Thoughts on 'Ruby Loropetalum' as a bonsai? (I'd be looking to collect a ~3.5' tall shrub)

[choppychoppy]

I like them!! You must have some great trees if you're not even sure you like those

You can see a lot of my trees on my instagram @pottedtreegarden

 

[SU2]

They were dug up - put in a truck - and my landscaping guy pitched em all over my fence. They sat out for about 4 hrs and when I got home I saw em. I cut all the rootballs and the tops way back potted into 3/5 gal nursery pots with standard nursery mix (potting soil & bark). I just cut them all back a couple times a year. I potted the two pictured immediately into bonsai pots as they had almost 0 roots and fit easily with no more pruning by me - it had already been done with a backhoe haha. They grow like weeds here - I am in Gainesville btw so not too far from you. I didn't know they were able to be killed they live with horrible abuse and little care and seem to be fine.

This has me incredibly excited/hopeful!! I desperately want this specimen to live but am afraid it's going to lose all its leaves (did yours? Or did the leaves survive the collection?) I know that if all the leaves drop, it's not game-over and that I should still treat it as-normal for a while (hoping for new buds) but really hoping it stabilizes before losing all its leaves!

And 'defoliating' trees is almost exclusively a refinement technique and should never been done on developing trees. Probably 90% of the time someone defoliates a tree it is totally incorrect for the stage of development.

'almost exclusively' is right but I've always been under the impression that defoliating a collected specimen was the proper approach (and have done so with success myself tons of times - if something's got a large canopy and you're unable to get much roots, it's just makes sense to balance them, no? The one thing I'd be worried about would be losing apical tips as that's where auxins are being generated and they're my goal right now since they boost root-growth (am almost wondering if there's any way to chemically do this, like an IBA soil-drench or something?)

I would do the cutback @Vin suggested but there is really no reason to defoliated this tree probably ever in its entire life. The leaves will reduce on their own with constant pruning and this tree sheds it's old leaves regularly.

I did that pruning yesterday, as well as moving it outside (in a wind-blocked, mostly-shade location - it gets sun til around 10-10.30 then shade the rest of the day) You say it regularly sheds its old leaves, if my specimen loses all its leaves in this transition would you say that's no big deal? Very interested in your answer re your original ones, whether they retained their leaves! (BTW, what proportion of yours was green versus purple? Mine was almost 100% green, there were like 4 or 5 shoots that, at their very tips, were sporting several purple leaves; all of these have wilted)

Thanks a ton for taking the time to reply, very appreciated!!

 

[SU2]

You can see a lot of my trees on my instagram @pottedtreegarden

gg check now, thanks

I never use instagram but I cannot find your account, even google isn't showing any instagram hits for "instagram @pottedtreegarden" in the top 10, could you link? I went to instagram's landing page url and there's no general 'search' (maybe it's because I don't have an account?)

[even tried your webpage's url, it says to check your instagram but isn't hyperlinked Based on your site's landing page I want to see more, looks like you're quite experienced!!]

 

[Vin]

With no disrespect intended, you have got to relax and give it some time.

 

[choppychoppy]

This has me incredibly excited/hopeful!! I desperately want this specimen to live but am afraid it's going to lose all its leaves (did yours? Or did the leaves survive the collection?) I know that if all the leaves drop, it's not game-over and that I should still treat it as-normal for a while (hoping for new buds) but really hoping it stabilizes before losing all its leaves!



'almost exclusively' is right but I've always been under the impression that defoliating a collected specimen was the proper approach (and have done so with success myself tons of times - if something's got a large canopy and you're unable to get much roots, it's just makes sense to balance them, no? The one thing I'd be worried about would be losing apical tips as that's where auxins are being generated and they're my goal right now since they boost root-growth (am almost wondering if there's any way to chemically do this, like an IBA soil-drench or something?)



I did that pruning yesterday, as well as moving it outside (in a wind-blocked, mostly-shade location - it gets sun til around 10-10.30 then shade the rest of the day) You say it regularly sheds its old leaves, if my specimen loses all its leaves in this transition would you say that's no big deal? Very interested in your answer re your original ones, whether they retained their leaves! (BTW, what proportion of yours was green versus purple? Mine was almost 100% green, there were like 4 or 5 shoots that, at their very tips, were sporting several purple leaves; all of these have wilted)

Thanks a ton for taking the time to reply, very appreciated!!

I don't know where the whole 'defoliating a collected' tree is from. I would say that is as close to 100% wrong as anything I've ever heard. First off if you are collecting a broadleaf deciduous tree at the right time it has no leaves. And then if you are collecting it out of season you definitely want to retain some leaves to help with root growth. I think you have 'defoliating' and cutting back confused. And any thing that is a shrub or shrub like I would always leave some foliage.

I would only ever use any defoliating techniques on a well established very lush well growing tree. And especially never for any collected tree that wasn't established for at least 2-3 years.

The best thing for these is to leave them alone and only water them for 6 months. No pruning - no leaf cutting - no selecting branches - no moving around.

Yes - they can drop all of the leaves and come back but only if you leave it alone. The new growth will be purple and will turn green as it ages. After the tree is well established you can prune it a lot a few times a year and get great spectacular red growth.

 

[choppychoppy]

gg check now, thanks

I never use instagram but I cannot find your account, even google isn't showing any instagram hits for "instagram @pottedtreegarden" in the top 10, could you link? I went to instagram's landing page url and there's no general 'search' (maybe it's because I don't have an account?)

[even tried your webpage's url, it says to check your instagram but isn't hyperlinked Based on your site's landing page I want to see more, looks like you're quite experienced!!]

Make an instagram account and use it for bonsai - if you aren't you are really really missing out on thousands of great trees to see. Plus you can follow the good pros etc and see what they are up to. Instagram is one of the best tools for bonsai that I have found.

 

[rockm]

I don't know where the whole 'defoliating a collected' tree is from. I would say that is as close to 100% wrong as anything I've ever heard. First off if you are collecting a broadleaf deciduous tree at the right time it has no leaves. And then if you are collecting it out of season you definitely want to retain some leaves to help with root growth. I think you have 'defoliating' and cutting back confused. And any thing that is a shrub or shrub like I would always leave some foliage.

I would only ever use any defoliating techniques on a well established very lush well growing tree. And especially never for any collected tree that wasn't established for at least 2-3 years.

The best thing for these is to leave them alone and only water them for 6 months. No pruning - no leaf cutting - no selecting branches - no moving around.

Yes - they can drop all of the leaves and come back but only if you leave it alone. The new growth will be purple and will turn green as it ages. After the tree is well established you can prune it a lot a few times a year and get great spectacular red growth.

I think he's confused topping a tree at collection with defoliation for broadleaf deciduous trees. I don't keep any leaves on the deciduous stuff I collect, chopping the trunk in the field well below any leaves. It could be seen as a "defoliation," I guess.

 

[choppychoppy]

I think he's confused topping a tree at collection with defoliation for broadleaf deciduous trees. I don't keep any leaves on the deciduous stuff I collect, chopping the trunk in the field well below any leaves. It could be seen as a "defoliation," I guess.

Yep I think this is it for sure.

 

[SU2]

With no disrespect intended, you have got to relax and give it some time.

None taken, it was just difficult seeing something go downhill (I usually do bougies and have an incredibly high success rate) and wanted to do anything possible to keep it alive - it looks terrible now but still hasn't dropped the rest of its leaves, am just keeping it appropriately watered in a mostly-shade location

I don't know where the whole 'defoliating a collected' tree is from. I would say that is as close to 100% wrong as anything I've ever heard. First off if you are collecting a broadleaf deciduous tree at the right time it has no leaves. And then if you are collecting it out of season you definitely want to retain some leaves to help with root growth. I think you have 'defoliating' and cutting back confused. And any thing that is a shrub or shrub like I would always leave some foliage.

It's the same idea as discussed in this thread here https://bonsainut.com/threads/what-...ng-canopy-mass-to-balance-root-pruning.28615/ but the gist is balancing the roots//canopy to correct imbalances, whether you're collecting or root-pruning during a re-pot the principle is still inherently the same (though this seems species-specific to a large degree)

I think he's confused topping a tree at collection with defoliation for broadleaf deciduous trees. I don't keep any leaves on the deciduous stuff I collect, chopping the trunk in the field well below any leaves. It could be seen as a "defoliation," I guess.

No, I was defoliating because I did not want to do any topping or pruning at collection - I wanted to keep all the growing tips to help ensure the roots' growth (well, almost all, its main/tallest leader was cut-off but no other branch-tips were cut at collection) Bougies are so damn contrary to everything else I wish I had more variety in my collection the past year but am trying to expand now!!

 

[SU2]

Make an instagram account and use it for bonsai - if you aren't you are really really missing out on thousands of great trees to see. Plus you can follow the good pros etc and see what they are up to. Instagram is one of the best tools for bonsai that I have found.

Good idea- would love to hear a handful of recommendations to follow when setting-up my account!! Will look for the usual suspects of course (Mirai, W.Pall etc)

 

[SU2]

Vin....Vin!!! Gah I hope you're still active & are kind enough to give some thoughts, couldn't remember your name/handle but was just messing w/ my "new" Loropetalum and remembered "there WAS someone who'd had real, good hands-on with this species in a similar way as my goals"(ie yammadori/big trunks/trunk-chopping)

Nearly 3wks ago I returned to that same ole hedgerow, the last Loro had already been trunk-chopped by the homeowner ~6--12 months ago as-guessed-at by the resultant growth, 3 lil clumps of back-budded growth (two right-at soil level like the last photo you put in post#7 and one - the dominant one thankfully - several inches higher-up the trunking) It came out of the ground absurdly easily I hardly had to fight anything (surely die-back from having been trunk-chopped, I would think!)

I treated it as delicately as possible and kept almost the entirety of roots it had:


After a week it was pushing buds ALL OVER its branches and, knowing it was incapable of growing 30+ new shoots, I knob-cut the two lil soil-level clumps of shoots off (maybe 20% of total shoots/branching mass of the specimen) It continued swelling its buds w/o skipping a beat (I also wired the ~2.5' long shoot with its gorgeous purple leafing, not to shape it / simply to support it from the droop it was incurring)

Week 2 budding strong:


While I was already getting more&more confident as each day passed and the buds' progression was as-expected, today I was elated to notice that, WAY higher up that trunking at a crotch, I had a new bud popping-through some thick hardwood! Cam couldn't do close-up but I centered it dead-center, middle-pixel's red hue is a bud I promise

They need to be collected in the spring. I haven't had any luck with chopping them. When pruning, you need to leave some foliage on any branch you plan on keeping. They will back bud but may take a bit to get going once you collect it. I would call them temperamental.

How long did yours grow before dying-back? I know I need to temper my excitement here as any time I go out there it could have "passed threshold" and started a turn for the worse....but this guy got only indirect sun in week#1, dappled sun through heavy shade-trees in week#2, and a low-light position this week. I know it can only continue top-growth for so long w/o the requisite *root* growth, what I'm hoping you could shed some light on for me are:

- Is it safe to assume that, if I've grown say 5' (total, linear) of branching in the next 3wks, that I'm probably past the death-window of collection? And, once beyond "safe collection / acclimation to pot life",
- How temperamental are established Loro's? IE do you mean they're always temperamental, or just for transplanting? Am guessing the latter but wanna be sure (am guessing that because many species are like that, for instance I can't successfully collect an Oak out of the ground but it's also difficult to kill one that's in-ground/established. My loropetalum is from a 100.0% full-sun location and a 'high abuse' location (right at the turn of an entry-walkway, definitely gets banged w/ bags and whatnot when people entered/left that residence), but am so ignorant w/ the specie that I'm uncertain whether it's *ever* resilient....hope so!! A local bank uses them as the entry-path hedgerow and they're lush-as-heck so they seem resilient once-established but can't stop wondering whether it'll always need babying!


Gah I'll be so happy to just be 12mo in the future, pulling-out a perfect mat of roots on this guy....based on natural-rooting (well, what I saw) it appears more like Oaks IE spread-out roots and no good concentration of right-under-trunk roots, I know I've pulled some before that had ZERO feeders in a 1' circle around the base, I think the root-mass I got with this guy was almost "good" so far as Loro's go but, like w/ anything, once I've got a dense/tight mat of feeders (say, 1yr in a colander), am doubting it'll be so fussy!!

Thanks a TON for any insight you can provide, this species is still my elusive unicorn lol but I think this is the one, spring is ramping-up here in FL we're ~80deg & sunny every day for weeks now, the collection-timing was on point (by luck!) and it's spent 3wks acting as-if it didn't mind being collected, gah even if it continues like this I know year-1 will be a nail-biter for this guy no matter how much vigor I see!! So stoked I mean this was my fave trunk of the hedgerow, never could've collected it if homeowner didn't decide to re-do irrigation and needed that entire area cleared!

 

[SU2]

Better shot of bud-swell:

And of that new red bud up the trunk at the crotching:


Realllllly hoping to learn what's best so-far as sunlight-acclimation & fertilizer acclimation! I will not be giving it my usual high-nitro fert but do want to lay some Espoma 3-4-4 (w/ bacteria/enzymes) on the surface (will not be re-potting him in 2020 unless I just have a bush on-top and VERY clear indications at-container that it's genuinely root-bound but doubting that'll happen year-1!)

[edited-in: Re wanting to peg sunlight-levels right now, I should note I have ZERO intent of trying to "push" this guy, not in his first years at least, I'm solely interested in seeing those buds swell-into new shoots but I look at the # of buds and ponder the energy required to create them and the lack of photosynthetic surface-area so I want to peg ideal sunlight, current position is 'middle' it gets sun til noonish, no midday sun, then sun from ~3:30pm til sunset....since this guy grew-up in 100% full-sun I know it'll tolerate it but I just don't know *when*, and w/ bougies you *want* sunlight on them at this point it helps things move along but other species want indirect lighting only, with this temperamental specie & with how many buds it's looking to grow I wanna ensure I do everything possible from my end to ensure survival!]

 

[SU2]

Stupid edit-time-limit!

Was out watering and figured I should've added my garden's irrigated like 4-6X/day which is a major advantage for everything I mean I haven't measured but would guess I can grow tropicals 2X as fast w/ this irrigation schedule than a comparable "soil adequately moist" regimen w/o the hose-downs would have (makes sense, if 3X during the prime sunlight hours the plant gets external cooling then a larger% of resources can go towards growth as it was saved from transpiration&related functions)

But, things are looking up even more I was just out watering and took a look....it pushed a 2nd red dot at that branch-crotch **and** it's sprouted a new bright-red bud---on that opposing top-branch!! That whole area looked dead I couldn't believe it, this trunk has far more living tissue than I thought, between time-of-year, proper collection&irrigation, and the specimen having already been trunk-chopped & recovered while in-ground before I got it, I think this is a 'perfect storm' for a successful Loro collection/potting/transplant!!

If Loro's are able to push vigorous shoot *and* root growth, w/o being considered established/safely "successfully transplanted/collected", I'd love to know! I know w/ Juniper it can take a while for foliage or a branch to betray the fact it's dead, but w/ fast growing deciduous broadleafs like this I feel like once you see vigorous growth for a couple months it's safe to say your specimen is stable (ie no risk of transplant-failure, only risks are you doing something new that'd kill it!)

 

[Danteswake]

I had to at least comment on this thread for 3 reasons. First im in the Suncoast area so we are neighbors. Second, Loro has been the bain of my existence lol. Third, finding accurate info on this subject is a pain. Ive searched for a thread on this subject here countless times and this thread never popped up. Anyway. Much of the info is written elsewhere by people that dont really know didley, I agree. I did not collect mine but rather by big box. First one lasted about 3 months. Hard cut etc. No back bud but continous growth on top. I pushed it hard, had a windswept look going as well. Newb mistakes. It was my first death. So mad I bought another one determined to use more care and patience. 2nd one did well, bloomed, healthy growth budding all over and so on. Currently at the 3 month mark again. Leaves are curling, dropping and new buds are limp. Someone mentioned shedding old leaves for new, ok then why the limp buds? Even the stems droop. Your right about the roots, odd. I put a moisture meter in and its like fighting a jungle of roots but pulling it out shows nothing heavy. I dont want to disturb them for fear of its demise. For such a "hearty" plant its a big pain in the butt to be honest. I also heard of a blight in these, up in Georgia I think. If this one dies I give up. Nice to read this thread though, hard to find real life hands on info about it.

 

[choppychoppy]

I have several. I know what's up with them. I have plenty of success. I can't wade through those posts @SU2 but if you have questions, ask them without the commentary.

 

[SU2]

Overjoyed to see how many posts I've got to catch-up on but since the last is from a local pro I've gotta answer out of order!

I have several. I know what's up with them. I have plenty of success. I can't wade through those posts @SU2 but if you have questions, ask them without the commentary.

HELL YEAH am stoked you chimed-in man, will keep it in order of importance

1 Sunlight: while it grew-up in full sun (or full til early-evening at least), I'm uncertain how much sun is optimal both now during its initial buds' breakings, and am also uncertain when I've hit the point I can start slowly upping sunlight/acclimating it to full sun (this ties-into my equally important Q:

2- "It made it"....when can I say that w/ a Loro? I know it's both time & visible changes, am certainly going ultra-conservative with him in 2020 but, ideally, guess I'm kinda hoping that in 2wks I have a bunch of 2"-->4" shoots, no change in vigor, is that the "first hump?" I guess I'm worried of vegetative growth coming, not from newly-formed roots, but from cambial reserves (in which case it's basically already dead and, no matter how vigorous it looks, it's already beyond helping.

3 - Fert: Once I can see roots at a drainage hole I figured it'd be ok to start it on some gentle organic 3-4-4 (espoma/gardentone) and use that at-reco'd-dosage for 2020, is that on-point?

4 - Longevity/resiliency: These seem to have a reputation for being hardy, yet I just kept killing them...am I correct in thinking of them as almost analogous to our Southern Oaks IE collecting them is dicey & they're weak as kittens post-collection but, once re-established, they're hardy in a pot? I know of two local hedgerows, one irrigated the other 100% neglected, both survive & grow each year, but know of none in containers and cannot help thinking it's a sensitive-roots plant.. For instance do you root-prune yours as-aggressively as you do most dec.broadleafs?


~~~

Thanks a ton for anything, would even be happy just hearing whatever tidbits you think are most important. Am especially eager to learn when (and then see!!) it's considered "stable" and can be considered "of normal resiliency" in its container (NOT because I wanna start fertilizing/intervening, but because I wanna know I've got it, this species [and rainbow eucs] are some of my 'unicorn' species and I've admired this specific trunk for years now and I finally got it, right time of year and in initial-recovery from trunk-chopping, it even had prior root-chopping and had a surprising amount of sub-trunk fine roots for a Loro (from what I've seen)

I made a new album for Reddit today will link below but now like 15% of the buds have burst and I've now got 3 new buds poked-through hardwood way-up the trunking:
buds today, swelling from cambial reserves or from new roots:


Two buds in upper/right-side crotch, one on the left-side, jagged-ended branch (which I'd thought was dead!)

~~~

Man seriously I'd trade a serious portion of my collection for this tree in what I picture it could be like IF it survives & flourishes in my care, this species & this particular trunk (just how slow-growing are they? Keep seeing references to slow, I know they're not ficus but real life observation would have me think that, as hedging, they vegetate about as much as comparably sized privets)

 

[SU2]

ROFL "so many posts", obviously forgot I'd posted to my old Loro thread not a new one lol!!!

 

[SU2]

I had to at least comment on this thread for 3 reasons. First im in the Suncoast area so we are neighbors. Second, Loro has been the bain of my existence lol. Third, finding accurate info on this subject is a pain. Ive searched for a thread on this subject here countless times and this thread never popped up. Anyway. Much of the info is written elsewhere by people that dont really know didley, I agree. I did not collect mine but rather by big box. First one lasted about 3 months. Hard cut etc. No back bud but continous growth on top. I pushed it hard, had a windswept look going as well. Newb mistakes. It was my first death. So mad I bought another one determined to use more care and patience. 2nd one did well, bloomed, healthy growth budding all over and so on. Currently at the 3 month mark again. Leaves are curling, dropping and new buds are limp. Someone mentioned shedding old leaves for new, ok then why the limp buds? Even the stems droop. Your right about the roots, odd. I put a moisture meter in and its like fighting a jungle of roots but pulling it out shows nothing heavy. I dont want to disturb them for fear of its demise. For such a "hearty" plant its a big pain in the butt to be honest. I also heard of a blight in these, up in Georgia I think. If this one dies I give up. Nice to read this thread though, hard to find real life hands on info about it.

Yeah this echoes my feelings quite well lol I've tried collecting them several times and was so sure I had the last one but after growing well for a bit it died, that was long-enough ago that I can write it off to probably doing something stupid like over-pruning or full sun or fertilizing, though honestly I do remember always thinking "damn I hope feeders grow-out from these lignified roots or this won't survive" (which, this time, was slightly different since I had some 'ok' rooting under-trunk, upon further consideration I'm going to guess *I* am the one who chopped it, and who did some root-chops, a year or 1.5yrs ago to this as it's right in the hedgerow I'd been working from and would make sense I was getting frustrated and "prepped" the best & last piece in hopes of later collection but just can't remember it's been so long since I was out there trying to get these!

Re your current one, honestly my best default advice pending pro advice from @choppychoppy would simply be NOT to touch the pot/roots/specimen at all unless it's moving it away from sunlight til it stabilizes, if you're in my zone and have that getting >2hr of sun between 11am and 4pm in our zone right now I'll bet you that's why it's limp, am betting it *can* take that sun when it's nice & WELL-established but that the species is just ultra-fragile til it's thoroughly established!

Gotta say, even after a year of vigorous growth, I'll still / always be conservative with this guy I mean I've seen many Oaks do the "looks good then dies @6wks" thing but you can usually *kinda* tell, Loro's seem capable of being indistinguishable between perfectly-healthy and dying-but-not-yet-showing, also seem to have a majorly delayed insult-responsiveness in general.

I found lots of conflicting info as you say, for instance flowering I saw claims of winter, spring & fall being "Loro flower period" lol, but one common theme was "avoid hard/harsh sun&heat", so if yours is getting our sun in midday right now especially w/o 2-3X irrigation in the 10am-->4pm period, I'd move it outta the sun and, if relevant, ensure its container isn't black&cooking because roots are more sensitive than foliage and if your black-plastic container sat, un-irrrigated, on one of my benches from 10am til 4pm I can only imagine how hot the entire root-mass would be for any container <1/2gal volume!


Best of luck and for anyone searching in the future plz kindly post what happens to your currently-saggy Loro, would be good to have more experiences chronicled! Have seen beastie Loro bonsai so I KNOW it can be done ROFL and am not expecting it's "pinch&grow from a nursery specimen"-only!

 

[Danteswake]

I began reducing the amount of direct sunlight a few days ago. It got full sun 8am-noon, maybe partial sun from 1-3pm. I thought that was safe especially for a specimen used for commercial landscapes. I agree with the black plastic. Its been blazing here lately. I water as needed.
I did come across something interesting earlier today, elsewhere. I was searching and came across a site that said older cultivars are much different than what is out in mass now, ie newer more advanced specimens are on the market by major suppliers. The older versions tend to "change" from the normal green / plum color to a dull green / bronze color mid season. Which kinda describes mine. I had a pic of the tag on the container and it says where its from. Not a major name, next time your in Home Depot look. But Im sure mine is something I can correct.
Wondering if anyone thats had success could tell me a specific ph that works for them as my searches have shown 5-6.5 to 6-7.5. Im at work but will try before / after pics later

 

[SU2]

I've not used IBA on them in the past but I really don't think there would be any issue with using it. Who knows, maybe that's the secret to a successful start. Also, mixing in a teaspoon of Miracle Gro with the soil isn't going to hurt anything either. I would keep it in the shade until you start seeing some encouraging signs of a successful transplant. Misting the leaves isn't going to do a thing.

Oh that IBA quote was from ages ago (as was liquid fert used at this point, I used a half-handful of compost in the mix for that)

What're the signs of successful transplant here though? My guys' got around 30 buds, most have broken and as described by someone above they're looking limp (to be fair they're just breaking so maybe they'll upright themselves a bit once going but, w/ most species if I'm getting a flush of vegetative growth after containerizing it means Success, w/ Loro's (and Live Oaks) I've seen them grow foliage as-if they'd taken, only to do a 180deg a week later and start dying-out... I'm also looking at 30 buds swelling&popping and thinking to myself "if this is occurring off cambial-reserves, it should flutter-out any day now w/ all these buds" but I just dunno how long, or what level of foliage growth, can let me stop holding my breath Re successful-transplant ;D

And Re "misting leaves isn't going to do a thing", this is contrary to virtually *everything* I've heard, learned and experienced and w/ you being in FL it make me that much more shocked to hear you say it! For normal-growing bonsai-in-development, irrigation-of-leaves most certainly speeds growth but when it comes to germinating seeds, cozying-in a transplant, or sticking ficus propagates, I want:
- high-humidity enviro to minimize plant's transpiration as much as possible, and
- lowest wind possible to minimize transpiration.
W/ a compromised root-system, water-transport is more difficult and there's only so much resources to be used for both acclimating to the container, and properly regulating its temperature...so surprised to hear a claim it does 'nothing', eager to hear back from you on that in fact I'm going to setup my next ficus-cuttings container outside of the irrigation-spray and see if it's got no effect on my outta-10 success rates!