TJ, Picaso is so cute!I'm so glad you were able to take care of your roses & your computer. Don't keep your Brug cuttings too wet. They will rot. Sometimes mine leaf out without roots. Good luck!

Theresa

Tj...

Interesting about the totes w/the covers. Do you have a GH or do you have them inside? I can only imagine how cold your winters are compared to what we have....BRRRrrr!

Anyway, back to the totes, do you ever have problmes with rot? Can you go a little more in depth what you do?

You mentioned..

"have my cuttings potted up in an organic soil, peat moss and perlite. Some of them are just now starting to put on tiny leaves. I'm also noticing that the smaller cuttings are rooting and leafing out much quicker than the larger cuttings. Is this normal? It's hard for me to tell when to add water. I'm thinking I might have to add a little more soon.

I keep all my rose cuttings and other perennial/annual cuttings in big clear plastic totes with the lid on and then you don't ever have to water them. All I do is stack them on top of each other and forget about them for a few months. But I used every one of my large totes and don't have room for more of them for my Bruggies. I can't wait until the clear cups show Brug roots."

Do you use totes BEFORE using the cups to root or instead of? Little confused...maybe I just need another cup of coffee! :)

I hope you have a MARVELOUS DAY!!!!!

Thanks...

Mary Jane

Theresa, thanks for the advice. I think I may hold off on the watering. :)

Mary Jane, I root almost everything in my clear plastic totes. They are a FOOL PROOF way of rooting anything except things that doing like high humidity, one that comes to mind are the begonias.

Here is a photo of my smaller totes which you can see sitting on the gravel floor beneath the plant table. I use the longer larger tall totes also. These smaller tall ones were left for a few special clematis plants that I had yet to cut.

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Here is what I do:

1. First I place about 3 or 4 inches of equal parts peat moss and perlite (or vermiculite) into the bottom of the tote. Then I will add a little bit of water to just make the mixture damp...NOT soaked. In my water I will add Super Thrive or a liquid rooting stimulator as that seems to really allow things to take off quickly. If it is soaked things may rot as you are going to place the lid on the tote and forget about it. This creates a greenhouse effect with a lot of humidity and condensation in your tote.

2. Select the plant for propagation. I will take a 6 inch cutting, take all the leaves off the cutting except the top 2 or 4 depends how big the leaves are...if the leaves are big I cut the leaves in half as I want to get as many cuttings in my totes as possible. I dip the bottom ends of my cuttings in water then a rooting hormone. I will use a pencil to make a hole in the peat/perlite mixture and place my cuttings in the hole and firm the mixture around the cutting.

I place all the cuttings about an inch away from each other in rows. With the rows about an inch apart. Here is a short tote that I usually use for seeds that I have an example of how full I pack my totes (I ran out of the large tall totes so I used on of the shorter totes...can't place the cover on the short totes as the tops would hit the cover):

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3. After filling my tote, I place the lid on them, and stack the totes up in a south facing window in my house. Periodically because I'm impatient I will peak into the tote. I will not remove the rose or hardwood cuttings, for several months and most times will leave them in there totes until Feb or March. Things that root a bit easier like coleous and annuals I will take out when I have time and pot them up (these will root within a month). Just tug on the leaf a bit to see if it has rooted.

Caution, do not add additional water as the humidity, water in the soiless mix and the condensation are enough moisture to keep those plants alive in there ALL winter long.

This works really well for woody plants such as tree, or shrub cuttings, there has been NOTHING that I've tried with these methods that do not root. It's amazing.

The first time I tried this method I had over 200 grape plants ha ha ha...I had to give quite a few away as what the heck would I do with 200 plants. I thought with 200 cuttings my odds of getting one plant were good. Never imagined I would get 200 plants. ha ha

I do the same thing with my seeds except I use the totes without height as you see in the second photo on the shelf of my plant rack. I use the same soiless mix, place my seeds in rows directly in the tote...OR I will use the peat pots. Things like tree seeds etc. I plant directly in the tote with no peat pots and then pot them into larger pots after they've rooted. You can experiment, but the mini greenhouse affect really does seem to work very well for any cuttings or seeds.

Also, if you have a heat mat that speeds things up. I will use a heat mat for my seeds but generally not for cuttings.

My favorite part of gardening is rooting things, and hybridizing new plants. I hybridize roses, lilies, daylilies and peonies. I may even try dabbling in Brug hybridizing. I love it. I enjoy grafting also. My last place I had 9 different apples on one apple tree. It was so fun.

My newest adventure is growing apple tree seeds and growing a fence of espalier. So far only 5 of my 1000's of apple tree seeds have sprouted I can't wait!!! It's all so much fun. I love to experiment. This is what my goal is:

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I hope I've done a better job explaining. Please let me know if you have any more questions. I seem to get quite long winded. sorry about that.

~Tj~

TJ, Thanks for the in-depth explanation of your method of rooting cuttings. I failed miserably rooting cuttings in my little plastic totes.I used MG seed starting mix right out of the bag. Then the mix dried out, then I watered it a little, then the cuttings got moldy.....you know the rest! LOL I am definitely going to keep trying. Thanks for your enthusiasm!
Keep posting what you're doing with your plants/seeds/cuttings. We love to try new things all the time too!

Theresa

Tj:

Quite the impressive set-up you have--you rule with 'Rooting In Totes' !!! You did a fantastic job in explaining everything! I have so many plastic totes--after years of 'hurry and evacuate--a hurricane is coming!' Then I buy all these totes to stuff our treasured things, photos, paperwork, etc...to keep all those things dry. :0

And...you have that great greenhouse too!

Mary Jane

Tj:

Tj I am so happy to read that your days are a lot better! You are such a great gardener. I LOVE your espalier!!Good luck with your seedlings.

Lucy

yeah yeah that short term memory rofl.
I just remembered that I wanted to tell you that your picaso is GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!

Lucy

P.S.

Are those 'your espaliered' trees?

They are amazing!!!!

Mary Jane

TJ You wonderful gardener. Thanks for the tips. I just planted a bunch of dianthus cuttings in the gh. They all rooted. I am gonna try your method with some other plants I want to start to share this spring. Great tips.... I love your pictuers.....The cat is beutiful....Barb

That's pretty cool with the totes. At one time we lived in WY outside of Yellowstone Park. In the early spring I would have a ton of tomatoes and peppers I started from seed to bring in and out of the house because it could still freeze there at night in June!
Finally I got disgusted and kept them in large ice chests so at night I would only have to shut the lid. I just had to make sure to open them again in the morning or they would cook LOL! The nieghbors wondered what the heck I was doing out there with the ice boxes!

I so badly wanted to tease you gals and tell ya those were my espalier trees. ha ha ha. No, those are not my trees. That's what I'm going to do though as a backdrop for a few of my gardens. :) At one time someone posted photos of a garden in British Columbia and I about dropped my jaw. So I immediately put my pea brain into action knowing one day I would have a fence of espaliered apple trees. I'm hoping to get them started this spring.

Thanks everyone for the very nice compliments. You all are too nice.

~Tj~

Tj:

Espaliered trees are so cool!!! I can't grow apple trees here--not enough cold # of days--but I have been trying to talk my brother up in Michigan to attempt it.

Several people in our area have used a 'Pyracanthia' shrub to train and with the blooms and berries, they are a work of art!!
So...we will be waiting for pictures in the coming years of your 'successes'!!

Good Luck!!

Mary Jane

Wow, you really got a lot done. I am sure your kitty wanted to come out and help you!!! My dogs always want to be with me when I plant so they know what to dig up later. Lol!!!
Thank you for your wonderful rooting tips in the totes. I think I may just try that. It is hard to believe you don't have a problem with mold due to lack of air circulation. I guess you have to get just the right mix of water and soil when you start. Now I need to find out where you get the clear totes.
Joyce

I thought of two other questions. Do you rotate your totes so the cuttings don't lean one way towards the light? Do they get enough light if another tote is on top of it?
Thanks!
Joyce

Joyce,

I get my totes at walmart. I do not rotate the totes at all and I have them stacked four or five high and never had a problem.

You are right, it is a very important not to have too much water in the soiless medium. In the 20 gallon tote with a about 3 to 4 inches of soiless medium, I put in one icecream pail of rain water and super thrive. That seemed to be just perfect.

Good luck!

~Tj~

Wow, good method to try. Gotta start watching for some clear totes. Love you cat too. Really cute!