Have try propagating in water , but not that good, Rot on bottom. Now what is best ..City Tap water... Rain water or Lake water ? Thanks

ReconJack, are you doing a fresh cut at right below the leaf nod before putting in water? All that you listed should work, my favorite is our fish tank water. Once the
white nubbies appear on the cutting base, it's time to put in soil. The sooner you do the better the plant will grow. Hope this helps.

How much stem are you keeping under water? Are you able to add a pic of what you are trying?

Here's an example of one of mine. After being brought inside for winter, most of the leaves fall off but they grow a TON of roots and are ready to plant out in the spring.

Big Thanks guys----Don,t have fish tank water, but will try lake water...now I take 9in cutting and go with 2 to 3in of water for 2 wks. Will try that this Oct. Im in the Atlanta area so the Temp is not that bad here .....Recon

That sounds like it should work. If the tip rots, cut off the rotten part and stick it back in. In my experience doing this, more is more, as in more stem under water. Mine were a deep as the half-gallon jug is tall. The roots start as white bumps, just to make sure you know what to look for. This is good, roots forming, not rotting.

Great job purpleinopp!! The white bumps are called nubs! Once those appear it's best to get them into soil for a better plant than leaving them in water. You can also
wrap a paper towel around the base and it will root. I have been told many times when I ship that the nubs were forming when they arrived. Lake water should be room temp before placing a cutting in the water.

Thank you! I think they are root primordia. I do that in the fall to make more Brugs, then plant them out in the spring. I have much better results with them in water over winter than soil. But by either way, it seems like a good way to make use of some of the stems instead of letting them all get frosted, at least until I run out of places to keep putting more in the landscape.

Do you change water often when you are rooting them over winter?

I would have if any looked like they needed new water, but I don't remember any Brugs getting that way. I'm not against putting them in pots instead, but it didn't go well the winter I tried that. If you want to try the water thing, I recommend a big jug, 1/2 gallon, because they are so thirsty. I've used opaque milk jugs and some clear plastic juice jugs. They have bigger openings than something like a beer or wine bottle.

Thanks, a friend does this with her Confederate rose. She sets them in a cool dark room in winter and they root well. I have not had the same luck. I noticed the water gets skunky smelling. That was why I was wondering about changing it. I have a few gallon pickle jars that should work. The beer or wine bottles go on the bottle tree.

Agree, an odor from the water is not good. If that happens, I would change it. My rooms where I put Brug cuttings are not heated, but never below freezing. Not dark though. I try to put them as close to windows as possible. It's interesting to hear that "water savings" can be done in the less desirable spots. A pickle jar is a good size, but the large opening will mean the cutting ls leaning, which is only a problem if space is an issue.

Interesting about the CR's! They are SOOO big. I think I have enough of those or I would be wanting to try that one too. And speaking of, I saw my yard's first CR bloom over the weekend. Such big blooms!

They are gorgeous but short lived blooms. Mine are a solid pink but I've also seen those that open pink and fade to white. Waiting on my blooms here. Hopefully not far behind your blooms.

Thanks guys.... I will be trying the water thing, Last year I did wet sand and they did real good..But they were 600 to 800 plants in sand.. a lot of room... with the water I can put that many in a little space in 5 gal buckets..

ReconJack, 600 to 800 plants! Ouch, a big nursery stock! I thought I was bad at 200 plants in one-gallon pots. All started in dirt, not water. Congrats to you on that number.

If I could find 800 people who wanted to buy Brugs, I'd be starting that many too.

Hey, are you leavng them growing in water all winter, like months?

That's what I did. I don't think that is Jack's plan.

Here's a pic of the biggest one I've done so far:
https://garden.org/thread/view...

purpleinopp said: That's what I did. I don't think that is Jack's plan.

Here's a pic of the biggest one I've done so far:
https://garden.org/thread/view...

jumpin jehosaphat! then you pot in in spring? wow, blown away.

It seems like a good way to make use of the best stems instead of letting them become part of the mulch. I won't be putting Brugs in pots anymore, wasn't happy with how they do in pots, but I have plenty of room to put more in the ground - in which case, why start with a tiny thing when there are some good, tall stems around the yard to harvest just before frost.

Tiffany,

I'm trying to do the same thing. Here are two cuttings from Sunday when I trimmed one of the Brugs. I may have larger cutting after I dig up the one that's in the ground. It's just too big to bring indoors.