A brug baby I bought on Ebay was knocked over and the top broke off. Thank the garden gods - I see tiny new leaves on the stub left in the pot. I put the broken-off piece in water and it is now all whitish and nubbey, so I guess it will root.
My question is - The plant had not y'd, so will the broken off piece [in water] become a blooming brug? Should I just toss it?
Marie
Newbie Question
Sure it will. It probably will put out a few side heads now, but that is OK. They will form their own Y.
I find if I put little green cuttings in soil and then bag them to make a mini GH, they have a better chance of rooting and not rotting.
GOOD LUCK!
Kell - thanks for the advice.
Zingy - the same thing happened to my Whiskers that I received last Fall. Last winter, I was moving it from the sunroom to our bedroom for the evening and the top broke off. I thought I was going to cry. I took the top and put it in water until it showed little white spots. Put it in a pot and voila! Here's a pic of the broken top taken yesterday. It isn't as big as the main plant because it had a later start.
and here is the pic of the remaining plant that the top fell off of, taken yesterday.
They won't bloom for awhile yet, but they are looking ok!
Kell, I do that same trick on miniature roses! I bet I have 98% success with it. Sandy
I'm going to try that with green cuttings from here on. Just moist soil with bag, no soaking in water first?
Hi Karrie, your plants look great. My brugs rot in water. Here in my water district, they add some thing that kills fish, even if you let it stand for 24 hours. . I think it kills cuttings too! LOL. I place my cuttings directly in the fast draining dirt as deep as I can, a few nodes underground. I then wet and drain a plastic bag and place brug pot in the bag. I close tightly. I place under my lights. I do not touch until new leaves emerge. Then I open and see if it is happy on the outside. If not, I rebag. Usually they are fine in about 3 weeks.
Kell,
Thanks!
Have you tried using store-bought distilled water at all? I was suggested that when I bought a gardenia, because our water is too alkaline here. I didn't want to go to that expense (for watering, HELLO) so I wrote our city water department and asked them about it and they told me to just add a couple teaspoons of vinegar per gallon of water to make it neutral. Whatever they said worked. The gardenia is doing beautiful - leaves are dark green and shiny and it is producing beautiful blooms.
But for just rooting cuttings, I wouldn't think buying the distilled water would cost too much. Well, take that back - just how many cuttings are you planning to root? lol!
Karrie
Thanks everyone for the good advice and pix of your "wounded plants" that recovered. I am going to plant the broken off part in a pot as suggested. The white nubby things are all over the stem. I think it is too hot to root stuff in water on our porch right now. Some impatients and ivy I had in water mushed up.
I stick cuttings of some stuff in the ground and some of them take off. Geraniums, coleus, wandering jew, kalanchoe, chenille plant etc. Also willow trees, hibiscus, crape myrtle, passion vine and etc.
We use well water [that is full of minerals] in our sprinkler system. I douse stuff with "city water" when it is new -- right now we have the summer rainy season.
I will update as progress is seen with this experiment.
Have a great weekend all!!
Marie