On 31/07/2019 08:35, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Tue, 30 Jul 2019 12:31:37 +0100, James Harris
wrote:

I bought two Boston Ivy plants online. Unfortunately, the ones which
arrived are 'wonky' in that a few inches above the soil their main stems
set off at right angles, although there is limited other growth.

For where they are intended they really need to set off going up the
wall rather than along it. A bit of deviation would be OK but 90 degrees
is too much.

So do you folks know whether it would be safe to cut off the
sideways-pointing limbs?

I've put pictures of them both at

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1nJ...DcZqRiQa4Eir2U
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Bl...9afZyfoXjYbuns

It's those woody leftward-growing shoots that I want to cut off but I am
concerned that doing so might kill the plants.

What do you think? Opinions welcome.

If they were mine, I'd trim back those left-growing shoots by about
two-thirds. There are young shoots and nodes around the top of the two
main stems and probably along those side shoots, which will continue
to grow. When you put the plants in the soil, you could arrange for
those trimmed stems to be angled upwards at 45 degrees, much as David
suggested. Just go for it. (You could even try potting up the
trimmings into some gritty compost and putting them a well lit place
but out of direct sunshine. Who knows, they might root, and hey
presto! two more plants for free).


Remember this query about the ivies? I put various cuttings - some
green, some woody - in gritty compost for a couple of weeks or so and
then, since something - probably squirrels - knocked them over I checked
for roots. Unfortunately, none have formed.

I've now repotted some of the cuttings and tried putting others so that
the bases of their stems are touching wet paper towelling in hope that
that may encourage them to begin rooting to get into the moisture. But I
am not too hopeful.

But that's an aside. This post is really an update on what I planted.
You may remember I wanted to grow two Boston ivies, one either side of
the front door.

Well, one has got the hang of this growing lark and is doing exactly
what I wanted it to do. :-)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Z-...6_TIwII55CAZ4S

That's absolutely perfect and is proceeding at a rate of knots!

The other one, however, is not doing much so far.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EU...9zyuP_B40wagF7

I am not sure whether anything there will turn into the kind of growing
tendril that the other has put out.

If anyone has a view as to whether the second one is viable or not I'd
be pleased to hear what you think. If the second one is not going to
grow like the first and I'm not going to get any cuttings to grow then
I'll need to buy another plant asap. They are now in a race!


--
James Harris