Now I'm at Square 2

ejr2005

18 years ago

Sorry to be a pain, but I'm feeling like I need help every step of the way. This tropical plants stuff in the winter has me totally flumoxed (if that's a word).

So I'm in eastern Massachusetts Zone 6 and I just brought my two NOID brugs into the garage for the winter. Haven't had the heart to cut the leaves off yet, though I guess I should. Of course I also just found out that it is supposed to get up the 70 degrees later in the week.

I'm thinking I want to take cuttings, but don't really want them to start growing until spring. I've been researching, but finding all different ways.

These plants came from Texas and when I got them they had been rooted in water. I flew them up here, stuck them in some potting soil and they grew - amazing to me. The aphids almost got them 2 winters in a row, so I cut the plants down to the soil and they grew back. So I'm thinking they are pretty hardy.

I'm too lazy to change water every day, so first I was thinking of following these directions: "take a cutting, dip it in rooting hormone, roll it in newspaper, and store it in a dark, dry space."

I got a little worried about the roll in newspaper part, so then I saw something that said "Take a 12" cutting,...,dip bottom in rooting hormone. Allow the leaves to fall off and lay flat in a barely moist peat moss. Keep in a plastic box at around 50 degrees." I could do that, though don't have any place that is consistently 50 degrees and don't know if the plastic box is supposed to be air tight or not, etc. I also don't know if I have 12" to cut as I want to leave "6 nodes above the initial Y."

Then there are all the peat moss, vermiculite and perlite mixtures. Of course, the stuff I bought says perlite/vermiculite so I don't know what the difference is.

And then there are all the dark/light, warm/cold variations. I'm thinking if I can't put them outside until April or so I probably want them cold and in the dark for the bulk of the winter. And rooting hormone - I bought Rootone - apparently it stays as a powder and has a fungicide. Do you really want to use rooting hormone if you're not going to put them in a pot until the spring?

So I'm confused. Any help in what way to go is greatly appreciated!

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Comments (4)

karmahappytoes
18 years ago
ejr2005, each gardener has his own way and until you find your own path it might be a little confusing. I will tell you if I take cuttings and wrap the ends in a damp paper towel and then wrap in newspaper, place it in a box to ship to you let's say in 4 to 5 days you will get it. When you unwrap it and see the nubs you know it's time to put in soil. So if this works, can you find the right path?
fool4flowers
18 years ago
I have never tried to keep cuttings over winter without letting them root. I have no idea about some of these new ways I am hearing about. I will try a few different ways with ones I have plenty of and see what works the best. If some of those wrapped in newspaper ways work it would be a huge time saver. I can tell you if you lay cutting on damp peat moss it will probably root the whole way down the cutting. Its also called the log method. I did it with a little piece I had left of one that kept rotting and don't you know it worked. I have one labeled log cutting experiment and forgot to put the darn name on the other side of the tag, lol. It has buds though, lol.
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18 years ago
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ejr2005
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks for your responses everyone. Sorry I haven't gotten back - when I get on the forum I start reading everyone elses posts and then get called away to something else before I have a chance to respond. What a nice group you seem to have here. And what beautiful plants!

karmahappytoes - are you offering cuttings? What a sweetie! I checked out your web site. Lots of great info. Unfortunately I'm so intimidated by my 2 NOIDs, I'd be afraid to take on any others at this point. Of course I'm also looking at everyones pictures and wanting more. Maybe next year if I succeed in overwintering the ones I have this year.

So I never had the nerve to cut the leaves or stems off. The leaves are falling off on their own in the garage. When I counted 6 nodes up from the Y I also realized that there is not much left to cut off, and it wouldn't be woody. So in light of the info you guys sent, and my own wimpiness, I'm thinking my way might be to not cut them back this year and see what happens.

I did notice that there are already aphids on a small podlike structure coming out of the tops. At first I thought these were new flowers that weren't going to bloom. Now I'm thinking they may be seed pods. I have a couple about where the flowers were.

So I'm thinking I'll spray something for the aphids and put sand down on the soil.