After-Fall-Swap-2013 at Sallyg's, followup questions

Thanks, Ric

I have a lot of florist stuff...as I used to "do" things with it.

Could you name some plants you consider "hard to root"?
How big a piece of the oasis do you use for--say--4 cuttings?

Thanks again, Gita

Did anyone else get a purple plum tree seedling from Ric and Holly last fall? It's looking beautiful, despite being completely neglected.

Ric and Holly, how big is the mother plum tree? Do you happen to have a picture of it? I need to transplant it to its final location, but I wasn't sure how big it would get.

Happy, the sambuca cuttings are alive! All the leaves died almost immediately, but I just kept watering them, simply out of curiosity. And now there's new green growth! This might be the first time ever that I've kept a cutting alive.

ssg: What a triumph! Sometimes newly rooted shrubs give up the ghost over their first winter, so be sure to mulch it really carefully -- or even overwinter it indoors for its first winter.

No don't think I have a picture of it. I took down the Plum tree a few years ago. They aren't a big tree, think 15-20 ft. About the size of a Red Bud in height but not as wide.

I've found a 1"x1"x2" cube does a good job. If the piece is too large the plant is not encouraged to spread when potted. I did my Persian shield and Lantana in it last year and I'm considering trying some softwood cuttings in it, like boxwood.

Ric--thanks....
SO--you could then put a piece of oasis in a cell-pack and stick the cutting into it?
The cell pack can then be put on a clean meat tray and watered from the bottom
as needed?
I love using the regular Styrofoam meat trays they put all kinds of meats on in the store.
Perfect size for a 6-pack. And--they come in bugger and smaller sizes as well.

You know how recycle-minded and creative I am. Right?

Save all the lids off of mayo jars or salad dressing jars...perfect saucers for smaller pots.
Just look at any lid or top with this in mind. Great for cuttings rooting.
The best of all small saucers are the tops on yogurt containers that come with the Granola
on top. They are absolutely perfect saucers.

I better stop before I write a book on what all you can recycle!
G.

You could do that Gita. I just score the larger block nearly through and leave it as one piece of 1"x1" crosscuts, that way it stands upright on it's own, then I place the blocks in small trays we have with domes and adjustable ventilation. The domes retain the humidity and replace the need for any misting. I do trim the foliage of my more leafy cuttings to allow better air and light, and I almost always use Rootone.

Ric--not to "milk" this to death--but you just stick the cuttings in the scored block
and you do not put each 1x1" section in another plastic container--like a cell pack??

I seldom tent the containers my cuttings or seeds are growing in.
I am sure it helps--but that is just a bother for me. Yes! I also trim down the foliage
of any leafy cuttings.
Coleus don't need anything!!! They just root in less than a week.
A more woody cutting--I may do the bottle thing. Like Azalias.

Trying very hard to root cuttings of my KK Hibiscus. Someone here said she roots the
tip cuttings in wet sand. So--that is where mine are now,,,,First batch all died.
Trying again. I am DETERMINED to root this plant--come H...or high water....

G.

Watch out KK Hibiscus, Gita's a-comin' for you!

Gita, try a cap for soft wood cuttings!!!
and yes I just use the block.

This message was edited Sep 19, 2013 8:31 PM

Karen---

For one--this Hibiscus mdoes not make seed. it makes the seed pods--
but they are empty and just fall off. It is a hybrid--obviously...

I have tried other years to root cuttings. Nada!
I have dug away a new growth stem with a long root attached. Potted it and left
it outside--just like the plant would. Nada!

Now i am trying the sand method....someon here on the Hibiscus Forum said
she does it that way and has NO problem rooting cuttings of the KK Hib.
...maybe she lives in FL?

I don;t NEED another KK. Just want to do the impossible and succeed....
G.

To dream the impossible dream....

I am wondering about garden mums, and specifically the mum that Gita gave me at the swap. Is this a perennial or an annual? I have another mum ('Diana Yellow') which is supposed to be hardy to zone 6, but it seems other mums are listed as annuals, so I'm not sure what's going on with that! The same with my Rudbeckia hirta 'Denver Daisy'--it's listed as hardy in Zone 7 but then I keep seeing it referred to as an annual or even biennial. Would love to hear others' thoughts about this.

Catmint, I feel your pain! Usually if a plant is listed as hardy to zone 7 it will be perennial for us. Many plants like mums may be hardy here (perennial) but are so much trouble to get the spectacular size and colors available say now, that most people do not keep them growing from year to year and thus they are marketed (like pansy, begonia, impatiens, coleus, geranium, etc) and thought of as 'annuals' because people replace them 'annually' each year. Hope this helps.

yes, that is very helpful, Judy, thanks! :-) It sounds like there's a distinction between 'sold as an annual' and truly an annual (or tender perennial).

Cat--

The Mums I gave you are absolutely perennial! I have had these for years.
You can plant each little clump in its own spot and watch them fill out.

I grew a R.Hirta one year. It came back the next year--but never again.
I grew some from seed--planted them out this spring--but it got shaded out my
my White Hibiscus and other things.

I hope some of you had better luck with it. Gita

thanks, Gita!

I've heard the R. Hirta is short-lived but may survive in the garden through self-seeding.

Gita: The Hirta you gave me at the spring swap didn't make it either -- I don't know why.

Happy--sorry! Don't feel like the Lone ranger!

Maybe some other form of seed treatment would have been needed...
like striation??

Cat--I suppose the Hirtas could self-seed--except I cut off all the seed heads to remove seeds...
Maybe i will sprinkle some in a pot and "hide" it somewhere outside and see
if they come up next year. I DO love the one i had...

Gita

LOL, Gita--yes it looks so pretty and cheerful. I have a 'Denver Daisy' and am going to let it go to seed in the bed. Maybe I will have volunteers next summer that I can share! :-)

Miracle of life. The first of the Black Swallowtail caterpillars I brought to the Swap has emerged as a butterfly!

Five more to go and one that is still eating the parsley plants and is twice the size of the others!
Will release this afternoon or put a nectar plant into the container. Am attempting to glue two pupa into proper position for their eclosure any time now. When I checked them this am at 8, nothing and then by 10, a butterfly! Quicker than I thought.

May all our transformations go well on this glorious blessed first day of Autumn 2013 and ever after!

Judy

PS for progress on the Monarch cats I'm raising check over here
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1323783/

And post your own Monarch sitings on this thread
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1329084/

Mums, Asters and some stone crops need to be cut back until at least the 4th of July in order to keep the plants compact and upright. Some of my most attractive mums were actually mowed off this summer. LOL

Judy---

My big, fat caterpillars are also gone from my Parsley--as there is not
any of it left. There is one fat one left and about 3 Instars

--WHERE do they go next??? and--
--WHERE do they build their cocoons?
--Will they stay as cocoons all winter till spring?

Mine were all in the parsley in my raised bed against the 6' fenced back part.
Would they build their cocoons on the fence?
I would like to see them grow and hatch.

Thanks, Gita

The 3 swallowtail caterpillars that were munching on my rue are also gone--leaving behind a half denuded plant! :-) I looked around on the ground around the rue but couldn't see anything.

Just before my BST (black swallow tail) cats formed their pupas they went on a walk about to find a woody twig to climb and hang themselves from. Only one stayed on the host plant. I'd say yours have done the same. They are not on the ground and are about an inch long, dried leaf color and hard to spot even if you know exactly where they are!
Gita if your fence is wooden they may be camoflaged there. Try sticking some pencil diameter twigs close in to your remaining parsley plant and maybe those cats will choose that for pupating.
Cat, not many people grow Rue but I've read that BSTs prefer to parsley.
Mine seem to be emerging now. Don't know enough to say which or when they will overwinter and hatch out in Spring. Only about 3% complete their life cycle from egg to butterfly. A wasp got one of my Monarch cats while I was cleaning out the protective enclosure I'm using as a nursery. Sucked out its body fluid.

Below pics are of first to eclose (emerge) perfect and brand new.

Beautiful pictures coleup- I'm glad you got to enjoy that after your hard work.

Sally, it is much like being immersed in a good mystery novel that can't be put down. And, yes, with these cats, they are always at least a step ahead of my 'solutions'! Or is it when the student is ready the teacher will appear?

Anyway, I'm treating it like a once in a lifetime event for me even though for others it maybe more often.

Coleup that's amazing that you were actually able to see them emerge! The photos are beautiful.

That's interesting that they walk around and look for a twig to hang from. Hope at least one of mine makes it! Next year I'm going to plant more milkweed and see if I can attract some monarchs.

There's an article today about overwintering annuals- which is fine for the begonias (some) and geraniums she mentions but NOT for most things we call annuals- that bloom themselves to death anyway.

Caterpillars have some defenses against predators from their 'taste' that deters a bird from trying another one, and coloration that warns away, stinging bristles, ability to rear up and lots menacing, a rear end that looks like the head, etc. A non moving pupa has only its disguise while it waits, so the cat moves from where predators would be looking for it or others on the host plant to a more neutral location where it won't stick out like a sore thumb.

Parsley, it's not just for eating anymore!

One last question, Judy...

When the cat has found its preferred "stick"--how does it spin the silk around it?
Your cocoon you brought to sally's was about 1" long. The cats are maybe 2" long.
How do they 'shrink" themselves into a smaller cocoon?

I will have to look, carefully, around my fence--and any stakes i still have there
holding up my Tomatoes of that were there for my cukes...
Should I find one--I will have to pull it up and save it to put it back
after I have dug up this whole bed in a criss-cross pattern to sever all the
fine maple roots that are all over iside the soil.

Yes! This bed was like an open invitation to every maple root to "come on in"
and it is becoming useless for veggies...

My Tomatoes did very well in the east bed on the other side of my shed--
where I used to grow them. The Sun Gold is still cranking out ripe maters every day.
The other one--a Mortgage Lifter, still has a lot of green tomatoes on it too.
These, probably, will not ripen. Fried green tomatoes coming up.
G.

How did I not manage to watch this thread? Not like I'm busy these days or anything...

Catching up... Coleup, that hosta from Bluespiral is a seedling from a cross she grew out (not sure if she pollinated it by hand or if it was a bee cross). It's gi-normous! The one I gave you is a baby, truly. I can't wait to see what it does under your green-thumbed care!

Ric, I'm intrigued by the idea of rooting cuttings in oasis. Sounds like a much cheaper alternative to some of the "rooting cube" systems I've seen in catalogs. Do you pot up the cutting with the foam still attached? and I guess it eventually disintegrates?