Crown of Thorns stems question
escolat
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
My Crown of Thorns is branching nicely at the very bottom. I heard these hybrids COT's(from Logee's) are grafted. Do you think these branches are growing below the graft and should be removed?
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Crown of Thorns!
Comments (24)Sommai Tan, your plants are beautiful! Thanks for taking the time to post. Yes, I am familiar with Marie Tran's portfolio, too. Here's a treat for anyone who has never seen her plants: [Crown of thorns collection[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/crown-of-thorns-collection-dsvw-vd~1791211) [Crown of Thorns in full bloom[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/crown-of-thorns-in-full-bloom-dsvw-vd~1825405) Carol in Jacksonville...See MoreCrown of Thorns Plant has fallen over!
Comments (18)"..... would 2 that will not be chopped help to 'support' growth of the stem without any live growth?" In a sense, yes. Some plants reliably form adventitiousbuds. Euphorbs tend to be a little hit and miss, with more hitting than missing, so the odds favor the plant will back-bud ..... you just can't be certain. I'm guessing the reason is, the building blocks plants use to form new cells and keep their systems orderly (nutrients) are supplied in the nutrient stream. Branches with leaves use more water (transpiration), so they PULL more nutrients (building blocks) up the branch. Succulents are usually very good at in habiting water loss to the air, so w/o foliage the volume of nutrients the stubbed off stem gets will be minimal. If It was my plant, I'd probably separate the CoT from the other plant AND chop it AND root prune while I'm at it, in part because I'm 99% sure any cuttings I start at this time of year will strike .... but that's just how I think. The safe bet would be chop one hard, prune one back to just a few healthy leaves, and leave one alone. That way you're positive you'll have at a minimum two viable plants and 2 potentially viable cuttings. If the one you chop hard back-buds - your golden and you'll know you can rely on that in the future. I know the white one I have back-buds on bare stems, but I still didn't tempt fate. I cut out a lot of stems that didn't already have at least 1 lateral to cut back to. I'm not trying to influence what you do - just kicking around some ideas. Al...See MoreNeed help with Crown of Thorns
Comments (14)Hi, Rina - Nice to see you! In my original post, you'll see that I cut off half of one tall leggy stalk as a trial & error experiment. I then cut that top piece in half and potted them both after 1 week, being sure to maintain the same orientation on the headless piece. The part with a head (flowers & leaves) never lost a leaf and rooted perfectly. The headless piece never rooted after 3 months so I threw it out. I want to know if perhaps that was a fluke ... if perhaps the headless pieces do root in time and throw up new shoots (new plants!) from the base. Or do they just NOT root at all. I am being annoyingly specific because I don't want to ruin my mother's millis. When I came here to be her caregiver last year (she's 82 and living with vascular dementia), the gardens were overgrown and abandoned. I've restored everything for her and we're surrounded by flowers again. She is always so happy in her garden but can only water now....and enjoy her flowers, which makes us both very happy....See MoreCrown of Thorns Diagnosis
Comments (29)I have been thinking about this and looking at the photos. As much as it looks like graft to me, MAYBE - most likely - I AM WRONG and there is no grafting! I apologise for reacting without really thinking about it, it was just so odd looking to me. I kept looking at my plant. If you look closely at this photo: Parts of stems I circled look very similar to what is in your photo, just much, much shorter. Maybe that's how really old stems look? Much smoother, no spines. What baffles me is that weird growth that I thought is graft union. I do not know what that could be. Maybe just how it healed after being cut and plant decided to grow branches anyway??? Bark will eventually grow over the cut to protect plant; look at this photo of Ficus Benjamina - bark is slowly growing over the wound: I don't see anything similar on my plant, you can see thorns further up on the stem. I don't know how old my plant is, it was given to me and I was told : I had it for a long time...3 stems are now 32", 42" and 52" tall, so maybe it is old....See Moreescolat
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
Karen S. (7b, NYC)
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoIt's a very nice plant, tho' I don't see a graft line either.
Glad you suggested doing that Escolat, tho' I've never grown the Thai hybrids myself.
I've grown a favorite Euph milii variety that I've hacked back really hard, repeatedly & it comes back w/ vigor, even indoors w/ NY winters. A recent pic.
Some of its lankier times,
I posted this showing how it collapsed when thirsty, then I cut off the less upright arm.
The earlier of these 2 shots shows better the growth at its base (in shadow admittedly).
I need a more current pic, there's blooms at the bottom now too. Confirms to me, come Spring, I too am going to take off the top & re-root exactly as you plan. There's also the former other arm, now in bloom pix as well to come.escolat thanked Karen S. (7b, NYC)Karen S. (7b, NYC)
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoOK, here's the update, same plant now.
Sunny, but 27 degrees in NYC.
This plant is just unstoppable. I wish I knew how to shape it better.Here's the other former arm, now blooming too.
I love the bloom color, that rarely varies.
Happy Thanksgiving everybody, I'm grateful for such a sunny day w/ pretty blooms like this.escolat thanked Karen S. (7b, NYC)escolat
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoescolat
4 years agoUpdate: The lower branch blooms appear to be match the top! I wonder if it is grafted at all. Happy Spring!
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