I have heard the best is to layer them in the ground The problem is that mine is so tall it does not reach the ground

Does anyone know?? Has anyone had any success?
I do have seeds but I know it takes a long time to get them going (up to 15 years for the first flower)

I have tried cuttings as well and they did not work out at all!!
I do have a lot of people that wanted some!

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Tonight I am having friends for dinner... Hanibal Lector My Album

Thanks Jiffy I will try ... I am not sure it will reach though.

Maybe if I get some kind of shelf out there!!

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Tonight I am having friends for dinner... Hanibal Lector My Album

Rita, What about some hanging planters? You have it up on a trellis, don't you?

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We are all under the same stars... therefore we are never far apart.

quote:

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the trellis is it is leaning like// <---- this!!

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Well now THAT is not good. More weight is proabably not a good thing then!

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We are all under the same stars... therefore we are never far apart.

4x4's!

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We are all under the same stars... therefore we are never far apart.

Well I hope you fin something. There was a link somewhere that showed a HUGE wisteria and it was supported by a very cool trellis. Lemme see if I can find it.

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We are all under the same stars... therefore we are never far apart.

I have seen that one... I am hoping to grow it into tree form.. the support will have to be strong though.. and my yard is not that big!! this thing is taking over!

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Tonight I am having friends for dinner... Hanibal Lector My Album

Triss, thanks for posting that link...that is stunning, to say the least. Maybe mine will look like that in a hundred years. lol! I wish now I had planted it in the middle of the yard instead of near the fence. It's a constant battle keeping it out of the neighbors yard but they love it when it blooms.

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Rosie z7a

It sure is. One of these days I want a wisteria over a gazebo but never over the entire house! A well reinforced gazebo!

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We are all under the same stars... therefore we are never far apart.

Deborah, I don't know...it's just the old fashioned rambling lavender Wisteria. At one point, I was ready to chop it down because it had never bloomed. Found out after twelve years or longer that it was probably my fault for planting it under a giant Sycamore. Plus I pruned it way too often and was probably cutting off the buds for the next years blooms.

I didn't prune it for a year after I lost the Sycamore and VOILA...I had lots of bloom this year! Next year should be even better! The size of the plant is deceiving in this picture. It is about 4'ft tall, 8' spread. For comparison, the remainder of that Sycamore you can see to the right...that's 4' across. It looks a little "nekkid" at the time of bloom...foliage starts afterwards.


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Rosie z7a

I have an old mesh sattelite upside down ontop of the dog kennel. I stsrted a cutting of wisteria there. It has taken 3 yrs. to start growing, but finally getting there. Maybe I'll have some blooms this yr. Some of the cuttings had hair roots. It was hard to get them out of the ground. My sister-in-law was trimming hers. I'll try to get a pic. Be right back.
Diane

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buzz buzz buzz

http://s86.photobucket.com/albums/k103/Di_06/

I know this is far behind the last post, but I live in the south and me and hubby find cutting back the Wisteria each year is very helpful, I wish my camera was not broken, we make a bush out of the old Wisteria in our yard. Between cutting it back and training the runners back into the plant it makes a wonderful bush for us.Hopefully before it blooms again I will have a new camera.

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Susan B.

Susan, I've never heard of anyone making a Wisteria into a bush, but what a neat idea! I started one from seed last year, but I gave it away because I've seen some massive Wisteria around here & just have no place for anything that gets so big!

Triss, did I give that to you? Maybe I want it back! Did the cuttings make it? ...(The ones that you got when we went to see my church lady friend's strawberry tower?)

Paulien, Mine wasn't hard to start at all. I nicked the seed & soaked it (actually for a couple weeks, but I don't think it needs to be soaked for that long), then I put it in soil & kept it damp. It was doing fine & got lots bigger than I thought it would, but I left it in a 6" pot, cuz I knew it'd be a slow grower. The last time I saw it, it looked pretty happy!

Who DID I give that thing to?

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Susan, we just can't trust those big boys with our toys!
(They don't seem to realize that we NEED our cameras for taking pics of flowers!)
I found a long strap & hooked it onto the short wrist strap on my cam, & the rule is: "It goes around your neck!"

I've been thinking about your Wisteria bush, & have decided that I'd just love to have a while hedge of those! I have a friend whose entire patio is actually 3 Wisterias, & she keeps them trimmed so they'll stay where she wants them. I'm going to ask her if she harvested any seeds this year, or maybe I can get some starts from her. (I have to remember to get pics of her patio next spring!)

Maybe I shouldn't say this, but anybody who drops a camera 20 feet DESERVES to get smacked by Wisteria runners!

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Paulien, I started the "slow germinating" seeds in January ...with an electric blanket under them, as I'm too "frugal" to buy heat mats! Once it sprouted it went under full spectrum fluorescent grow lights.

This is what the setup looked like in my garage. I put water in coffee cans, to keep the humidity level up, & set lamps (with regular light bulbs) on the shelves close to the cans to provide heat, as fluorescent lights don't throw much heat. The shelves stayed covered with plastic sheeting to hold in the heat & humidity. (The plastic sheet was rolled up here, so I could snap the pic.)


The only log I kept of my growing progress this year was with pics, but I remember that I was surprised when the Wisteria seed didn't take "forever" to germinate, as I was told they would. (As I mentioned earlier though, I did nick & soak the Wisteria seed.)

This pic was taken in early March... the plants on the top shelf were the slower germinating ones that I'd started early, while the annuals that had sprouted the week before are on the lower shelf.

When the Wisteria was big enough for a pot, I hardened it off before leaving it outside all the time.

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I forgot to say that I also keep a little fan going inside my "greenhouse" shelves. (The box on the far right in the bottom shelf is a little Norelco "Clean Air Machine", which seems to be perfect for the amount of space my seedlings are in.)

** Maintaining good air circulation is important in an enclosed plant area, to supply needed carbon dioxide to the foliage & to prevent condensation which leads to the culture of disease organisms in stagnant air space.

I understand & appreciate your caution about leaving lights on when you're not at home, Paulien. (Especially lights that produce heat.)
I'm not as concerned about that as I am about the extension cord that I end up using for the fluorescent lights, incandescent lamps & the fan! Many electrical things have a built-in safety feature, designed to shut down in case of over heating or curcuit overload, but I know I'm pressing my luck, having all those things plugged in without a surge protector! (Underwriter's Laboratories would freak out if they knew, because my practice negates their efforts of approving appliance safety!)

If you can set up such a thing for your seedlings, I wouldn't think that it would hurt them if you only turn the lights & the fan on when you're at home, as long as it's indoors where the temperature doesn't drop below 55* ...although high spectrum lighting (or natural sunlight) is important, to keep the plants from getting leggy.

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Does your spare room get direct sunlight for most of the day? If so, place your seed trays (& seedlings) where the sun will shine right on them. (DO NOT set your seedlings right next to the window where they'll get too hot when the heat is magnified by the glass. I learned that one the hard way!) I'm not sure about reflected sunlight (foil on the walls), as it might not be adequate for required photosynthesis.... but it's worth a try.

Healthy plants need 3 essential things during all stages... energy (from sunlight), carbon dioxide (from moving air) & water (from the soil). Without adequate amounts of each, a plant won't be able to reach its full potential. (Foliage, blossoms, fruit, seeds.)

Heat is also important in germinating many seeds. (But not ALL seeds. Off the top of my head, I can think of a few that prefer cooler conditions, such as lettuce, carrots, peas & Broccoli - Cauliflower family.) While some seeds don't seem to be fussy about temperature, there are those that insist on very warm soil before they'll sprout. (Basil & Pansies come to mind).

You can try starting seeds in your spare bedroom, but once they sprout they will HAVE TO have adequate light, or they'll get spindly & just wither away.

From your picture, your mini greenhouse looks like mine. Last winter I used mine to start the slower germinating seeds (indoors), but when it was time to start the faster sprouting seeds, I ran out of space & everything ended up on my garage shelves.


Using hooks that I made from a clothes hanger, I hung 24" full spectrum fluorescent lights above the shelves. With the plastic cover zipped up, it held the moisture in quite well & maintained a steady temperature, but there was no air movement... so I put my little fan inside. Since the shelves are open "racks", the air was able to move around nicely. (Remember that too much condensation inside that space is not a good thing, because the moisture creates a perfect environment for bacteria to breed, that will infect the plants.)

You sound like you have some pretty good ideas, so dig in & give them a try! Be sure to keep a journal, so you can remember which ones are the most successful. I hope you'll share what worked (& what didn't work) for you... & keep taking pictures!

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quote:

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Do you have a smoke-alarm in your garage?

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Yup... & I even put the batteries back in it.
(Needed to borrow them for the flashlight!)

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HEY!
Watch the yelling around here ...a lot of people are napping!

(Just fooling with you about the batteries, to see if you were paying attention!)

See you later, Paulien.
Good luck with your Wisteria.

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