I didn't realize just how rootbound most of my brugs have become. Even though our temps have cooled considerably and there's loads of condensation in the mornings I'm still having to water at least once a day. It appears that there's more roots then soil left in the pots, even the 30" containers. I've never severely pruned the roots other then when I lift sunken pots. Since I will be cutting back most of the plants to about a foot will it be alright to trim off a significant portion of the rootball, like 1/3? There's just no way I can move all these brugs up to 30" pots next spring and I can't plant all of them in the garden. I even have some brugs that have been in the same place on the lower level of the deck that have sent roots between the slats into the soil underneath!
Karyn
They should be fine, you might be amazed at just how much root loss most of them can handle. The most I've ever cut off was about 4/5ths, no problems there, they regrow so fast. 1/3rd is standard but I usually cut more than that, if I stop at a third, they run out of space again in a month, lol.
Lynne
USDA 9b, Heat 10
Bradenton, Florida
Current Kanji: hana (flower)
I must do this, also, but am at a loss as to how I am going to get these monstrous brugs out of the containers to do so. I am assuming you have to cut them back severely first, and then do the pruning.
Will someone please explain how they prune the roots????
If you are not in a hurry, I will be lifting and root and top pruning some tomorrow for folks coming to my open houdr for cuttings and I will try and do pics as I do it for you.If not tomorrow, I will try in the next 2 weeks.
Mine are all in the ground, some 7+ feet tall and they will be cut down to 8-10 inch stumps for me. potted up into pots and brought in for a dormant winter.
Brugs are really tough. I've had my braided brugs for a few years, and though they haven't gotten really tall, I've root pruned and even traded one out an put in another into the three. Massive root pruning there.... Most of them can take it if they are helathy to begin with.
Sorry, I fell at work Friday night and did none of the digging at my open house yesterday so will get these pick for you in the next week or so when my jarred back recovers. ( have 4 herniated discs I nurse daily and they are not happy with me after the jarring at the moment)
Oh gosh, RA...sorry to hear about your fall. I too, know that when the spine is unhappy, life can be miserable. I know you'll take good care of yourself & hope you're feeling better quickly.
Patrick
Brug Moderator
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place
I, too, can relate, Ruth Ann - I have three. So, please take care and give them time to settle down before you try ANYTHING strenuous!!! Back problems can really slow us down besides being so uncomfortable!! I will be thinking of you.
Gosh Ruth Ann, it must have been the week for us to fall. I'm so sorry you were injured. Seems like the floor is harder when we fall than it was as young people. Are you going to have to have your discs cleaned out? Sounds so painful to have your problem. Back surgery seems to be pretty easy to go through now. I had mine in 85 and it wasn't a picnic, but now, people who have the same surgery are there one night. I'll be thinking about you.
Already have had one surgery with one removed ( it worked great), and am in no hurry for another ( the 6 months of packings for a post op infection did me in more than the surgery did.
Shirley, did you fall too this week?
I am almost back to normal today. Your unknown x unknown made several people go home very happy yesterday by the way, it was one of the most requested ones.
That's great that people liked it. Did I fall? I sure did. Such a stupid fall, too. I was walking in the garden and a tall weed was laid over. I stepped on it with my right foot, but the other foot didn't lift high enough and it caught. Of course, the thing was really rooted into the ground and there was nothing I could do but go forward. Landed hard on my knees and rolled some. Was pretty sore for two or three days. My back is a little stiff yet, but I'm okay. Makes me be a little more aware when I'm out there now. LOL!
Ruth Ann & Shirley, both of you take care. Glad to hear that you're better, RA, and happy that you didn't do any really serious damage when you tripped over that lousy weed, Shirley. Neither of you can afford to be laid up this time of year...well never is more like it.
Shirley, you take care, you have some replaced joints (don't you or am I having a senior moment here) and they don't take kindly to jarring from falls.
As was mentioned, now is our heaviest work time of the whole year getting these Brugs in and I know your DH can't help you like mine can help me.
Shirley, did not know you had fallen ---- so please take care. And, Ruth Ann, I am sure Karyn does not mind the well wishes to our fellow brug lovers. This time of year is hard enough when one is up to par.
Whoa! I just caught up with the fact that you fell too, Shirley. Not a good thing for us "old timers", yet we seem to be more prone to it than we used to be. I know my balance isn't all that great anymore & I'm trying to eliminate clutter or other things that are likely to trip me up. It appears we're more apt to "break" than we used to be, too. Everyone take care!
Patrick
Brug Moderator
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place
LOL! You know it is hard for me to admit that I was so awkward that I fell in the garden. Down steps sounds reasonable, but on flat ground it's embarrassing.
Yes, RA, both hips have been replaced, so that is the first thing I thought about when I fell.....asking myself if they were okay. My knees need to be replaced, but I think the smart thing to do is have the leg bone shortened that the surgeon told me could break again and if it does, it will have to be done then. I would be in bad shape if I had the knee done first and then the leg broke. I just told someone that I'm thinking seriously of just taking my chances with the leg. Being off of it for two months is scary because of side effects. I can suffer with the knees for a while longer, tho it isn't fun.
The troops will be here Thursday to help me get my brugs ready for winter. My yard help will come whenever I call him after the first killing frost. I think I'm actually looking forward to not dragging a water hose again for a few months.
Ruth Ann, what are "nodes" ? Are they on the roots, and what do they mean? Are you supposed to have them, what do they look like? Do you keep them, or cut them off when pruning roots? Thanks, Selma
Hi RA, I thought it was in the root pruning section, but later found it in another file, but can't remember which one it was in. Ah well, thanks for responding. S
I know I refer to leaf nodes. This is the place on the stem where older leaves have dropped off leaving a small scar. This is often the best place to cut just below for cuttings as it roots easily there.
Also this area will put up brand new plants when the cutting is laid for rooting horizontally as seen in the image I provided:
to ABADS on their rooting page here:
RA, the "log" (horizontal) method looks like a great way to go when you're trying for multiple new plants from one cutting. I did try it once last fall, altho was unsuccessful. I want to try it again.
Patrick
Brug Moderator
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place
It works better in the late Spring and anytime during the summer Patrick. I have the best success then, I just lay them in a small trench in the ground in the garden and they get watered when the plants get watered.... no special treatment.
Ruth Ann, I'll have to try the log method right in the garden as you suggest. I've tried it in pots and not had any luck. I do find that many brugs sprout in many areas along the trunk which I figure probably happens as I water the brugs by hand. Right now I have one that must have about 12-15 tiny side sprouts. Unfortunately, most of those have to be removed before they grow very big. Is there any way to save those and put them in soil? Of course, they have no roots.
Hello Ruth Ann: Have been having a really bad time trying to water-root some of the very thin green cuttings (from e-bay venders). Do you think horizontal rooting would work on these (too-young-to leave momma cuttings)? I see by the picture that the cutting is not covered with soil. Looks as if it is just laid on top of soil and gently pressed in.
Any advice much appreciated since this novice doesn't want to kill any more baby Brugs!! :0(
TIA Gloria
Gloria I think those small Green shoots you got might root better sticking in soil. I experimented with some tip cuttings last year cause I recieved some puney green tip cuts almost as skinny as a pair of toothpicks.Out of the 5 I had 1 survive and its finally 'y'd after 3 years& is 6 ft tall this year. I just stick them in a container thats near shade or bright light in shade and keep moist& it growshttp://www.network54.com/Realm/Bobky/eek.gif I agree.I don't like recieveing those type of cuts either,but have at least learned to deal with it.
sorry to hear about RA& Shirley falling.Reminds me when I fell off 10 ft ladder year before last.I was trimming wisteria in apple tree.The ground did not feel good.I fell 2 months ago over my dog(don't walk in a dark room when you own Rottwielers)I stepped over 1 dog and the one in front of me moved.He was kind enough to lick my face as laid wreathing in pain.My ankle still hurts too.Now when I step over ANY dog I say STAY,your OK.
RA thanks for the pictorial.I have one I'm relocateing that got took over by goldenrod& has not 'y'd.I'm going to put it in GH& already chose where it will grow next year.
I do have a question though to do with roots.I'm going to do some work in one of my flowerbeds this winter.I'm digging a banana plant to relocate for next year and going to connect the beds.I might just move the unknown pink brug back 3 ft to where I dig banana plant from.so when would be better to do this?January or Febuary.I get my frosts in late nov-1st week December.when I reloacted brugs for a pond once I did in 2nd week of January& all went fine,But I start getting sprouts in febuary which I cover near end of month when get frosts or lows in lower 30s.I didn't root prune when I did this.But believe I will this time around as the plant is 7 years and has been in this spot for 3 years and was relocated with a dolly with a 2 ft mass by 3 feet wide& took 2 to move.
May no more of us fall..no matter the height or lack of it.It all hurts just the same.
Gloria, I'm with Joy on the green cuttings, they dry out and shrivel too easily. The horizontal method really seems to work better with mature, woody wood. Water-rooting when it's hot out doesn't work for me, cooler water seems better for that method. I would try them in soil though, most of my first cuttings were green tips and rooting in soil was the only way I got any of them to grow.
Lynne
USDA 9b, Heat 10
Bradenton, Florida
Current Kanji: hana (flower)
Joy, as was said, the log rooting method is more for the older, woodier stalks and stems than the green wood cuttings.
I suppose you could try it with them but I would
- Use a window box to do this in
-make a trench in the soil for the cutting
-cover the window box with plastic to keep the humidity up for the green wood
The cutting would have to have a leaf node or two on it because that's where the new plants start from.
Having said this, I really don't recommend it for green wood cuttings though.
Thanks everyone for the useful advice. Next time I am sent these thin green punys I will pot them rather than try to water root them. But I still feel bad when the poor cuttings don't make it!!! Gloria
I took a look at RA's root pruning photos and was surprised to see how much of the rootball can be removed. I might even consider digging up some of the nicer ones that I planted directly in the ground this year instead of letting them die. I'll have significantly more room to store my brugs if I can prune the roots way back. Thanks for the photos.
Karyn
I also enjoyed the root trimming post. Thank you so much. I will be trying this on two of my unknowns. I grow everything in pots and find that the pots root into the ground, I have to cut the pots free to put them in the basement.On the plus side they never fall over after they have rooted into the ground. I had excellent luck with the log method this summer on a sunset Brugmansia. I used a wallpaper tub (long and Narrow) as a planter. After new plants started along the length I used my pruners to clip the log into sections. I smile as I think that one of those plants was sent to Texas just last week. Seems like a lot of this group is from the southwest.
Enjoy your evening
Karyn, I did the tutorial and photo's for the very reason you mentioned, to show how drastic you can be on their bottom when you take off their top. They are so much hardier than most of us credit them being. In the spring, the first 'good drink' I give then is with a transplant fertilizer to encourage new root growth and away they go again.
Works for me anyway.
I'll definitely take advantage of how much the roots can be trimmed this winter. I'm already thinking of what else I can get now that I'll have some extra room. lol
Karyn
Quote:I grow everything in pots and find that the pots root into the ground, I have to cut the pots free to put them in the basement.
Sally, are you using nursery pots that have a drain hole in the center of the bottom? If so, try placing a flat piece of plastic over the hole...one that extends a few inches beyond the diameter of the hole. You will probably still get some "root down" at the side holes, but they're easier to sever that roots that grow down thru a center hole.
I had an old plastic kiddie pool that leaked. Rather than sending it off to the trash, I cut it up into approx. 4" squares and I hold one of those over the center hole as I put potting mix in. I could use duct tape to hold it in place...and I think some people simply use duct tape to cover the hole. Another option...plastic lids from yogurt cups, cottage cheese containers, etc, cold be taped or glued over those holes.
Patrick
Brug Moderator
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place
I cover the bottom drainage holes but cut holes in the sides of the pots. That way when I dig them up I can just slice the roots with a sharp spade.
Karyn
Sally, cover up the Bottom holes is what Patrick was getting at. Leave the side ones open, in fact enlarge them... the roots that escape through them are easier to send a spade through for digging up, the pots remain intact for winter storage and the plants are stable in the wind. Do as you have been doing, just cover up those holes on the bottom of your pots if planting the pots.
??????? but I'm not planting my pots. I only have 5 brugs and they live in large pots with drippers to keep them watered. I would love the large collections a lot of you have, but in my short growing season that is really not all that sensible. Now in future retirement I have warmer gardening plans in mind. I love this forum.
Sally
Sorry Sally, my misunderstanding, I thought you were 'planting' your pots.
I am in the same zone as you ( near Toronto Ontario Canada).
Don't sell your plants or your zone short. Did you read what I do with my 35-40 plants in the fall? ( See here if you didn't).
That is a wonderful post, but where do you put them all in the winter. I use a corner of my basement, but most of my basement is a apartment for a student who helps me care for my husband. I find if I keep them in the heated part of the house mites become a problem, though I will be trying some wilt pruff spray on any I have upstairs. I have never cut mine back much for the winter, maybe I'll cut back the two tall ones I have. I do see how these plants multiply, a email acquaintance has told me she just sent me a box of her cuttings. I'll share the wealth with my sister in New Hampshire and a man I know in the area who is Brug Crazy. I grow quite a few out of zone plants so my house gets a bit crowded in the winter. I could really use a conservatory but can't really justify heating one in the winter. You mentioned you keep some in water for the winter, do you have them in light or dark. I've never really seen a cutting with roots, I've always just stuck them in the compost once the nodes started to swell. Well this is a disjointed and unorganized post but thats the way my mind seems to work. Thanks for your thoughts.
Sally
The cuttings I leave in water over the winter get the same amount of light the dormant Brugs get.... no direct light, only what manages to radiate thru the rigid pink 1" thick insulation.
Right now I have one that must have about 12-15 tiny side sprouts. Unfortunately, most of those have to be removed before they grow very big. Is there any way to save those and put them in soil? Of course, they have no roots.
');
Gloria
