Here we go. :)
Hydrangea Lovers Chapter 4
Congratulations, Arlene! What a nice Christmas present -- roots! You must leave Santa some cookies and milk this year!
Thanks, Kathy!
I'm going to post the success (thankfully) I've had with our attempt to root hydrangeas from cuttings. I saw them go black after several weeks and was depressed. I left them alone and then decided I might as well face the inevitable, figuring I'd just dump them in the garbage.
It may be difficult to see the roots but there's a tight ball of root on each one.
Feels so good!
Oh I think he deserves some chocolate mousse and a thermos of hot chocolate to go!
Thanks for the positive vibes!
Wow pirl, yours are huge. Good going! I'm so glad you got some going, all the efforts we went throught. I think this weekend I'll chuck whatever hasn't rooted. I think I have gotten all that I'm going to get. I guess I should transplant these and start feeding them some food? Or should I just leave them in their 4 inch pots and watered? What do you think.
I've had major computer problems over the weekend and haven't been on in awhile, or I would have made another thread faster. Feel free anytime to make new threads an y time off this though.
Thanks for telling me I have big ones! I'm taking it as a compliment and I'm sure it's how it was meant but it did give me a very good laugh.
I'm putting mine in milk cartons (sterilized and holes punched) and will sink it deep in the hopes I'll get even more rooting along the entire stem.
Now, to make our whole experiment even more exciting, look at this photo. I'll be unearthing them when I get some more chores done. I am more excited than I ever was on Christmas Eve as a kid!
LOL, I didn't say big pirl, I said huge! And you do have HUGE ones. LOL
Mine are tiny comparred to yours. They look a little sick too, I guess they are going to be ok though. We'll see!
Now that whole message made me laugh!
Wish I had huge ones.....
Me, too. :-(
Ladies! Please! What will Santa leave us if he reads these posts??? No, no, no - don't you dare answer that one!
I did all the cutting and potting, scraping and hormones the same day and one pot has only two rooted but I still haven't uncovered or unearthed the three pots under plastic.
Now that I've had a bit of success I have to say I think it's from scraping the whole bottom of the stem and using rooting hormone all over the scraped area. Am I making any sense?
Edited to add that although my stems aren't attractive, being black and green mottled, they aren't soft but nice and rigid!
This message was edited Dec 12, 2005 3:00 PM
My stems aren't attractive, either. WAAAA!
God didn't give us all attractive stems or big ones: adjust :-))
I thought mine were dead two weeks ago when they got the "blotchies" but they fine and firm. Are yours firm? Like fresh asparagus?
Mine are like dead twigs which is what I think they are. Oh, well. I am pretty horrible at rooting.
I like the scrapping idea. Make that scraping. I will try that next time.
I'll wash one off under warm running water and take a picture of it to show it did root on the entire scraped area.
That's so cool! I bet that's the secret, Pirl.
I'm wondering if the ones of mine that rooted weren't from me running my fingernail in the stems and opening it up a bit? Maybe I can tell by looking at them, I kind of quit tugging on them because I was bothering them too much.
Giving up on checking them was the best thing I did, aside from the hormones. Once I gave up they rooted.
I'll look at the plastic tented ones tonight and bring the camera with me.
Man, I disappear for a couple days due to increased Christmas activity around here and the conversation just goes to the gutter! Ladies, please! Let us not compare big, huge, or other wise. (And anyone who says they wish they had big ones can say that with a straight face only because they never DID have big ones! )
Good news! Penny Mac has rooted! I was about to give up and move them all inside since Arlene has had such blindingly good success with hers. But Penny started rooting, so I'm leaving them alone for awhile longer. I confess to peakng at them too often. But then, I can never cook rice without lifting the lid, either.
If the rest of mine don't hurry up and commence to rooting, I have some new rooting gel I ordered from Charley's Greenhouse. I may have to get it out.
Don't even think about being jealous of big ones (except roots). A friend had almost 10 pounds removed and has a new life.
I'll send a picture (NOT my friend) that I received in an email and then we can proceed with hydrangeas. After you see the photo you'll never be jealous again.
Sorry, I guess I deleted it.
I started some cuttings about the time all of you did. They were doing good and had new leaf growth til I decided they needed water!! Then they kinda wilted and turned dark. Have left them alone since then and have not had courage to check them closely. They are now behind about 50 big plants in my living room with no trail in between so I can't over tend. That is usually my problem, that I do not just leave them alone. Too much water, etc.
Well, I would leave them alone Ruby, they may still root. This coming weekend I'm gonna clean out the ones that aren't rooted and repot the ones that did. I guess its safe to do this and start giving them some food.
I only watered mine on the top when I seen they had gotten roots. Then I mixed a little hydrogen peroxide in the water because the top of the dirt looked like it was getting funky, white stuff was forming. It seemed to cure it up. I water them in the trays and let them soak up what they need.
I love hydrogen peroxide!
Penny Mac is such a beauty! Congratulations, Pixydish! I like that one because it is supposed to bloom no matter what. I don't have one yet, but I will get it one of these days!
Yes, I've had good things happen with hydrogen peroxide. It always gives an immediate cure to lots of problems. Along with killing off the funky white stuff on top of the dirt, my aim was to carry a little air down to the roots. Sure couldn't hurt, was my attitude.
Pixydish's Penny Mac is a very special one, too. It's a cutting off of the one that Penny MacHenry gave me herself. I'm so glad its rooting.
I can see why you prize it.
No way!!!! I had no idea! That is totally cool. Wait until I start bragging around here!!!!
Edited:
check out the thread in this forum on Star Hydrangeas. Has anyone seen these? I googled it and it looks like a fancy japanese lacecap with extra large flowers. Really beautiful. I would copy the thread link here, but my copy/paste command is not working. don't even ask me why.
This message was edited Dec 14, 2005 12:55 AM
Pixy - I found, via google, an entire page on the Shooting Star hydrangeas but no photo! Did you find a picture and where?
I've seen it in one of my catalogs- I'll try to find it.
I finally found three photos, per Pins advice, on PF. I called nurseries and florists and they do not have them.
How mortifying! After all my phone calls I realized my son is a Produce Manager in a huge supermarket. I'll call and see if he has them. What an easy way to shop for Mom for Christmas.
Good luck with that! I'll try scouting around this weekend down here.
I did a google images search typing in Shooting star hydrangea and came up with three photos. Just be sure to do the images search, not the general search. Sorry I cannot copy and paste the link. My computer hates me.
Here's a link I posted on the other thread: go to www.winninggifts.com. From the menu on the left, select 'plants'. The star hydrangea is about halfway down the page. You can order one from this site.
This message was edited Dec 15, 2005 12:31 AM
Thank you Melissa. I have it on my Favorites list and just may be ordering it.
Ooooh. I like the Campanulas too.
Hey, it says you can plant it out, but how hardy are they? I planted a gift hydrangea eight years ago, before I knew what I was doing, and it has never bloomed. (You are asking me why do I STILL have it in the garden? Aw shucks. I just can't kill it. Maybe I'll sell it as a gift hydrangea next year.)
Ahhhh! I must report success! Until today, it's been so cold here that I finally gave up and moved all my cuttings into the house. I decided to check on them, then the ones that were not rooting yet I would wash off, scrape off some more bark, and stick in the rooting gel I ordered from Charley's greenhouse.
I was pleasantly surprised when I had roots on:
Penny Mac ( more than before)
Fuji Waterfall
Madam Moulierre
Ami Pasquier
Little unknown blue lacecap, looks like a Japanese variety.
This was three days ago. I just checked on the cuttings in the gel ( I LOVE the gel!) and already the hydrangea I took cuttings of in October ,from a bush in front of an abandoned nursery, is putting out little root stubs! I had these cuttings first in the veggie filter, then, because it was too cold to break the dormancy, I stuck them in rooting medium in the greenhouse under plastic. Still nothing. Now after three days in the gel, I'm finally seeing progress! check out what I'm using: a plastic cup! I can SEE the roots developing without disturbing the cutting. Worth every penny, I assure you!
Melissa - what is the gel? Congratulations on your roots!
Melissa - that's some fancy plastic cup. Yes, do tell us more about this gel.
Happy holidays to all. I am off to Colorado for a white Christmas. My friend sent me a ticket, so I gotta go!!! It will be so good to get away from all the traffic, lines, debris, plastic utensils, paper plates, etc. that we have endured all these months and to be able to go into a store that is fully stocked. My garden shed should be finished by the time I return. Things are looking up!
Yes, it is a fancy cup! I bought these for the open house party I had in August and just couldn't throw them away. Seemed like I could find a use for them, and I did!
Here's a link to the gel:
http://www.charleysgreenhouse.com/index.cfm?page=_a2&sr=9&cid1=175&cid2=423
I bought the 1 qt bottle. It is a bit pricey, but it goes a long way. You can see how many cuttings I put in 1 cup, with about 4 oz of gel in each cup. I did 4 cups and I still have half the bottle left.
Have a great time in Colorado! What a nice thing for your friend to do.
Thanks, Melissa.
Good work Pixydish! I'm wondering if I could put some of my rooting hormone in water and they would root that way also?