Oh how I envy you all that dont have our long hot dry summers. I can not stand to watch every thing die that I try to start in the garage or outside. Inside in the window is only place that will work. DF dont like the noise from the air pump. So will wait until is cools down a bit.
All I do outside is water, water, water. and everything still looks bad.
Going to have to change my gardens to something that will like it here.
one thread bubbler designs....
Well....I finally have a bubbler going. I purchased one of those really small octagon shaped fish aquariums at a yard sale ( with pump, airstone and tubing) for $4.
I've had 4 butterfly cuttings in there since Sunday or Monday. All have nubbies.....even the really green one.
NOW....is it the general agreement that (other than for overwintering) the purpose of the bubbler is to get nubbies quickly ? and then the cutting should be transfered to soil to grow "regular" roots ?
Well after hearing so much about the bubbler's, I am going to try it for the first
time this Fall. I have already gone out and bought all my supplies. Next month
will be the month for me to take all my cuttings. I am really excited to try this method.
Charlotteda - I have been using the Bubbler method all year for rooting cuttings and I prefer to leave mine in the bubbler till the roots are really sticking out there like white spikes - they are very strong roots even though they are grown in water and transfer into soil without skipping a beat in my experience. I will be wintering over most of my cuttings this way this year and expect those roots to get quite long during their 7 month stay in the bubbler.
Diane Krny
I wonder would this work in the dark. ?
I have a insulated space in an outside building that I heat ( to keep above about 45) with a thermostat and light bulbs. The light would be on and off. I wonder if I could put cuttings in a big bucket in this mostly dark (at least when it is not cold) space ?
Charlotteda, I don't have a clue, but I bet it will work in the dark. Never had a chance or reason to try it, but I will this winter, just to check it out. I'm also going to try one outside and see what happens when the temp is freezing...I LOVE bubblers!!
I just wanted to add my bubbler to the thread in case someone else had an extra unused salad spinner sitting around like I do. :) I was lucky enough to get a few cuttings from Kareoke. Today they arrived with plenty of nubs on most of them, but I want to get at least a few baby roots starting before potting them up since this is my first time with Brug cuttings.
Yesterday I had bought a cheap aquarium pump, tubing, and a stone. I only bought two stones, but received 12 cuttings. I did not want them to fall over in a big bucket and after some experimenting with different tubs and such, I thought of my Salad spinner. An extra strainer set in a bowl would probably work also.
Toothpick halves are stuck in the ends of the cuttings (like I had read about here) and then the toothpicks are poked through the holes in the strainer. The toothpick ends do hit the bottom of the bowl with space left between the strainer and the bottoms of the cuttings. See the pictures to see what I did....
Here's a pic from the side...
very nice....
I have to say that my bubbler has helped some brugs to "nubbie" sooner than without it..
Butterfly for instance is so sloooooow for me but it nubbied more quickly in a bubbler :)
Great idea - your bowl looks like a punch bowl?
Or is it some plastic type? I'm several weeks behind you, but must get to the cuttings soon.
It's clear plastic. It was part of the Salad Spinner set so the strainer part fits perfectly. I also liked that it was clear so I can see if the roots are forming. :)
Just be careful the the roots don't get stuck in the strainer holes, mine had gotten stuck in chicken wire.
Like Sherry, mine will stay in the bubbler from Nov to April, when I'll start potting them up at my leisure or put them straight into the ground mid month. The only thing different I'm going to try this year is adding more light and MG starting in February.
I'd like to know how many of you will be trying 'instant trees' in the bubblers? One caution with very large heavy trunk trees, plant them deeper!
Thanks Vi, I had not thought about that. I will definitely keep an eye on them to make sure the roots don't grow down in the holes.
It's tempting for me to do the same and keep them in the bubblers until spring since I have never kept brugs over the winter. I might do that with the ones that I have more than one of, just in case. Right now, the potted seedling brugs have three places they could go over the winter. The unheated attached garage (45°-70° in the winter and very occasional low light), in front of an east facing window in my dining room (68°-75°), or in a bright bedroom upstairs that has the heating vent closed (55°-70°). I do want them to eventually go dormant. Suggestions?
If they're well developed plants, let them go dormant. If newly rooted, you must keep them growing. I don't have much luck keeping newly rooted cuttings going during the winter, I water too much or too little and the humidity is bad, plus the dreaded spider mites. I tried in about the same conditions you describe--Good Luck!
That's why I'm a bubbler! I had my best luck with the bubbling in my basement where the cooler temps and humidity were better, and I had NO pests to contend with!
Any grow lights or even windows in your basement? We don't have basements around here so the garage is the closest I could get to one.
Both, put the plant lights on a timer and increase light as time goes by.
violabird, Can you offer a little advice on how to get them to go dormant.... Mine are still in the ground and I was going to dig them, pot them and put them in the basement. But I'm worried about watering to much and ending up killing them... Can you explain how I get them to the dormant stage ..... ? Thanks
Violabird, I did 'instant' trees last year, both during the growing season and in the bubbler in the winter. I kept my largest, and first tree in a pot and that was my only mistake, I should have put her in the ground. She was unknown, so nothing lost and i learned lots. Then, I took some tree sized cuttings for the winter bubbler and, IMO, for me, tree sized (in height) is just extra work, that takes up too much space. No tall cuttings for me this year. All will be shorter and unless I have one that I want to bloom, I'll take all their leaves off, maybe I'll leave a small top knot. This I will do for two reasons: 1) the leaves come off anyway, then mess up the GH and 2) it's easier to debug them without the leaves. I will wash them in hot water, let them dry, then spray with Volic Oil Spray (dormant oil). I didn't have GH bugs last year but I don't want to take a chance, all plants will be sprayed before they go into the GH...then I will concentrate on growing seeds until it's time to pot up bubbler cuttings, in about Feb, with hope of early spring blooms...
Yesterday, I sprayed my Brugs with Neem early.
Later I started stripping my tall potted Brugs , leaving the main stem 6 - 8 ft and several cut off branches at the top.I loosened them, and pulled them out of the pot, cut off all but the main stem (above), pulled away some of the soil, trimmed the roots and placed them in tall garbage bags, tying the tie close to soil level, They will go side by side in the GH like that for the winter (or a garage if I had one, too). They will be watered about every two weeks - I'll check.The others in the ground will all die back to the roots under a thick pile of mulch.I'll be taking cuttings from all the branches I've removed.