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[Frog Pajamas]

Hello,

It is going to get into the high 30's this week at night, so it is time to start moving plants in this week. I would like to cut back my caapis enough to make them manageable indoors without hurting their chances of bouncing back next Spring. Hopefully, this pruning can coincide with a cutting giveaway as well.

So, questions are: how far back can I cut these, and do you have any suggestions or recommendations for the best way to prune, get viable cuttings, etc.

Thanks!

1 Like Chicsa likes this.

[BubbleCat]

My usual aproach might be unscientifical but: Chop the top of and it grows wide, chop aerial branches of and it grows tall, or shape to anything else.

Healthy plants will never cease to amaze me with how easily they recover and produce new shoots after heavily cutting back. So my advice would be not to worry that much

[EIRN]

You can choose how to prune it.
Since something remain above soil, it will resprout.
Any brown part of the branches is able to be used as cutting. Let it 2 days in water and than put it in soil.

An option is cut all branches and let remain only the principal branch...like to do it to be linear, with no ramification.

Cutting must have at least one node, and no leaves (prevent water loss).

As my english isn't good, ask for details if it is needed!

2 Likes Frog Pajamas and BubbleCat like this.

[husk]

Pm me if you have any to give, thank you

[Frog Pajamas]

Will do. I think today after work will be the day (though I've been kinda experimenting to see when the show the first signs of cold damage- so far nights dipping to low 40's hasn't touched them).

1 Like EIRN likes this.

[EIRN]

Don't worry about leaves. Caapi strenght is on branches...since braches are healthy, the plant is ok.

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[Bach]

My caapis will start showing cold damage, burned leaves and such when it hits the mid thirties and we get wind. in the ground they will resprout from the base if they get frozen. In pots I would avoid letting them freeze because of the risk of freezing the roots.

They are amazingly hardy plants for being tropical and once they get happy with their surroundings, which yours are already, it's hard to seriously damage them.a

1 Like Chicsa likes this.

[sporehead]

I live in the pnw. It never gets  lower than  30ish here.and not often. The summers have been hotter for longer over the last couple of years with winters being milder and rainfall amount being lower. Would it be possible to grow caapi in the ground here?

[Frog Pajamas]

Wow- mid 30's!?! That's awesome!

I might roll the dice through this cold spell for the 3 big plants since they do have some protection from the cheap plastic greenhouse. First project with new help here will be a more permanent and sturdy structure.


edit: Night 1 at 30 degrees in the plastic greenhouse1 no signs of damage anywhere. 

[Bach]

Sporehead, you might want to give that a try. How warm does it get there in the summer? Aya doesn't grow very quickly below the 70s, but the fact that you don't get bad freezes should encourage you to experiment. I'd be very interested to hear how it might go.

[sporehead]

The last two summers have been consistently hot. Between 70-90f. It's out of the ordinary for here but I expect it to be the new normal. I don't have any caapi right now but if I get any, I will certainly plant them outside if they are mature enough. I will definitely post about it as well. It's amazing to know that they might even make it out here.