I agree I think that its better to start them off in soil rather than water..water roots are different than soil roots, and as you said the soil roots are stronger. The only thing I'm thinking about here is when you need to seperate those roots! lol. Hope all goes well with it! What a space saver!
Daniella

wildflower, I'm really glad you posted this method. Last year we took some of those buckets with the handles and just stuck cuttings in that and a 5 gallon buckets with just holes in the bottom. The smaller bucket the roots were really tangled, so slowly use water to untangle them.
With that many in there that close you might want to keep a close eye on them if you see nothing but roots?
This year we till be using tree pots and sticking the seedlings in the buckets with handles to see how them will do.

I think its a good idea but with that many in there they won't be totally rootbound fast? I don't see why you couldn't cut the rootball into sections when its time to seperate them. When they are planted in the ground and you dig them up you don't take the whole root system. Some get severed off I would imagine. I was thinking about putting like 3 of them together in a pot. I have some of those big tree pots in storage. They are really deep though and take up a lot of room. I got some rooted cuttings in the mail once that looked like they had done exactly what you are doing and divided the soil in 1/3 with really sturdy pieces of plastic. When I removed them to divide them each little root ball was shaped just like its little segment it came out of in the single pot. That was what gave me the idea, lol.

I have some of my cuttings for trade rooting like that. It is a good space saver but if you are going to keep them in there all winter it may be a good idea to thin it out a bit because I do think it would become rootbound fast with that many in there. What do you have blooming now? Any pics?
Shawn

{{gwi:569646}}
{{gwi:447684}}

I will post this again, we have found these rootrainers that we just love! Park Seeds carry them and it's really saves on space and headache when it's time to undo the roots.
What I would do is allow them to grow, ease them out of the pot in the spring, then put them in a bucket of water to soak the dirt off and then they should be easy to pull apart slowly. Depends on the variety as to how much roots you will have to deal with. If these are all one variety then no worries. Do keep us posted on how this works out.

I really love those root trainers-good idea karma! I need some really deep ones for some baby papayas!

Wildflower Great idea. I have never had a problem untangling roots

I tried the brug roll last winter and it worked great. I like the rootraniners.

SJN I am going to try Papayas this year after reading the article on them. Also some Jatropas. I am always looking for super hardy plants to grow.

Michelle I like it.. I know when I buy Tomatoes for Spring I always take the one with 4 in it..LOL I unpot them and stick them in the rain barrel and swoosh till the soil is gone and they seperate easy.. Not sure I have ever lost one doing that..I am thinking of giving Mary's Method a go this yr..I'm not doing a ton of cuttings..Not sure where to put what I've got already..LOL I am already digging (with the help of that Rat B*stage Rodent)and bringing some in that I'm sure won't bloom this yr..DH said something about working out of town for a few months..LOL That would ease up some space...lmao...j/k Honey!!!
Kylie

At first glance I thought too that the roots would get tangled. And since they are not mature cuttings, it might hurt them to much if you just hack them or? But the WATER Idea is grandios! I love it. I do like the root trainers. It looks easy to use. Have to check that out.

Lucy

Yeah, I think it might be interesting in the spring when it's time to re-pot these. Going to keep going with it though and see what happens. I'll be sure and let ya'll know how it turns out!

KHT, the rootrainers look like a great idea.

Kylie, what's Mary's Method?

Shawn, today I don't have a lot blooming... Had some real nice flushes finally on everything last week and the week before. I've been a real slacker about taking pics this year but will get some soon. I'm only cutting on the one's that I have multiple plants of so far.

Wildflower-
So now what do you do with them? I'm relatively new to starting Brugs from cuttings- what kind of environment will they go into now- i.e.- indoors or outdoors- under lights- darkness- and what would the temps be? I'm struggling to start some this very minute- they are on my potting table outside- I took 4 inch cuttings, dipped them in rootone- then into soiless potting mix that I made (peat moss, perlite) They are in dappled sunlight, @ 2 weeks old now- It's been getting pretty cool at night 51* tonight- 75* days. I hope they don't rot! I checked one- no roots yet! Any pointers- anyone? I really like Suetrain's idea with wrapping cuttings in newspaper & then placing them in a plastic shoe box. She places a small flower pot on the bottom so the water doesn't touch the plants, then lays them in there.- I think she places the top on lightly, I'm guessing.... & I think she said she puts them in an unheated garage... Suetrain- if you're reading this- could you give us more info? Thank you!
Kasha77

Kasha, these are staying outside until first frost (getting watered about every other day) then they'll go into the garage for winter. They'll be under a flourescent light and then I water maybe every couple of weeks or whenever they look like they need it. If I wasn't trying to overwinter so many I'd stick one cutting to a gallon pot.

Something to keep in mind....this is just what works for me. Everybody here has a different way of overwintering. It's always a good idea to experiement if you have enough cuttings and see what works best for you.

I really love this idea, but need to ask....will you be able to let these dry a bit and then put them somewhere to go dormant or do you have to keep them watered and growing for the winter? I am trying the method mentioned in a thread about putting the cuttings in water and keeping them in the dark, but am also concerned aobut the strength of the roots when done in the water. I have absolutely no space left in the house and was hoping for a method where I could put them in the basement under the stairs and let them fend for themselves(sort of) until spring.
gg