Clare - I am so impressed with your roots. When do you think you will transfer them to soil? Or do you think you will let them grow until spring?
I am amazed at the number of ways that these Brugs can be grown. So many different ways of doing it. These babies really do want to grow!
Crystal
Great Idea for a Bubbler- Under $10
Way cool!
Ken and I are talking about bubbling too. This is a neat idea and I will shop around and keep y'all posted about the best price I find on these little aquarium setups.
Re: Flimsy Toothpicks - Could you use a kebob skewer or is it too fat? Maybe good for larger diameter cuttings to keep them elevated in the water.
Re: Culebra - Someone has used perlite and water and suspending Culebra cuttings over the container with both in it and has had good success Maybe we'll set up one bubbler with perlite and water and suspend other 'finicky' ones to test this out - it certainly gives more oxygen (air spaces) to the rooting area of the cutting which may be helpful
Re: Hydrogen Peroxide and Disease - Does anyone have any experience with hydrogen peroxide limiting disease? Just curious, probably a foolish question
Re: Log cuttings - These are my favorite for those really large diameter hardwood cuttings, although some have reported good results with greener wood too
Re: Fresh Water - Not recommended to do this, but last year (2004) we cut down a lot of huge Brugs and I had the stalks in 5 gallon buckets of water which I kept in our enclosed back porch. I changed the water when the stench got to be unbearable and in the Spring of 2005 set the buckets outside by the house. I changed the water maybe twice between early Spring and August (they went dry in between). Ken (the DH) took the last of the rooted (growing) stalks out and gave them away to some lucky duck around the end of August. Tough Brugs, huh?
Good for you X, don't let one negative post put you off. This forum is for helping and good fellowship........
Kell, fish killing stuff? Really? No, I have Koi and Goldfish and fill up the pond water level all the time with our water so I don't think it has chemicals in it. I hope not. The only time that I get rot is if the cuttings are very thin and very green. I try to only root hardwood or semi-hardwood or green cuttings that are semi-thick. If I have a cutting that is thin and green and starts to rot, I just pull it out and change the water, and the other cuttings in the same water jar are not affected. Mine are outside all year too. In the summertime, the water can heat up from the air temperature and from brief periods of sun that shine on the cuttings, and I have to check the water level more often because a jar can go dry from time to time, but even if that happens, the cuttings are still fine.
Hi Crystal and thanks! I'll probably never transfer these to soil. I leave them in the jars of water and give them away like that, or I'll wrap the roots in moist/wet papertowels and mail them off to someone that I'm trading with. If I were going to pot these up, I could do it now, and they would do just fine, or I could wait until spring and do it then. The longer they stay in the water, they more roots they get. I've had a root mass so thick before that I had trouble removing the mass from a narrow-necked vase of water, but it came out with a little tugging!
You can always use my method and use tadpoles in the water lol. My poor brug cuttings had best not read about how you all spoil yours or they will want the same treatment. I usually start them in soil but almost always have some in water too. I have one of those fishtanks lurking about, hmmmmmmmmmmmmm
I was going to get another air pump this week end. Think I'll get the aquarium setup, I like the fact that you can see the roots forming.
The toothpicks I use are the fat round ones with points on each end. I generally break them in half and have 2 supports. I've never had a problem with them breaking but then I don't think I've ever tried a really big cutting. I don't see why a kebob skewer wouldn't work just fine.
Maggi, I think that peroxide adds oxygen to the water as well as killing germs.
x, we were all new once. I have learned so much from my friends here. Heck, 3 years ago I had only seen brugs in magazines, and not many of those. Now my yard looks like a brug farm. We all have some successes and some failures, and it's supposed to be fun.
Brugs are amazing aren't they? They just are so agreeable! It is Chloramine, Clare. Kills fish dead.
http://www.clo2.com/reading/waternews/chemfish.html
I tried the toothpicks and found the brugs were so hard all I was doing was breaking the toothpicks. So, I found that cutting the bottoms of the brugs on a slant kept them off the bottom.
I also tried something else for the bigger brugs. Using the kitchen garbage/trash baskets, think they are 32 qts., I cut a piece of hardware cloth the shape of the bottom of the basket, leaving an extra inch and a half on both ends, bent them down like legs to hold it off the bottom.
Someone thought I would have a mess with the roots all growing through the hardware cloth, so I cut a piece of window screen, plastic I think, and put it on top of the hw cloth. Works great!!!
I love hearing about everybody's creative ideas.
The Hydrogen Peroxide does deter damping off when growing from seeds. I use the drugstore kind.
Sidney
WOW, so many good ideas. I will try the skewers, and I already have some, so no trip, wherein I would have bought tons of other stuff, as well as the skewers. Thanks, magg, and LindaSC for that hint. I had a better quality toothpick last year that worked great.
Jnette, using the hardware cloth is great to keep them off the bottom, but I would hate for the roots to get tangled in them and have to be cut away. I tried smooth, river stones last year, but still preferred the toothpicks. I'll report about the skewers when I try them today.
Zones & Bubblers: I like zone study, lol!! I consider zone 5a and zone CA, magic. I posted the following on another thread, and i continue to stand by it:
Aug 13, 2005
9:54 AM
I might have been the first to post that zone 5a and zone CA are magical. but the fact is that Monika is zone 5a, as well as Kyle, Brugie, Scoot, ReneeO, and you. This is how I determined the zone is magic, and it's nothing you don't already know - Monika is the queen of brugs on the forum, as well as world known, and has written a book, and is responsible for hybridizing the most beautiful brugs I've ever seen. Kyle is a well known hybridizer, I understand, in Europe, as well as the US and he's published articles - Brugie has grown the first pink double in the US, might be Monika's seeds, but Brugie grew it in zone 5a. ReneeO is known for continually nice brugs. Scoot is relatively new, but took off with leaps and bounds. Now, you have done the same thing. Your talents and love for gardening are the driving force, I suppose, but you do live in a zone where brugs are known to thrive, as evidenced by photos from everyone I included. I'm not positive of all the factors, but I think temperatures have lots to do with it. There is one thing about the magic zone that I do not like and that is the fact that you guys have to drag them in and out in the winter and spring, and your growing season is not long enough. And because of those two obstacles, I consider you guys dedicated and most deserving, for going the extra mile, not once, but twice every year, WOW!! Zone CA is, IMO, one of the wonders of the world and magical but the growers there have few problems with the weather, do not have to bring their brugs in and out, many have no down time with their brugs so, IMO, it's not the same game that the rest of us play. It is just a fact that gardening where there are seasons, and extreme seasons, is more difficult than CA and many coastal areas. I know there are many more hot gardeners in zone 5a, I just mentioned the ones that I 'see' the most often. I'll kick myself after I send this when I think of others, lol!!>>>
So, it is my opinion that rooting in plain water is 'easier' in zone 5a, as compared to a zone such as mine (zone 8a), where in one day the weather can go from freezing to very HOT & HUMID/STEAMY, which is why, I believe, that cuttings often turn to slimy mush, unless they are in a bubbler, with H202, 35% food grade. I do not know the reason bubblers are opposed, but until someone has great success, rooting in my zone 8a in southeast Arky and the success is documented and bubblering is documented and proven to be 'dangerous/toxic' or something really terrible, I will continue to bubbler away. BTW, even I cannot trust a bubbler in the heat of the summer, from, say, July - September, even if the bubbler is in frigid aircon, they turn to slimy mush.
IMO, the best peroxide to use is H202, 35%, food grade. I used to measure with an eyedropper, but now I use about a light, 1/2 glug, to about 1/2 gallon water. When the temp is moderate, I've gotten nubbies the first day, as with any number of cuttings Mary Heik sent me, and roots almost immediately, that was in 'perfect', crisp, fall weather. Now that my rootings are in the bubbler in the GH, I don't watch them as closely, hoping that they don't grow too quickly or I will soon be outta room...
This message was edited Dec 2, 2005 9:50 AM
gary, you'll probably get checks in the mail =))).
sheesh, i go out and play in san francisco for ONE DAY, and i return home to this?
love the NEW and DIFFERENT ideas. love the photos, clare. here i am, a NEWBIE, and dances around like a fool with a tiny root that just came out. when i get roots like that, DRINKS ALL AROUND.
please keep us posted.
I'll have a CA margarita, Moonglow!!
Hey, Sid, what is the drugstore kinda hydro peroxide?? We have a brand new Walgreens and they have several strengths. I'm told that the food grade is cheaper in the long run and I use it because I do not know how to measure other strengths. The 35% will 'pull' the roots outta cuttings, but NOT real greenies, I've watched it happen or I NEVER would have believed it...real greenies take longer in a bubbler and with H202, but it does work...
Thanks for the link, Kell. Poor fish!
Some time ago(before brugs and kids, lol) I used to have lots of tropical fish. I had 5 very large aquariums and they were my pride and joy. I changed part of the water once a month or so(can't remember exactly) and suddenly my fish started dying. I called the fish store, he said it was chloramine and the city had just started using it to disinfect the water supply. There is a product to remove it from your water before adding to fish tank.
Susie, that is terrible. I wonder how many fish died as a result of city authorities doing this. It sounds like insufficient notice was given. What a terrible idea.
I understand more and more counties are switching to it. It does not dissipate like chlorine does if left open to the air. So be careful Clare.
The fish store said people all over Chattanooga(where I lived at the time) were losing fish, some lost whole tanks full. The water company didn't give much notice, I think there was a little article in the paper that most people didn't see. Thank goodness the fish guy(he had a huge store, only sold fish, both salt water and tropical and pond fish) kept up with it and had ordered chloramine remover. He had a notice hanging on his bulletin board, but I hadn't been in the store for a while so I didn't see it.
That makes me sad that so many fish died. Now, so many birds are being killed because of the bird flu. It's terrible what man can do to animals and nature, isn't it? Whoops! I apologize for straying off-topic. I'm just a big animal rights person at heart!
To put it back on topic: great idea about the fish tank, Xeriscape!
Makes me wonder what it really does to people drinking it, if it kills fish. I didn't know man caused the avian flu.
Right, back on topic. Nice tank Xeriscape. I bet we all get one soon! And I am not kidding.
I'm hoping to add a yard well this summer. I believe the water table is shallow.
Sherry my HP is 3% and I too will get the high powered stuff shortly.
I off to KMart, air stones, aquarium kit, manifold, and extra rocks.
Sidney
FYI- Just a tip in the aquarium kits from Kmart. If you leave off the long plastic tube in which you slide the airstone into, then you can place the airstone on the bottom right into the same slot that the plastic tube went into..This way your bubbles don't go up the tube but stay right in your water....:}
Thanks, Sidney
maggidew, I am new at this so please tell me how I tell a green cutting? How big a round is a wood cutting? I all ready have some tiny green leaves on my log rooting starts so does that mean they will be OK?
This has been a wonderful thread I have learned so many different ways to do things. My burgs are a lot tougher then I thought. I thank you all very much for all your time you give to all the new people. You save us a lot of grief and dead plants.
I still have two beautiful blooms on my little unnamed burg. Joan
I got one of the aquariums today. Haven't unboxed it yet so I'll play with it in the next few days.
I didn't find any airstones, pray tell can I use something else?
Sidney
Joan, a green cutting or what I call greenies are generally limber, will sway if you wave them. If there are limber logs or woody cuttings, I've never seen one, but I have seen combination cuttings where the upper end is limber and green and the other end is more like wood and not as green in color and feels more like bark - the greenies are smoother, with no 'bark'...greenies are more difficult for me to root...if your log cutting has tiny green leaves, you are in good shape, congrats!!
Sidney, sometimes you really have to look closely, I had trouble finding them at first, they are blue and look like sponge but they are hard. WalMart has them I know, but not sure who else has them. There are different kinds and one is long and flat and costs more, the small ones are 2 for $1. The stones are: Aquarium Bubble Stone
You will also need: Aquarium Check Valve, one each for as many lines on your pump. If you need extra lines, you will need T-valves (their official name is similar but not exactly that). For the time being, just put your cuttings in water, and they will be find until you get all the stuff. I had a terrible time finding the stuff last year, but I didn't know what i was looking for and i passed up the stuff several times before i ended up with what i needed. They have changed the package on the Aquarium Check Valve since last year, and even tho I knew what i needed, I passed it up because of the change in package. Good luck, after you do it once, you will find it is incredibly easy...
I tried the skewer sticks today and they were so-so, darn it, seemed like the perfect solution. I even tried putting them in my lipstick sharpener to get them more pointed but it didn't help. The skewers are just a little big for lots of cuttings - however, on the ones that worked, they are really great...looks like quality toothpicks are still the best bet...
Sherry, I got my aquarium to night at Wal-Mark but could not find the Bubble Stone and check vale. It is getting clearer and clearer as you talk about it. Will go back to Wal-Mark tomorrow.
I want to be ready for the next time I get some cutting. This is fun. Trying new ways to do thing keeps us on our toes. Joan
Me too Joan, I have an adventurous nature and will try almost anything. I've made my share of errors too, including the tomato success kit, expensive too, lol!! Happy Weekend!!!
t's this tomato success kit?
;)
Sidney, the tomato success kit is a plastic contraption in two parts with special soil and fert, and you put water in the bottom and it will grow lots of stuff. My goal was to have a blooming seedling, re the first seed I sprouted. And, I did, I was amazed and sincerely thought my success was due to the tomato success kit. So, last spring, I grew the healthiest, fattest seedlings you have ever seen, in the TSK, and had stragglers in 16oz styro cups, they looked like they were from a third world country, really a sad bunch of seedlings. Too make a long story short, as it turns out, for a variety of reasons, just about all my seedlings bloomed at about 5 or 6 months and the pitiful ones in the styro cups were the first to bloom!! Well, you could have blown me over with a feather. So, I am no longer using the TSK. When I did use it, the brugs were planted in the same 'pot', which did not bother them, they were all healthy as horses. I had the TSKs anyway, so I wasn't out any money, but using the kit is a totally, unnecessary, expensive step that I will not use or recommend again, what a failure, lol. The reason I think the styro cup seedlings were better is because they were left in the cups WAY too long, and totally and tightly root bound and when they finally hit the ground, they were off to the races. One Yed and bloomed at 2 feet, and several were shorter than usual and fat as pigs and straight as arrows, and didn't even need stakes, they were a very good crop of 1st year blooming seedlings...
Gary,
HOW are your cuttings doing one week later ? alot of roots ?
Patience, Patience, Patience....They are begining to show the white little bumps at the bottoms. Rooting doesn't always go so fast. As long as you are not seeing rotting occuring at the base of the cuttings then you are still in the ball park. So, to sum up. There is progress but no roots actually busting out yet. It hasn't been long enough.
Here's my Mountain Magic cutting
looking good, gary. magic mountain i have to look up....oh, wow! love that pink. i must get one!
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/59769/index.html
thanks for mentioning the cultivar.
=)
This message was edited Dec 7, 2005 3:02 PM
X thanks so much for your reply to my question about the bubbler.
This is my first year at rooting and you were very imformative. I have a few in jars and lots of nubbies, but will try the one gallon bubbler.
Keep up the good work!!
Wow, I'm learning so much on this thread, even with all the few fireworks- great for a newbie! Now I won't make quite so many mistakes LOL!
This is all trial and error at some time for all of us, and I appreciate X's sharing his/her discovery of an inexpensive bubbler. Hope ya'll have bought them all out and left none for me!! I know I'm going to put my foot in it (I already have!) lots of times and have plenty of dumb/redundant questions.
Brenda
Mine was $11. at K-Mart and that other store has a cheapy too.
And we were all new once, but x is eXceptional newby!!!
Sidney