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I don't know where this came from or who wrote it but it is such good information I thought I would post it here for the Violet Reflections mailing List Members and perhaps the author would see it and give me their permission to use it. I know this is "after the fact" but thank you so very much. Rachel |
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| Creeping Type Trailers First of all, remove the lower foliage of the young plantlet of the variety you have chosen. In a 2-1/2" pot, place the soil mix around the nodes of the removed leaves and up to the bottom of the remaining leaves. (figures 1 & 2) Expose the plant to rather strong fluorescent light (the center of the tubes) from directly above so new suckers will form evenly. Strong light will keep the foliage compact and buds will form sooner. |
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| When the buds show color (figure 3) carefully remove them and new suckers will grow at the junction. If a bud is removed before it is big enough the stem does not have enough growth and new suckers will be delayed. Also, if the joint is damaged when the bud is removed, it may damage the start of a new bud which can then form a new sucker after it has been removed. |
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| When several suckers are evident, reduce the amount of light so the crowns (suckers) will elongate. Allow the center crown to bloom so strength goes to the off-shoots. During this stage, put the plant in good natural light and turn the plant 90 degrees every day. |
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| As crowns (suckers) develop, old foliage near the base of the suckers prohibit their growth so remove old foliage. A stem (trailing crown) which is growing straight, has a tendency to grow the fastest. Thus pinning the stem in contact with the soil causes it to root and helps retard the growth of the center crown. Also allowing the center crown to blossom helps it to grow more slowly. It is now time to transplant into a larger pot (figure 4) spread the crowns in spoke-fashion around the pot. Remove the leaves from along the bottom of the stems and pin the stems to the soil. Roots will form and grow into the soil along the length of the trailing stem. | |
| Also remove a few leaves from the lower portion of the stem so new suckers will form and fill in the foliage (figures 5). I use aluminum bonsai pins. Completely disbud. The plant will then grow faster and new suckers will form more readily. |
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| When each trailing stem (crown) is big enough (about 2" over the edge of the pot), transplant it to a larger pot. After a certain length of time, the foliage should be thick and lots of buds will be showing. It should then be about and18" show plant. Of course, the size of the plant will depend on the variety. "Violet Trail," "Mellow Trail."
"Tucson Trail," "Ramblin Blue," and S.Pendula." will take three to five months. Others such as "Wee Trail," "Pixie Blue," "Jet Trail," "Mohawk Trail," and "Happy Trail," will take four to seven months. (Editor's note: the size progression of the pots was unclear. I suggest that you let your growing skills be your guide. Perhaps a vigorous, multi-crowned trailer in a 2 1/2" pot to a 6: shallow pot, and then on to a 15: or so shallow pan.) |
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| Bush-Type Trailers
Stems (crowns) of bush type trailers don't grow as quickly so they do not need exposure to light from the top. As in the instructions for creeping-type trailers, remove the lower foliage and the pot the plantlet up into a 2-1/2" pot. Place the plant in good natural light and turn it 90 degrees every day. Keep disbudding. |
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| New crowns (suckers) grow to about the same size as the center crown but usually only three to five new crowns will form. Both the center crown and
the new crowns grow slowly upward. At this time allow buds to set. This will keep additional crowns from forming. If more crowns form, they will crowd each other out, and the plant won't shape nicely. When the stems of the crown are about three to four inches, pot up to the next size pot. Remove the foliage along the underside of the stems and spread the stems evenly around the central crown. Pin them to the top of the soil. New roots and new crowns will grow at the base of each pinned crown. If leaves are lost due to the aging process, the stem of that part will not produce new growth. Unless suckers are formed on young stems, the stems around the center of the plant will lose leaves and there will be gaps because of the bare stems. When the foliage has grown slightly over the edge of the pot, the pot is the correct size. If the pot is too big for the plant, too much salts build-up may damage foliage and blossoms. Stems of bush type trailers don't fill in as much as creeping-type trailers so it is best not to use too deep a pot. The center of the plant should be about 4" inside the edge of the pot so new stems can creep on the soil and new roots can grow until time for the next potting-up (a few months). Stems won't have roots if they are are not in contact with the soil so the more stem that hangs over the edge of the pot, the fewer the roots. In the case of creeping-type trailers, the stems can be pinned around the edge of the pot. Turn the tips just before they reach the edge of the pot and pin them inside the pot instead of allowing them to trail over the edge. However, bush-type trailers have strong, rigid stems that won't bend. That is why potting up to accommodate growth is required. Pin stems 2" from the edge of the pot, prune the tips, and multiple crowns will form on the tips. It is possible to grow a 32" trailer by using this method. My "Santa Fe Trail" was 16" across and had 15 crowns when it was exhibited at the spring convention. Then in May I potted it up to a larger pot. In July I potted it up into a 17" wide x 4" deep plastic wash bowl. It had 17 crowns but after removing the foliage and pinning the stems, new roots formed and the number of crowns doubled. The plant was 25" across for the autumn convention. In December I potted it into a more suitable 16" container. It didn't look too good because I removed most of the foliage but in a few months the foliage was thick and beautiful again. Foliage which is not growing must be removed so new roots will form. This pertains to both standard and miniatures trailers. Summation. The most important part of this technique is to grow as many new roots as possible, then new crowns grow quickly and foliage will be thick and will fill the pot no matter how large the pot is. Crowns and foliage must be in a constant state of growth in order to have lots of blossoms. Disbud when removing foliage to force new roots, then energy will go to forming new foliage. Each variety is different so you need to know the characteristics of each trailer so you can choose only the best suited for this technique I hope my experience will be helpful to you. |
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