Back in CT, when my brugs were shutting down in the late fall and the leaves were falling off, before digging them up to bring in for the winter, I would cut down the stalks and root sections in jars of water in the house, where we kept the temperature about 67 degrees thru the winter. We're in SC now. I brought a few of my brugs with me, and they've been growing very well, and several have produced blooms. Several others looked great and got quite tall but had no Y and no buds, so I cut the top 1/4 of the stalks, to hopefully encourage them to branch out. The cuttings I put in water, out on my deck. They seem to be quite limp though. What approximate temperature would the cuttings do best in? I assume I should cut the leaves off?
Rooting brug cuttings in water in the summer
When I root cuttings I watch them, if they get limp I do remove the leaves.
Thea;
Mistake #1, fresh cutting can't handle being outdoors. Have you got a tub big enough to soak these cuttings in? Do that over night, if you must. To rehydrate your brug. I live by the lake, I sometimes just float my cuttings in the lake with a string fastened, so wake current won't carry them off while I do my other gardening chores. Once they're rehydrated, you want to cut off some big leaves, in half. Put them in a clear vase so you can see the roots when they appear. Keep them out of direct sunlight. I keep mine by my kitchen sink, where the humidity is high due to frequent faucet use. That's all they need. Look at mine, this cutting was made 2 weeks approximately, when my brug was knocked down by storm. Instead of one towering tall brug, now I've two. :-)
Editted to say; remember to change out your water every 4-5 days, sour water will kill your cutting faster than you can see the damage.
This message was edited Jul 5, 2007 9:00 PM
I root mine indoors, too. I keep the cuttings by the northeast facing window in the kitchen. I put some slighly wilted cuttings in a jar of warm water. By morning the small leaves were nicely rehydrated. I completely remove the large leaves. Nubs have already formed and roots are beginning to pop out. I agree about changing the water often. I also add a few drops of hydrogen peroxide.
Another note - cutting the growth tips off of your brugs will only delay blooms. Forcing it to branch will only get you ...more branches. The plants have to 'Y' on their own and you just have to wait till it gets to it's own desired height to do that. Each branch will 'Y' as well, so you can leave any extra branches you might have now. Branches will usually 'Y' around the same time (but not always). Once it has 'Y'd, though, if it's taller than you want, you can then airlayer it on the trunk at the height you'd like it to be - then you'll have a ready made tree and the original base to regrow more plants from.
I'm learning new tips, as I share my own experiences. The warm water tip from Betty, and Carter's advices. Thanks all, love our DG's family. Aren't we great or what?
Thanks, all of you!! I'm regretting my rash move. I've just never had a brug not blossom and I panicked! It was getting so tall, and it was beautiful, full and leafy, but no Y in sight. I must confess, I still haven't got the Y principle down yet. But I'll keep in touch with this great forum from now on; looking thru it last night I see ya'll have contributed a TON of useful info. Lily_Love, why do you cut the leaves in half on your cuttings? I wish I could keep my cuttings out on a window sill, but I've got a kitty who will try to eat anything green, so I don't dare! (Last night she even got to munching the thyme cuttings I had drying in a basket, and they're pretty dry and spiky, to say nothing of being pretty pungent!) And the peroxide, does that help keep the stalks from getting slimy?
Thanks again ya'll, it's good to know you're out there, ready to help!!
Thea;
My hypothesis is keeping a portion of the leave is to help transpiration. While a larger circumference of the leave requires more energy to keep it turgid, where there is no root available to send up the energy. Like our circulatory system, plant has their own complex system that work to transport oxygen and nutrients, one is going up from the roots, other such as leave to help capture sunlight and send the energy back down.
In a more practical and easy way to see it. Tip cuttings (with partial leaves left ) root more readily than those that are completely devoid of them. An example is that the 2 sections that I made, the tip portion already makes roots. The other half is using its energy from the cambium and thus grows a little slower.
Wow Lily, that's very interesting, thanks for elaborating! I feel like such a dummy!
It's interesting, I enjoy reading, and learn, if I'm not surfing the web. for info. I read. :-)
Nah, I played alot more than any of the above. lol
I read that same info on cutting the leaves in half on an article about rootiing Hydrangea cuttings. It does work better and an easier way to explain it is that the plant (cutting) needs food that is made by the leaves and the leaves need the water that is supplied by the roots, nubbies, stem. Cutting the leaves in half reduces the requriements of the plant to a managable level for a cutting that as yet has no roots to provide nutrients and water. I think. LOL :)
Edited to say, actually after reading it again, this is exactly what Lily_love said!!! It was just so hard to understand the first time around...
This message was edited Jul 6, 2007 11:42 PM
That's okay miz Yardqueen, the more interpretations the better! I can sometimes be a little thick, so it helps me understand when I get a couple of folks' ideas on a subject. Thanks! This is a valuable forum, and so much fun!
Pics of my very first brug bloom. I now have 4 brugs....all in their first year with me. This variety I found to be truly amazing because of the color change that occurs during blooming....edge first emerges as golden yellow, then changes to the beautiful pink and cream as the bloom opens. I am in awe. My Charles Grimaldi is also blooming.....a beautiful sun yellow. Two others are still preparing themselves for the bloom stage. I'll keep you posted. My thanks to all of you for the tips and information. My brugs thank you as well. :)
Now that a sight to make anyone smiles. Ever wondering why they attracted us gardeners like magnet? lol
Bagthepi, your blooms are lovely, and you have so many buds!!! Mine are the same colour as yours. Back in CT, we had a screened porch and I had pots of brugs around it, and in the evening the scent of the blooms would waft in, just heavenly! We don't have a screened porch in our new home in SC, and the AC has to be on all the time in this superhot climate, so I have to walk out to visit all my brugs for my scent fix, but it's worth it!