Maya variegation field test - NE Illinois - Part II

here's Part I... http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/494337/

This lead shot is a 3 month comparison

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~general timeline~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
25-Mar: 2 cuttings were received via usps
The stem ends were recut at a 45 degree angle to facilitate water uptake while standing in a container. I've chosen to intitiate rooting by placing in approx 1.5" water with an airstone from a small standard aquarium pump. Commonly referred to as a 'Bubbler' throughout this forum, numerous members have extolled the virtues thereof.
27-Mar: nubbies showing
31-Mar: planted in 4" pots
08-Apr. new growth indicating root development
17-Apr. roots out of drain holes. Repot
27-Apr. good growth; roots out drain holes; potting up
05-May. Repot to tall 7gal hard plastic pot.
26-May. Take outside to shade
03-Jun. first Maya gets planted in ground. New bed with MG potting soil / alfalfa meal tilled in to 16". 2nd Maya goes into a container about 15gal.
21-Jun. potted Maya has first 'Y'
28-Jul. in ground Maya extending for first bloom
11-Aug. potted Maya begins to extend with multiple blooms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




This message was edited Jun 22, 2005 9:29 AM

This message was edited Jul 28, 2005 8:37 PM

This message was edited Aug 11, 2005 4:55 PM

The 2nd Maya was potted and has been at the feet of a Bing Cherry. It get's just an occaisional shaft of direct light. Today I noticed it has 'Y'd

Full shot of Maya in the pot (an ancient pot at that...)

The other subject was planted in ground.
If I don't take off a couple of branches it's going to be a very congested shrub. I think it may be 'Y'ing as well.

Top view of the in_ground Maya which gets full sun from about 10am-3pm

Wow -Blain - Maya looks GREAT! Can't wait for my little 2 ft stick (new Maya plant mailed to me last week) to re-leaf and start growing. Yours just looks fabulous!

I bought a cheap filter and some air stones this week -- gotta try that bubbler trick. I intend to winter over my cuttings in a bubbler this year. Right now I'm gonna take a sport off of my Dr. Seuss and try rooting it in the bubbler. Should I remove the leaves when I put it in the bubbler or will it support them while it grows roots?

Diane Krny

tks Diane. I haven't taken any leafs off the ones I've started but the biggest sucker was only about 7" long.

8ft - Impressive!!! You have the right mind set and skill for making things grow.

Judy

Wow, Blaine, you are doing something right, they are looking so pretty, healthy and GORGEOUS!

Very beautiful and healthy, Blaine. I have a Maya, grown from a single 'stick' rooting, with two branches growing up, one on each side of the stick. I want to root one and wonder where to cut the rooting, next to the stick, and should I root in the ground or in a bubbler?? Have you don't them both ways, Blaine, and, if so, which one worked quickest??

Sherry, bubbler hands down! In mine own experience :-)

Oh Blaine, They are gorgeous !

Judy, Julie, Shirley... thanks. Nice when an experiment goes well. :) Something else I noticed is it appears whatever bugs I have sampling other foliage are leaving the Maya alone. The one inground is in a bed row with 3 of Brugaddict's seed crosses and a Snowbank. I don't think I've seen any holes in the variegated plants and no - I don't and won't spray.

Sherry - I've only stuck one directly into pot down in the basement this spring. It never wilted and took off. ?? All the others have been in that soda bottle bubbler at the top and now 2 just floated in the water trough outside. They all showed nubs in 2-3 days and in 5-7 days were spikey and I'd pot them. Shirley and others have said cuttings do just fine in the ground this time of the year. If I was going to take one of those side stems off (which I will tonight) I'd slice it off right near the main stem. If it's not real big, you may be able to just snap it off like a big leaf but I wouldn't want to chance damaging the trunk.

Awwww Blaine, thats too bad about the seed crosses 8P girls...I am finding that the fuzzy leaved brugs are much bug tolerant than others I have.

Blaine, yours is so beautiful. You really have the green touch!!

Do you have caterpillars where you are? Wait till they taste Maya. I have never even had mites on Maya, but cats just LOVE it to pieces, literally!! LOL

Oh they're not the only ones and it's not that bad really. The 8P in nursery pots in the leaf bed, they're getting a little religion (holy) here and there. Nothing compared to that poor Eastern Redbud. Oh it's trying to grow so good and convince me to make it permanent. Then there's a big fat leaf that looks like someone took a 1/2' hole punch and went all around the edge of the leaf.

Kell, all my brugs look like your Maya. I haven't seen any cats yet, but have snails by the tons. Those green cats may just be hiding from me.

Well, there goes that theory down the drain LOL...guess they do like fuzzy leaves too! I've seen some little bites out of my Snowbank but nothing else with fuzzy leaves...they all look good so far. Didn't someone say you could put some sand down and the snails wouldn't like to rub their belly on it and sway them away?? Anyhow, it didn't seem to matter to a couple I'm guessing cos' I can see slime on the sand. Hmmmm

LOL Julie, that slime, ICK!!

I did read at the Monterey Bay site on their abutilon's page, with whom I am having a torrid affair with (do not tell my brugs this), that the fuzzy leaved ones are great to fight off bugs. I guess white fly is a problem with abutilons, and if the abutilon has a fuzzy back to its leaf, it doesn't get white fly. So there is merit to your theory.

LOL kell, Needed the laugh! I know this feeling I share with you on the ' having a torrid affair with'....BRUGS at the moment lol

8ft mayas look fabulous!

Thanks, Baine!! I'm pretty sure I'll start the cutting in the bubbler, which never hurts, if I find the courage to cut one side off. It is green, so I suppose a log cutting is outta the question, right? I have another one, not a Maya, that has a shoot coming up, from the ground, right beside the trunk. Should I cut it to the ground for the cutting or leave some, to let it grow?? My digital is 'working' today, so I can't take photos.

My Maya doesn't have anything eating her, but I'll bet they are lurking, waiting for me to turn my back.

tks Voss and Kell.
Dunno Sherry - I've taken 4 suckers off my P&C - scraped the soil away and snapped it off it's growing point. I'm falling under the influence of this forum and the general acclaim for the tree form. :)

I sure thought Carol or someone down south would get the first Y and bloom but I guess it's really going to depend upon where each of our cuttings came from.

Kell - do you remember if the cuttings you donated from from flowering or vegetative regions or was it a mixed bag?

Mixed, Blaine. I sent some really big trunk pieces and smaller ones from above the Y.

Blaine, you are the winner with two thriving Mayas - they look wonderful!

Keep up the good work Blaine. I need to take pictures of mine and get it posted. My P&C you send me is really coming around after I had to remove all it's leaves from the hail damage. I wish my Maya was growing as fast as the P&C is.

Linda

Linda, maybe P & C just loves it in your zone. My Susanne bloomed tonight and she smells like heaven and her tendrils are curled up the hat and shoes of a court jester, pretty cute!! No digital, but it will return tomorrow...

uh, Sherry... you got anything on Susanne to cut off for a swap? Maybe I have something you don't and may be interested in.

tks Polly!

Linda - the Maya's are gettin' their swerve on but I agree that PC really likes to grow. My only wish is that she had a fragrance to match her vigor!!!

Blaine, let me check and I'll give you a ring dingy and thank you so very much for your interest...

Blaine, those are very happy Mayas, that is for sure. Congratulations! I love to see your progress. Your garden pics are stunning (even with those festive white streamers LOL)

heh heh bebe... at least arboreal streamer weeds were an isolated outbreak and didn't resprout. I guess I could put a thread in one of the other forums with yard pics. It changes almost daily. The day, asiatic and oriental lilies are taking their turns now and the cones are stepping up the plate.

We're starting a string of hot steamy 90's for the next week. So now I'll see what the brugs think about it.

We are having the 90's for the next 6 to 8 days also. Much better then damaging wind and hail.

very true... but that heat sure makes the bud disappear from the garage fridge!!

Will in my case the diet decaf Pepsi really goes fast around here. If I was to start drinking the Bud I am afraid I wouldn't get anything done. But now in the evenings one always hits the spot, while I am sitting outside looking over the landscape. Mind doesn't look nearly as neat as yours, but I can sit under the shade tree with the Bud in my hand dreaming on what I wish it would look like. But I am happy today with what I have. I do know a lot of things that I will change next year. But that is another story and time.

Linda

The potted Maya in the shade of a Cherry.
I noticed today that since it's Y'd, the variegation has become more pronounced.

It's looking totally awesome, Blaine. I wonder if anyone close to me has a cutting. I saw a var. brug at a plant stand on the weekend and they wanted $35 for it and this was sale price. I've been spending to much money on plants lately so I had to resist. Don't know which one it is.
:) Donna

Wider shot where you can see the original foliage is only variegated on the edges.

WOW, she's a beauty, congrats Blaine!!! I have a tiny bit of news, but BIG for me - my Maya sucker AND my Maya log have both rooted, my very first log!!!

Donna... are there any restrictions to mailing into Canada?
The other maya planted in ground had 3 or 4 suckers going. Two days ago "Bud" said I oughta snap one off. Plus I'm doing a bubbler test outside. It's already got nubs but I think I may have bruised it. Plus the first day it was on the top shelf, in the afternoon when it got full sun it wilted all over. So I moved them to the lower shelf and Bam! she perked right back up. That's a cutting off of a surprise Milk and Honey to the right. It showed up unexpectedly from Brugmansia.net and had 2 stalks and me and "Bud" was in the whacking mood already.

This message was edited Jul 6, 2005 8:23 PM

Oh, congrats Sherry!! I must see pics of the log. That's something I'll be doing this fall.