Good for you Theresa! I've always thought about air-layering, but haven't given it a try. I have rooted by bending down a branch into the ground though. What color is your iochroma?

Thanks, El!!This was my first attempt at air layering.With Iochromas being a little tricky to root , I didn't want to kill cuttings. I'm thrilled it rooted.
It's called "Purple Bells"
Here's a pic from my garden.

{{gwi:507898}}

Theresa

Great job!!!! I have one that is 5 1/2' in a pot sunk in the ground I have to pull. Maybe I will air layer it in stead of just cutting it back and throwing it in the compost pile.. .. That is a very pretty color..I have a potted up Royal Queen I'll trade ya if you might want a darker purple to go with this one..

Kylie

Kylie, I would love that! I need to see if the other branches root first. Give me a couple of weeks.

Theresa

Theresa, that is awesome!
I had never seen the leaves on the Iochromas before, they
really do look like brug leaves!
Gonna have to look into getting one!
Thanks for posting the pics, very pretty!

Karen

Theresa, I thought you were rooting them in water. I was going to send all of mine to you to start. LOL I was going to air layer mine & just kept putting it off.

Kylie, Just chop it back to a reasonable size that you can lift & bring it in. It will grow back in the spring. If you leaves branches, they will bloom all winter under lights. The Ios were the only bit of color I had in the dead of winter, too bad they don't smell.

Linda

Good job. I want to try air layering too but never got around to it. I mean on brugs, I have no iochromas. All your plants in the background of the pics look great, I really like the palm, what kind is it?
Shawn

Linda I got this one as just a sprout off ebay a couple of yrs ago.. and you are right I kept it in the kitchen window and it bloomed all winter..I cut it waaay back last yr. and it still put on a few blooms..I wish I could find the tag for it...LOL
Kylie

Thanks guys.
Karen, it is awesome! This will be my method of choice for rooting. I will try sometime to root in water or soil, but this plant is still too small to waste cuttings.If I can root the other 2 branches, I'll save ya one.
Linda, good luck with that! LOL I hope mine blooms in the winter. Do you feed them all year?
Shawn, That is a Pygmy Date Palm. I love it in my house in the winter too!It has 3 trunks, soon to be 2. I put it out too soon in the spring & one of the crowns rotted. It's still alive but, I assume when the fronds die to the top it will be gone. I keep looking down into the top, hoping to see new growth, nothing yet.
The coleus in the background reseed every year. They would be in everything if I left them alone.They were even growing down the bottom of my steps in the cement cracks. I left them grow for a little while until they got too big!LOL

Theresa

Forgot to ask: Exactly where do I make the cut? How long should I wait? What type of soil do I use?

Theresa

Hey Theresa

Can you post a link to where you found the information on how to air layer brugs and Iochromas- hope it's visual- your photos help me see what you mean!!

And.................. Congratulations!!

Good idea. It looks like a nice root ball developed. I'm air layering a bunch of brugs and other plants now instead of taking cuttings. The iochromas are so picky about rooting anyway so I'm glad to see that layering works well for them. Besides the difficulty I had rooting iochromas I had problems with many even after they were rooted. For some reason they would just up and die several months after having been rooted and potted. It was happening with the warm weather or bottom heat rooted cuttings. The cold temp rooted cuttings did fine. The next time I want anymore iochromas I'll definitely air layer them.
Karyn

Nice job, Theresa! Looks like you used sphagnum moss? Did you make a cut or scrape on the stem to encourage rooting, or simply wrap it with moss & plastic?

I have 3 Iocromas that are finally doing very well. I'm sure I'll want to try airlayering the purple & red ones. The white one was sent to me in error & I don't care much for it.

Patrick

Cut it off under the roots, Pot it up & treat it as you would any other new plant. Don't let it dry out & keep it out of direct sun for a little while. It might bloom this winter if it's an end cut. I'll start air layering mine when I bring them inside in a few days, wish me luck. Maybe I'll have roots by spring.

Linda

Congrats! I will try doing one on mine if I can remember to get some peat moss.

Thanks, Linda! Should I wait until there's more roots?

I agree with Karyn, I think the cool weather really helped.Thanks!

Thanks, Patrick! Nice to see you hear. Try it you'll like it!I did nick the stem. I don't know if it made a difference, because the little nubbies swelled up anyway. Just like cuttings in water.
Maybe the brugs that don't have nubs, should be scarred or cut? Just a thought.

Brenda, I just googled air-layering & with Karyn's advice, I tried it. It's not hard at all!!!Here's one link,There's a ton more.

I did air-layer one brug. It's just starting with the swollen white nubbies. I think this method is great because you can still enjoy your brugs blooms without chopping them off to make cuttings.
Theresa

Here is a link that might be useful: AIR LAYERING FOR DIFFICULT-TO-ROOT PLANTS

Hey Patrick!! Nice to see you here.. I can help you out with that white one..LOL You still looking for Snowbank???
I'm unable to pm you @ 54
Kylie

The roots look good to me. If you want to leave it on the mother plant longer (I would be inclined to do that), just add a layer of potting soil around the root ball & they will grow into that. Keep it covered (aluminum foil, etc) so the roots stay in the dark. Be sure & trim off the leaves as if you were shipping it when you cut it off. The new roots will not support all those old leaves.

I cut partway through the stem & prop it open slightly with a toothpick or piece of peat moss. Dab it with rooting powder & pack damp peat moss around it & cover it with plastic wrap & secure it with twist ties at top & bottom & then aluminum foil over the top to keep out light. You can check & reseal it easily that way. I have done it this way with lots of different plants. Really simple once you've tried it a couple times.

Linda

Oh, boy, ya'll got me fired up. Theresa, thanks for the link and Linda, thanks for the instructions. I'm gonna do it- I got plenty on material to work with! Glad you brought this up, Theresa- I tried before, didn't work, so I gave up! I left off the foil and the rooting hormone, tho.

I wanted to graft a brug this summer, too, and darn if the summer didn't get away from me and now it's too late! ~Brenda

Brenda, I'm so glad you're inspired to try again. You can do it! I didn't use the foil either,but I did use rooting hormone.
Has anyone tried the plastic cup split down the side,put around the stem and filled with soil,then the whole thing covered with plastic? Talk about instant plant!

Theresa

I'm trying air layering with green brug stems. I started a little over a week ago and haven't checked to see if any roots are forming. I have a bunch of brugs that I wanted to take cuttings from but the stems are green. Many are several feet long and thick but they are soft and green. I'm sure I'd rot them in water and probably in soil. I suck with green cuttings.
Karyn

The two smaller branches rooted! That makes 3 for 3!Yay!

Karyn,
I air-layered a green Brug branch at the same time as the Iochroma,it has roots too!SUCCESS!
Now I wish I tried it on the Sang. instead of just burying the branches. Nothing on those yet.

Theresa

Theresa, that's awesome!! COngrats!! I am going to have to try that! YAY!!!! :)

Thanks, Daniella! I wish there was more time before frost to do it. I might go out and air-layer more brugs today.Between air- layering and Sue's method of rooting brug cuttings,I should be good to go! Some of my cuttings in water are rotting already.Cypress Gardens looks like it's going to be a PITA.
In case you missed that thread, here's the link.

Theresa
P.S.-Welcome back! Call me today, if you can!

Here is a link that might be useful: Brug rooting method

Congratulations Theresa. That goes really fast. Thanks for sharing this.
There is always next year ;-)

Lucy