I have trailer that is about 12 inches long..with only one little side shoot coming out at the soil line..I'm thinking I'll make 3 ..Do I leave and leaves on the center stem..and how do I plant those..thanks guys..
Sonia
How many pieces
can you post a picture?
The best way to form trailers is to start while they are young plants and pinch the crowns to make them develop more side-shoot crowns. As it grows, you should be taking the larger leaves off the plant, cut them off leaving a little "stump" so you will not disturb the growing area where a new shoot will sprout out.
But I think if it is already 12" long and it hasn't sprouted/branched out by now, that I would cut off the end and root that to start a new plant then cut back the long stem to about 2" maybe from the soil and see if that will sprout out more shoots to make a multi-crowned trailer. And is that new little side shoot big enough to pinch out the center? That is what I would do if it were mine....just guessing, not seeing a picture of the plant.
Also I would wait and see what other growers have to say and then make a decision of what to do.
Different trailers have different growth habbits also. Do you know the name of the plant you have?
tish
Tish- I wonder if she took all the mature leaves off the stem and pinned it down around the surface, if it may root and sprout leaves. that would increase the surface area of the trailer, if not the crown count?
Certainly could try that, some varieties might be sucessful with that method. Try that first and if it was not successful could then cut it back. I had read about that quite awhile back and tried it with a couple of my trailers and it didn't work for me. Then later I had to do a program for a violet club on growing trailers and I had to seriously do more research as I really didn't know much. The main thing everything I read stressed is that it is hard to get a mature plant that has grown poorly to become a well developed plant...the best was is to start when they are small.
Thanks Guys..heres long legs..LOL..
This should give us a better idea what to do with her..
It actually used to drape over the pot..I removed some the lower leaves so it could wrap around the rim of the pot..
Thanks again :]
Sonia
I'm thinking maybe just cut it where the side shoot is close to the soil line..do what Tish says and make a few plants out of one..do I leave like 2 leaves on the top of each cutting ..or strip the center pieces to no leaves..thanks again..
Sonia
I would definitely cut off and re=root the crown at the end of the neck. It looks ready to bloom I think, aren't those buds?...I'd just wait til after it blooms, enjoy the flowers first.
Then you could try scraping the underside of the long stem where it touches the potting soil and pin it down to make good soil contact and wait and see if it roots and if new crown growith starts to develop...it didn't work for me, but that is not saying it doesn't work for anyone...I do think trailers are all different and it could have been the variety I had. Has it been on the soil long, have you checked to see if it has started to root? There are two posts on the Japanese way of growing...read those...this is usually done while plants are still small, but it is the same principle as Jamie was suggesting. If it doesn't work, ie, no new growth, then you can cut it off a couple inches from the soil leaving a couple leaf areas where new growth might still come out (cut it shorter later if nothing much grows out).
Cutting the long neck off and into sections...I don't think you will have much success but again...give it a go...leave some leaves...they need leaves to process light and such.
Put some of those leaves down to root too!
As your little crowns grow bigger, pinch out the center of the crown to make it develope more crowns. And keep the longer leaves cut off...energy will go into the plant and not into those leaves.
Last...your pot size. I can't see how deep the pot is, but unless the pot is full of roots, it is too big. From now on when you repot a trailer, cut some roots off so you can sink the plant lower in the pot and add some soil to cover the neck some...that will help keep it from getting a long neck. If you end up cutting off the long neck, it would be a good idea to repot the plant into a smaller pot.
Good luck and be sure to post again to let us know what worked and what didn't.
tish
Thanks Tish..I've had good luck taking there heads off and re-rooting them ..I have a few I've rooted like that..anyhoos I'm gonna wait until it's done blooming haven't seen it yet..and then I'll take leaves and a big cutting off of it ..It's a Ramblin Maytime..anyhoos thanks again..
Sonia..
I had bought leaves of that one years ago and they never came to much and I tossed them although I didn't think it was the plant, as I wasn't happy with many of the other leaves I bought at the same time either. I did notice your plant is varigated. I have Ramblin' Spots (standard w/varigated leaves with fantasy bloom) - its pretty vigorous and I have to off some of the crowns sometimes as it gets too thick. Also have Ramblin' Amethyst that hasn't been vigorous at all, but stays about the same size...when I get a new crown from it I take it off to propagate incase I lose the mama..it is a consistant bloomer though not a lot of blooms...fantasy also. I think it is a semi-mini and also varigated leaves that are almost always green and now and then a varigation turns up. The last Ramblin' I have is Lassie...its a small girl leaf and grows really slowly for me and I haven't had it bloom yet...I bought it a couple months ago as a baby plant so I'll just wait it out and be surprised.
Thats great that you can root the crowns. I always worry a little when I tell people to lop it off because not everyone can get them rooted and I don't want them to lose their plant unless its already a gonner due to rot or something. You had the extra little new growth, (plant insurance, ha), so I thought it was safe to suggest it. Less water is better (damp), a lot of people rot them trying to root them.
Hi Lilly..I have ramblin spots ..the leaves are very varigated ..to me I find most of the ramblin varietys do pretty good..The only one that is being a little difficult is ramblin Dots..I also have Lassie...mine is also young ..
Foliage on Ramblin Spots..I had to do the same thing ..on this one I cut the head took off some leaves..and now it's forming a much bushier plant..I find this one super easy to make more of..I actually put one it's one leaves to root in the mother pot..It's already rooted and looking to send up some pups..I think I'm addicted to Ramblin Trailers..LOL
Ramblin Spots
This message was edited Apr 8, 2011 7:31 AM
