In December I cut back several large AT’s back. One of the AT had a very large trunk. How large of a trunk is it possible to take cuttings from? Do large cuttings have any benefit over smaller ones? On some of the others, I was able to get quite a few with a Y shape. Is there any benefit starting off with that kind of cutting? My brug buckets have been happy over our Houston winter and are ready to pot up. Thanks for any advice.

I don't know what AT stands for, but will tell you that cuttings from below the Y will make taller brugs than cuttings from above the Y. Those will make shorter and bushier plants, from my experience. I also think that cuttings from the truck are easier to root and less picky about rooting conditions. JMO.

ChSam (Shirley Morr)
Chariton, Iowa
Zone 5

AT = Angel Trumpet?
I've had my thinking cap on & that's my guess. At first I thought it must be a cultivar whose name was abbreviated to its initials.

Patrick
Brug Moderator
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

Sorry I was being lazy and just put the AT for Angle Trumpet. My hope for planting the cutting that already looks like a Y was that somehow I end up with a tall topiary shape. Hope you have an early Spring. Yesterday many of our Houston kids went to school with shorts and ended up needing a jacket before their day ended. Cj

Quote: One of the AT had a very large trunk. How large of a trunk is it possible to take cuttings from?

Crystal, clarify for me. By large, are you referring to tall or to the girth of the trunks? You spoke of some of the trunks in context of large...then spoke of others that had Y's. And your follow-up post spoke of wanting to have a tall topiary, using a trunk that has a Y. What isn't clear to me is how tall are the trunks that have Y's?

Maybe this will answer your question without rephrasing what you meant - a topiary typically has only 1 trunk. If you want a tall topiary, I think what you'll need to do is start with a trunk that is tall BEFORE it has a Y. Then above the Y you can prune as you see fit to form the branching you desire in shaping the top.

Going back to your question about how large a trunk you can take cuttings from...I believe trunk diameter and length don't make much difference in a brug's ability to root. Add that to what Shirley said & I think we've answered you questions, yes?

LOL, now I'm going to go in a different direction. My idea of a topiary is a bush/tree that has a single, bare trunk topped by a dense globe of foliage. Think of a rose...maybe an azalea...something that bears flowers at the tips of the stems. But if you do that with a brug, aren't most of your flowers going to be hidden inside the foliage?


Patrick
Brug Moderator
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

I do little "shaping" to my brugs. One, I really like blooms more that shape, and two, can barely keep up with the watering and fertilizing....LOL. I do have some nice "trees" that came from putting the whole trunk cutting in water for the winter and then planting it out in the spring. One, in particular, is Dr. Seuss - a beautiful brug for a "tree".

USDA Zone 7/8
Copper Canyon
North Central Texas

Thanks for the AT info. I never call mine Angel Trumpets only Brugmansia. Sorry, it didn't enter my feeble mind to think of anything other than a cultivar name that wasn't known to me.

ChSam (Shirley Morr)
Chariton, Iowa
Zone 5

I have only one experience with a "trunk cutting" (about 1 1/2 inches in diameter) and that brug took a 3rd year after rooting and planting to bloom. On the other hand, most of my smaller cuttings (diameter, that is) almost always bloom in 4-6 months. Now, it could be coincidental.

Jarie
Mission, TX
Rio Grande Valley
Zone 9

It could have to do with the specimen, Jarie, because all my trunk cutting have bloomed the same year.

USDA Zone 7/8
Copper Canyon
North Central Texas

That's possible, Carrie, and since I have no other experience with large diameter cuttings was just suspecting it so now guess it was just a coincidence. Actually, that variety bloomed very infrequently once it did bloom.

Jarie
Mission, TX
Rio Grande Valley
Zone 9

Welcome home Jarie. Hope you had a great vacation.

ChSam (Shirley Morr)
Chariton, Iowa
Zone 5

I am sorry that I did not respond sooner. The girth was mostly what I was talking about. I have about three or four that are both tall and thick. Right now they only have roots at the botton and no Y's formed. I did however when taking cutting, take several below the Y. This Y thing, even after all this time still has me dizzy! I just hated to chop up such long thick cuttings into little ones. I will take some pictures Saturday. Our Houston weather is nuts now. 36 a few nights ago and a projected 76 later in the week. I have not potted up most of the cuttings I took in the early winter. I know the Brugmansia is the offical name but I got lazy and in a hurry I put AT. I did not mean to call your/our babies a bad name! Hope you still love me Shirley ! LOL Cj