overwintering cuttings?
 

Hi All,

A neighbour of mine left her house many years ago to take care of her sister
and never moved back, unfortunately due to a family squabble the house has
fallen on very bad times and the ladies garden has become overgrown and sad,
earlier this year we met and I commented on this and she told me to go in
her 'garden' and take cuttings of whatever I wanted as she loved her plants
and would like to think of them growing .
I took lots of cuttings in late spring/early summer and I am the first to
admit I don't know the names of lots of them, most of them were early spring
flowering shrubs as far as I can tell. Anyway, to the point of the post, the
survivors (about 50) are all doing very well in the greenhouse in small 4"
pots, some pots have only one, some have up to four cuttings. All the
cuttings now have new leaves on and seem very happy,(I haven't taken them
out to look for roots for fear of losing them) however, with thoughts of
winter approaching and being that my gh is unheated, how should I overwinter
them? A few thoughts I've had would be

a) put them in open topped cardboard boxes surrounded with bubblewrap and
bubblewrap accross the top?
b) put them towards the top of the staging with bubblewrap and cardboard
underneath?
c) take a chance they'll be ok, do nothing at all and just water sparingly
once a week and keep an eye on em and hope for the best?

As you can see from the above, I havent a clue!!

Any thoughts or help at this early stage would be appreciated

Many thanks
Shannie
--

Shan (Ireland)
http://ukdiscus.com/main.htm

overwintering cuttings?
 

shannie wrote:

Hi All,

A neighbour of mine left her house many years ago to take care of her sister
and never moved back, unfortunately due to a family squabble the house has
fallen on very bad times and the ladies garden has become overgrown and sad,
earlier this year we met and I commented on this and she told me to go in
her 'garden' and take cuttings of whatever I wanted as she loved her plants
and would like to think of them growing .
I took lots of cuttings in late spring/early summer and I am the first to
admit I don't know the names of lots of them, most of them were early spring
flowering shrubs as far as I can tell. Anyway, to the point of the post, the
survivors (about 50) are all doing very well in the greenhouse in small 4"
pots, some pots have only one, some have up to four cuttings. All the
cuttings now have new leaves on and seem very happy,(I haven't taken them
out to look for roots for fear of losing them) however, with thoughts of
winter approaching and being that my gh is unheated, how should I overwinter
them? A few thoughts I've had would be

a) put them in open topped cardboard boxes surrounded with bubblewrap and
bubblewrap accross the top?
b) put them towards the top of the staging with bubblewrap and cardboard
underneath?
c) take a chance they'll be ok, do nothing at all and just water sparingly
once a week and keep an eye on em and hope for the best?

As you can see from the above, I havent a clue!!

Any thoughts or help at this early stage would be appreciated

Many thanks
Shannie


If they are from hardy shrubs then some root protection should be all
they need. For things that you 'know' are really tough I would be
tempted just to wrap the roots in something to keep the frost off.
Could be bubblewrap or just stand in some deep straw. You intend to have
them 'in' the GH I take it? Main thing is to reduce watering to minimal
when they are dormant. FOr the majority anyway. If you can try to find
out what some of them are that'd be useful;-))
//
Jim..

overwintering cuttings?
 

"Jim W" wrote in message
news:1fzweug.1n3wl404nxssgN%00senetnospamtodayta@m acunlimited.net...
shannie wrote:

Hi All,
I took lots of cuttings in late spring/early summer and I am the first
to
admit I don't know the names of lots of them, most of them were early
spring
flowering shrubs as far as I can tell. Anyway, to the point of the post,
the
survivors (about 50) are all doing very well in the greenhouse in small
4"
pots, some pots have only one, some have up to four cuttings. All the
cuttings now have new leaves on and seem very happy,(I haven't taken
them
out to look for roots for fear of losing them) however, with thoughts
of
winter approaching and being that my gh is unheated, how should I
overwinter
them? A few thoughts I've had would be

a) put them in open topped cardboard boxes surrounded with bubblewrap
and
bubblewrap accross the top?
b) put them towards the top of the staging with bubblewrap and cardboard
underneath?
c) take a chance they'll be ok, do nothing at all and just water
sparingly
once a week and keep an eye on em and hope for the best?

As you can see from the above, I havent a clue!!

Any thoughts or help at this early stage would be appreciated

Many thanks
Shannie


If they are from hardy shrubs then some root protection should be all
they need. For things that you 'know' are really tough I would be
tempted just to wrap the roots in something to keep the frost off.
Could be bubblewrap or just stand in some deep straw. You intend to have
them 'in' the GH I take it?
Thats what I'd hoped Jim, they are very young still and I was hoping to keep
them safe until next spring and plant them in a new bed Im working on.

Main thing is to reduce watering to minimal
when they are dormant. FOr the majority anyway. If you can try to find
out what some of them are that'd be useful;-))

I know what they are to look at them, if you know what I mean..lol...I'll
have to wait until nxt spring to see the leaves properly and the flowers. A
lot of em are just sticks with leaves atm. I do know I have honeysuckle,
berberis, broom, buxus, cotoneaster and escallonia amongst them.
//
Jim..

overwintering cuttings?
 

"Jim W" wrote in message
news:1fzweug.1n3wl404nxssgN%00senetnospamtodayta@m acunlimited.net...
shannie wrote:

Hi All,
I took lots of cuttings in late spring/early summer and I am the first
to
admit I don't know the names of lots of them, most of them were early
spring
flowering shrubs as far as I can tell. Anyway, to the point of the post,
the
survivors (about 50) are all doing very well in the greenhouse in small
4"
pots, some pots have only one, some have up to four cuttings. All the
cuttings now have new leaves on and seem very happy,(I haven't taken
them
out to look for roots for fear of losing them) however, with thoughts
of
winter approaching and being that my gh is unheated, how should I
overwinter
them? A few thoughts I've had would be

a) put them in open topped cardboard boxes surrounded with bubblewrap
and
bubblewrap accross the top?
b) put them towards the top of the staging with bubblewrap and cardboard
underneath?
c) take a chance they'll be ok, do nothing at all and just water
sparingly
once a week and keep an eye on em and hope for the best?

As you can see from the above, I havent a clue!!

Any thoughts or help at this early stage would be appreciated

Many thanks
Shannie


If they are from hardy shrubs then some root protection should be all
they need. For things that you 'know' are really tough I would be
tempted just to wrap the roots in something to keep the frost off.
Could be bubblewrap or just stand in some deep straw. You intend to have
them 'in' the GH I take it?
Thats what I'd hoped Jim, they are very young still and I was hoping to keep
them safe until next spring and plant them in a new bed Im working on.

Main thing is to reduce watering to minimal
when they are dormant. FOr the majority anyway. If you can try to find
out what some of them are that'd be useful;-))

I know what they are to look at them, if you know what I mean..lol...I'll
have to wait until nxt spring to see the leaves properly and the flowers. A
lot of em are just sticks with leaves atm. I do know I have honeysuckle,
berberis, broom, buxus, cotoneaster and escallonia amongst them.
//
Jim..

overwintering cuttings?
 

"Jim W" wrote in message
news:1fzweug.1n3wl404nxssgN%00senetnospamtodayta@m acunlimited.net...
shannie wrote:

Hi All,
I took lots of cuttings in late spring/early summer and I am the first
to
admit I don't know the names of lots of them, most of them were early
spring
flowering shrubs as far as I can tell. Anyway, to the point of the post,
the
survivors (about 50) are all doing very well in the greenhouse in small
4"
pots, some pots have only one, some have up to four cuttings. All the
cuttings now have new leaves on and seem very happy,(I haven't taken
them
out to look for roots for fear of losing them) however, with thoughts
of
winter approaching and being that my gh is unheated, how should I
overwinter
them? A few thoughts I've had would be

a) put them in open topped cardboard boxes surrounded with bubblewrap
and
bubblewrap accross the top?
b) put them towards the top of the staging with bubblewrap and cardboard
underneath?
c) take a chance they'll be ok, do nothing at all and just water
sparingly
once a week and keep an eye on em and hope for the best?

As you can see from the above, I havent a clue!!

Any thoughts or help at this early stage would be appreciated

Many thanks
Shannie


If they are from hardy shrubs then some root protection should be all
they need. For things that you 'know' are really tough I would be
tempted just to wrap the roots in something to keep the frost off.
Could be bubblewrap or just stand in some deep straw. You intend to have
them 'in' the GH I take it?
Thats what I'd hoped Jim, they are very young still and I was hoping to keep
them safe until next spring and plant them in a new bed Im working on.

Main thing is to reduce watering to minimal
when they are dormant. FOr the majority anyway. If you can try to find
out what some of them are that'd be useful;-))

I know what they are to look at them, if you know what I mean..lol...I'll
have to wait until nxt spring to see the leaves properly and the flowers. A
lot of em are just sticks with leaves atm. I do know I have honeysuckle,
berberis, broom, buxus, cotoneaster and escallonia amongst them.
//
Jim..

overwintering cuttings?
 

"shannie" wrote in message
...
Hi All,

snip
I haven't taken them out to look for roots for fear of losing them
snip
Many thanks
Shannie
--

The way to check if the cuttings have rooted (or at least one in any pot) is
not to take them out of the pot but to gently turn the pot over and look
through the drainage holes in the bottom.
If there is healthy root growth you are likely to see a root or two there.
If you see a mass of roots then it is probably pot bound.

HTH
Dave R

overwintering cuttings?
 

"shannie" wrote in message
...
Hi All,

snip
I haven't taken them out to look for roots for fear of losing them
snip
Many thanks
Shannie
--

The way to check if the cuttings have rooted (or at least one in any pot) is
not to take them out of the pot but to gently turn the pot over and look
through the drainage holes in the bottom.
If there is healthy root growth you are likely to see a root or two there.
If you see a mass of roots then it is probably pot bound.

HTH
Dave R