Help! Rooted cuttings arrived!

Hi, I am really new to brugs and just received 4 rooted cuttings.

I need to know what to do with them now! LOL! I have MG potting soil, vermiculite & perlite.
I want to keep them in pots at least for this year so I can move them if they dont like where they land.

they are each about 2 ft tall.

Should I pot them up tonight? or wait?

What size pots?

Whats the best mixture of potting soil?

Where should I put them once potted (shade? 105* here today, but should be cooling back down to 80's by the weekend)

any advise is greatly appreciated :o)

Well I would put them in a 1 gallon pot if they were mine then after about 3-4 weeks I would put them in a 5 gallon pot and let them grow....

James

Great cuttings - I bought my first brug about a month or so ago, and a very generous person just sent me a rooted cutting of one. I have both of mine in MG MR soil. When I first bought my Snowbank, I had it under the Patio b/c I thought it liked shade. It wasn't growing and then the slugs found it and started having midnight snacks. When I was down to 2 leaves, I moved it out to the sun and it loves it there. it gets about 4 hours of direct sun each day and has sprouted two new leaves. The other one I just received a few days ago but I put it in the same place - so far so good. Good luck! Em

Whenever I get new rooted cuttings I open up the top, cut a slit in the bottom and gently run room temperature water through the rootball to cool it off. Anytime a plant is boxed up and exposed to heat or sunlight even for a short time, the rootball may get hot. Cooling it off seems to help revive it. I let it revive overnight then pot it up the following day.

I use the MG potting soil straight from the bag. Maybe someone else can help you with a formula for mixing other components into the MG. I would put them in bright shade for a few days to get over the shock of being in the dark during transit. Then gradually expose them to morning sunlight.

WOW! 105º this early in the year.

Em, I'm in 8b as well but the humidity is not as great. My Snowbank can't take any direct sunlight here in central Texas. Even morning sunlight burnt the white part of the leaves. It now lives year round inside the greenhouse which filters out about 30% of the sunlight.

yes 105* this early :o( I'm just glad the cuttings survived this heat! it is a fluke heat wave, and thats why I'm so worried about puting them outside tomorrow. I'll have to work tomorrow so I cant move them if it gets hot again.
I only have one lil shaded area outside... and its full of all my shade nursery plants! lol! so I guess some of those are gonna get booted to full sun tonight so I can put these pots in the shade. Its supposed to drop to 90* tomorrow, but we are also getting those hot santa ana fire winds.... ugh!

Betty - thats what I thought would happen - burnt leaves - but it seems to be happy so far. Am keeping my fingers crossed!

Anjl - wish I could trade you some of my shade for some of your sunshine!

well, I'm dreaming of alaska right now... its still 90* outside and its 8pm here! ugh!

I've been waiting for it to cool down some so I can go pot these up... it just hasnt cooled off enough yet!

You are lucky you got them with roots and all, I have only rooted my own and pretty soon they start shooting up. I1i received a whole bunch of cuttings from someone in the forum about a week ago and they are doing beautiful, just rooting powder abd water. Good luck with yours, if they have roots already, you are ahead of the game and being in Ca, wow, what a combination, great weather. i know that mine, for a fact, love heat and sun and water.......Good luck with them, they look great. Clem

Thanks clem, I also have 3 seedlings that are about 2 inches tall now, 10 more seeds I just started, and 4 cuttings thta I am attempting to root! LOL! I am DETERMINED to have Brugs this year.... and at least one of each color! LOL! My DH things I've lost it...but he doesnt even know what a Brug is yet! I'm sure he too will love them once they are blooming :o)

I start rooted cuttings in a 4" pot. I add perlite to the regular miracle grow potting mix, also some steer manure... They really need to be kept out of direct sunlight at least for a week.. if possible. If not, they will probably loose their leaves, but no big deal.. they will bounce back.

After they are established and the roots are coming out the bottom of the pot... I go up.. 1 gal.. then when the roots show again, 5gal... they can stay in a 5 gal for quite a while.. but when they start to get blown over from the slightest wind.. I don't care if they have roots or not.. they go in a bigger pot or in the ground..

They are fertilizer hogs.. but not till they are actively growing.. When they start the growth explosion.. you can fertilize almost every other day! For optimum growth.. full strength twice a week is what I have best results with..
When I am really pushing a seedling for growth.. I use Palm tree spikes in the pots, Osmocote in the potting mix and fertilize twice a week with either Peter's 20 20 20 or MG regular stuff.. and foliar feed with the recipe or just kelp & superthrive) Howz that for feeding the pigs? LOL

Wow ZZ - they really are starvin marvins! LOL whats your thoughts on fish emulsion? I just started using that on other things and they seem to love it!

I would pot those in 2 or three gallon pots.The MG soil with some added perlite is good.
Water them in with a solution of Miracle grow and put them in filtered shade.They will put on new leaves in a few days and the filtered sunlight will keep them from getting sunscald when you move them into full morning sun.
Bettydee has a good idea about hydrating the rootball.I do it a bit differently and unwrap the plant,remove foil, plastic wrap and moss then sit them in room temp water until I am ready to pot up.
There has been a "fact" going around for years that brugs need to be kept in the smallest possible pot,for as long as possible.This is simply not true unless you live in a cold climate.It's the soil temp that matters,not the pot size.Bigger pot=faster growth assuming the temperature is warm.
ZZ is right on about the fertilizer.They love it.
Be sure to remove the moss before planting.It can hold too much water against the roots and cause rot.

This message was edited May 16, 2008 10:59 AM

Fish emulsion is a really nice snack.. LOL

a snack?? LOLOLOL ok good to know :)

Thank you all so much!

Gone2seed, I was really, really impressed with these rooted cuttings! THANK YOU! :oD

I did remove the moss and I soaked them in cool water for about 5 hours last night. I put them in 2 gallon pots for now (til I can buy bigger ones lol!) and kept them in the 'shade nursery' in my yard ~really just a tiny 4 ft sq area that is blocked by the sun most of the day. I also put my potted JM's in front of them to shade them a little more. When I got home from work today 3 of them looked great, and one~Magic Carpet~ is really droopy ;o( so I moved her more into the shaded area and gave them all another drink. I used MG Moisture control potting soil with no perlite added. Figure I can add some when I repot them in a few weeks.
Is it too soon to water them with MG food now? ~thinking that the soil already has food...or are they really really oinkers and need more now? The other three are perky and beautiful... so I'm not sure if Magic just got too much sun today or if she's a little finicky? LOL!
AnjL

I would hold off on more feed for about a week or ten days.The roots need to become reestablished and they need to put on a few leaves in order to use the fertilizer.That already in the potting soil and the initial soaking should be plenty for now.If Magic fails,let me know and I will send you another.

I just checked again today and she is in full sun, but still drooping :o( should I try to pull her out and re soak the roots and then repot? or just leave her be for now?
all the rest are wonderful :oD

Leave her be.At this stage they either live or die.most live.

k... I'll just treat her same as the rest ^_^
Thanks for all the help.... I'll try to post pix tomorrow :o)