs did that were left in the ground.

I just pulled a Becca Lynn out of a flower pod and tossed it. It had Y'd several times before the storm broke it off at the ground. It sat in water for a while because I thought someone would want it. After a while, I just stuck it deep in a pot with an elephant ear and while cleaning up to get read for the frost tonight, I tugged on it and it was firm. I had to give it some real muscle to get it pulled out of the pot. Were I keeping it, I wouldn't have just pulled, I would have dug around and tried not to harm the roots.

Kell, do you think rooting a long sucker with a seed pod would work and still hold the pod through the rooting process?

I have never done one with a seedpod Brugie but I bet if the seedpod is big enough it may stay on. They really get attached when they get some size. Let me know if it works.

Gretchen, this is the only pic I can find right now where I used a bag over the top. If the top of the trunk is full of new green wood, I attach it to a stake with velcro to keep it straight, then cover with a moist, clear bag and tie it around the stem and the stake, trying to make it airtight.

Here is one from a year or 2 ago, that I did not use a stake on, but you can get the idea.

Thanks, Kell. Boy, these brugs sure take a lot of work! LOL

But truly labors of love! LOL

This was faulous!!!!!I am copying this thread ...all the answers I need I have 6, the temp is going down tonite to 3o, I'm sick ,,,they are picking cotton,,,,(No help around) and I am in a panic....se mo.......someone said the ground will not be 30 but who really knows and My pink one is just starting to bloom!! Oh well ,,, the weather is what we farmin folks have to be used to. I meant I am physically sick......bronchitis and sinus infection. drinking my starbucks to liven me up to get out there no way will I not ge t me some for next year..... I am a new addict........deenie

why didn't I preview.....I am too confident.....eat humble pie.... FABULOUS THREAD I LIVE DOWN IN THE BOOTHEEL...OF MISSOURI

If you could spare 2 or 3 cuttings, I would love to have them. I don't have a pink. Let me know how much postage you need and I will get it to you promptly! Thanks!

Kathy, I missed your question before. Yes, when you email me, I get a notice on my home page. Pretty nifty system Dave has set up for us.

Dolores, I will have cuttings of Frosty Pink and will glad to share with you if you dont get any from someone else.
charlotte

Thanks Shirley. I really do like the way Dave has set up our personal email too.

Kell -- thanks for the pictures! I have several suckers and side shoots that I'm going to try this with. My calendar is so jammed though, that it'll probably be next week before I get to it. Glad to know that you needn't remove all the leaves. Thanks again! Gretchen

Terrie -- yes, we'll have to compare notes this Spring :)

I had great luck taking cuttings from my Brugmansias for years by dipping the cut segment in rooting compound, and then placing it deeply in water-saturated potting soil. I then put the small pot (recycled plastic pots from nursery plants) in clay saucers that I kept filled with water for at least a week. When I did this during warm weather, I had a success rate of almost 100%. If it was in fall weather, I had to keep the pots in a warmer location or the success rate was much lower.
The greatest thing about sharing cuttings is that if your mother plant dies for some unexpected reason, you always know where to go to get the initial stock back to start anew...............

Welcome to the brug forum anesdocno1. Your yard looks very pretty. Hope to see you here often.

Shirley

Welcome anesdocno1!
Terrie

Kell, Gretchen, et al, I just found this thread and it is wonderful, my speed, I actually understand most of it!!! Today, prior to reading this, I readied a tree for winter, I think/hope. I thought I used the instructions via Monika, but now, I'm not sure but figure it will work out (cross my fingers, hope to die), since these precious brugs are so forgiving. Please continue, I need all the help I can get!!!!!!!!!!

I cut lots of suckers today. I have them all over now in the protected areas of my garden. And I just made out labels. Last year I didn't make out labels for several days and then had no clue who was who until they bloomed this year.

And you are right Sherry, brugs are very forgiving! They really are fun to work with.

Charlotteda,
I mailed your priority postage and a return label for your Frosty Pink brug cuttings today. Thanks again!

This thread is really helpful. I was wondering whether to cut mine at the bottom and stick them in pots and also see is the ones in the ground make it next year. At least it would stop me worrying about the plants in the ground. Thanks everyone from another happy gardener.

Sue

Frosty Pink sounds wonderful. I don't have any brugs and would love to try some. I hope I have a couple coming from another person but if any of you could send me a couple of cuttings I would be forever grateful. Jeanette