I gave up worrying what fertilisers are going on brugs etc elsewhere years ago.
It only leads to frustration when your plants are not doing what others are.
Besides some ferts are very different or not available here.
I fertlise the whole main garden in Spring with an all purpose fert. and leave it to do its thing.
My epis and zygos get an extra does of potash in autumn.
The brugs are all fertilsed once a week with what ever I happen to have around.
It maybe the recipe ( molasses etc ) , Thrive, Miracle Gro , Tomato Fert. or something else.
I add Dynamic Lifter around now and a good handful of potash each spring.
They just have to grin & bear with my methods and all seem to do okay .
I have salvias planted at the base of the brugs in the ground .
Not for any reason, just to look pretty and act a ground cover.
I would think planting any lugume ( as said in previous post above) would be too much nitrogen
Not to mention the bugs that vegies tend to attract.
Jean.
BRUGMANSIAS.. Now that Spring is almost here..
OK, I had not read the post from Al so I stand corrected re the adding of fertilizers. Still a mystery then!
I believe the Krista K fertilizer is available everywhere. Is is imported and not manufactured locally. I think it is widely used in Qld by banana growers. When I purchased the bag of Krista K I had to give name and address(verified) and sign a register so it must be able to be used in the manufacture of explosives..
Allan..
This message was edited Aug 25, 2012 11:36 PM
I treat Brugs like Big tomato bushes.
Best results I have had is with manure, compost, blood and bone, seaweed tonic,fish emulsion, dynamic lifter, all applied in early Spring/ early Autumn and topped up when needed (not too much), generally whatever I have handy at the time ...loath to use anything commercial just because I don't know what it is. After the plant Y's then I use some potash, not too much though.
I don't want the foliage too lush in case, it burns if it gets too hot (over 105C) or too cold 0 C.
Still learning so ...
Might try a couple of different things on the more expendable extra plants this coming season.
More companion planting too.
The chart states that beans are very good companion plants for very many things so, I will shove some in here and there, can't hurt.
Don't forget the radish for the prevention of the three striped beetle, it seems to do a pretty good job, I only saw about three of them this year compared to an invasion a couple of years ago.
chrissy
Frozen toes here this morning ...nice day ahead though !
brrrrrrrr !
Not going out there just yet ...I used to but I don't want a chill, everyone about the place is ill late colds and flu everywhere.
Can't risk that with all the Spring chores ahead, so waiting until the chill goes. 20C ahead today,
what is the weather doing around your way ?
Happy Monday ...it's almost September, do you feel the excitement ?
Colder than usual but lots of Sun. Something sadly lacking last Spring !
chrissy
Well here come some of the pods ripening off ...so excited to find this first double to double seed.
Heart of Gold x Twilight Time ! it scared me when I first saw it because I thought the frost had killed it, but found a nice healthy medium sized bean present ^_^
More excited about this one than my seeds from over the pond ...of course because it's my baby.
I will grow out ten, and share the rest if anyone is interested.
The other pods are all open pollinated ones (not tested yet) but there is
Earth Angel x Pink Smitty x ?
Axelrose x ?
Love Potion no 9 x ? (2 pods)
Buck's Fizz x ?
I know everyone is over run with seeds so I won't be offended if no one wants any ^_^
As the pods ripen (there are heaps) I will let you know so you can ask for any that take your fancy.
The others will be donated across the pond.
Go little Bruggies Go
chrissy
Wow chrissy all of them ripen at the same time
I only find that the same cross ripens with in a week of each other
The first one is a very interesting cross as it's all Australian now and cant wait to see what may come of it no dealt there could be some deformed blooms in this F1 gen of HoG X.TT but that's not to worry about at this time
Congrats on the ripening of the pods
Ok checked ...Bucks Fizz was a fizzer, seeds present, but in liquid form in white corks, chalk that down to frost freezing the stem (it was exposed). I won't cry over that one because the trees are covered in BF pods ...whatever has done the deed was successful ...I expected empties, but seeds were present in all these early pods. Hopefully the frost won't do any others in.
Some were very wet (the seeds) while others were dry ...how odd.
Well pleased anyway and take it as a good omen for 2013 ^_^ and beyond.
chrissy
Chrissy... Good to see you starting to harvest. Looks like the frost did not get them all. Can you please put aside about (5) of your HoG X TT as I would like to give them a try.
Just how tough are these brugs! About 6 weeks ago I was given some cuttings(4) from a friend. My friend said he had them sitting in a jar of water for 5 days. I got them with moist paper towel at the bottom of the sticks. I then further kept them standing in water for another 10 days when I realized 2 of the cuttings were not looking good and not sprouting tiny shoots like the other 2. It dawned on me that these 2 had been standing in water UPSIDE DOWN. I potted up all 4 not holding out much hope for the 2 which had been upside down until that time. Within a week the top part of these 2 cuttings which had been in water by mistake, quickly rotted leaving them now much shorter cuttings. Today, I noticed that both are now showing small shoots. They want to live!! Not sure how many other plants could suffer this treatment and still survive.
Allan
Yes Allan I was going to send you some anyway ^_^
They certainly do want to live ...I used to be so frightened I would lose them when I first started but they are tough !
I don't have as much experience with the newer hybrids yet but the first ones are tough.
Will send them along as soon as they are dry.
chrissy
Just whizzing past to upload photos of Wayne's knightii x Ecuador Pink seedling, which he hasn't been able to upload himself. He says:
---
Today your Knightii x 'Ecuador Pink' seedling dropped a second skirt. Not quite open yet, there could be a third.
Originally very deep cream colour - I thought it might be yellow! This has faded.
No scent to my nose.
I will keep you posted! :)
---
No time to say much other than 1. great seedpods! 2. great upside-down cutting story, Allan! Just shows it could happen to anyone LOL
PS from Wayne:
---
This morning the second skirt opened to reveal a third one tucked up inside!
I will send a pic when the bloom is fully matured.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the next flush.
---
Congratulations cestrum ^_^
love the curly curls on the first skirt, it's too soon yet to see where it is going, might be totally different in nice weather, we all know how doubles can change in a couple of years. Can't wait to see what your Knightii crosses do here, what a shame the last three seasons have been so awful (here anyway) but we have gone from grey wet all the time to Sun and lots of wind, no rain to speak of now ...time will tell.
chrissy
Wow Cestrum and Wayne have really shown what some crosses can get up to
like chrissy said love the calyx mix curls very unusual but were all here with baited breath on this one
Allan my mother-in-law dose that with some of the cuttings he didn't want but the plants were that rigours the cuttings took root up side down for her, she is the greenest fingers i have ever meet she also sprouted tomatoes from just a cut tomato the seeds germinated in the fruit on the kitchen bench
I'm pretty sure that I've lost track of which side was up and planted some cuttings of some plants upside down, but none of mine survived! (I do vaguely remember cuttings that neither struck nor died but survived, seemingly in stastis, in the mini-greenhouse for over a year--not brugmansias, hibiscus I think**. I know I wrote about them.) Some lovely pics posted here of the gold/yellow brugs.
And, er, yes: Give peas a chance!
PS Wayne says the deformed blooms on those knightii x EP seedlings have opened and are lovely! He'll post pics when he can download the images. I can't wait to see! (As well as Shaun's 4-months-from-seed-to-bloom brug.)
**These weren't planted upside down, it's just odd that they survived without striking for such a long time.
This message was edited Aug 27, 2012 5:38 PM
Looking forward to the Knightii x EP pics....they really have a long 2nd corolla don't they...I like the way they look, Get someone else to sniff them Wayne, I would be disappointed if a Knightii offspring wasn't perfumed, however lightly...
Thanks cestrum and Wayne..
Dianne
Thank you Cestrum for posting those pics, I am not sure what is going on. :(
I am glad to report that the seedling Knightii x EP that you pollinated is a tripple. Very much looking forward to the next flush to see if deformed buds are thrown in spring.
I will try to attach pics with this note. Otherwise, if you do not mind, please re-post here once I send the pics to you via Dmail.
Thanks, W.
Just a nother day with the weather getting to a sunny 19oC just like yesterday
im sure the Brugs are starting to move all at once.
Dianne & Jean my Cold groups are all looking well but there is one that dose not like sunlight at all even at 17oC the leaves collapse and stay that way till dusk where it gets a bit of strength back with the cooler weather.
I am so pleased this morning.
One of mt sanguineas has a Y.
Lucas, I am now watching carefully for the first sign of a bud.
One of my other coldies has decided to be different . Instead of a Y, it has put out a little branch just under the top of the plant.
The coldies are all looking well and hopefully will do well until next winter, when I may see more Ys and maybe a flower or two.
Jean.
Our Aussie summers are going to be a trial for those cold-group brugs, Shaun. (They can be a trial for the warm ones too ... just a trial, full stop!) What you'd like is an airconditioned version of a hothouse ... a coolhouse? Anyway, shade and protection from hot winds.
Wayne has forwarded me the pics of his knightii x EP seedling: one bloom has dropped and it is indeed a triple. Here are the pics. I wonder what Wayne intends pollinating it with? So this seedling has inherited the double gene. Now we just need to infuse it with some colour :-)
Thank you Cestrum for posting the pics...
I see below this, therer is "now" a field to "Choose a file" for pics!
So here are a few of this seedling's bloom progress.
Cestrum, as soon as the second flush comes, I will chop this one up and send. Presently there is only the single "Y" wood.
I am hoping for the clear white to remain, together with the green stripe in the first skirt. Also that bud deformity is only due to the cold. Cestrum, the credit owing is yours as pollinator - I only grew a seed! :)
This message was edited Aug 28, 2012 9:40 AM
Did you turn JavaScript on, Wayne? Because I've noticed that you now can't upload any photos at all unless it's turned on. (Used to be you couldn't do multiple uploads without it being turned on but the site has clearly been changed recently ... the previews of the multiple files are great, helps avoid uploading the wrong ones.)
Please please please DO NOT CHOP IT BACK--can't you pollinate it so it sets some seedpods and gets the 2nd gen under way? I'd rather grow those out!
But your choice, of course.
And you're far too self-effacing: you are the first person to get this gen of my knightii crosses to flower. Take a bow, mister :-)
This message was edited Aug 28, 2012 8:50 AM
What do you have against white ? ^_^ :)
What colour are you aiming for ? is it perfumed ?
Good luck with those coldies everyone.
Shaun you may be in a bit of strife with that droopy drawers cold baby- I suspect a real Summer is ahead.
Never mind you have plenty more to delight you.
Jean good luck with yours too, looking forward to the coldie parade while we wait for the warm Angels to grace us with their presence.
What a great start to an almost Spring day !
It's still cold here but the Sun is out yet again, no wind whoopee ^_^
Have fun everyone.
chrissy
Ah, it's my white prejudice coming out again :-) My favourite brug colours are yellow/gold whether single or double; if double, I'd add apricot. Which of course is why I have so many whites, pinks and single apricots :-)
Wayne is yet to tell us if it has a fragrance. I know that others have said that EP has a perfume but I've never smelled it, so this one may not necessarily have a fragrance.
The flower is purple tinged with white. Here it is again.
Oh, I've just realised I've posted that pic to the wrong forum. ("That's not a brug!") Can't be bothered reposting, so there it is.
Hmmm ...yes Old Apricot would be a great one to try.
Oh the possibilities huh ?
I was just thinking the same thing. Mind you, I don't dislike single apricots. It's just that it's so hard to beat OA--how do you top that? You'd need something very different, maybe really long tendrils or a cute little aurea-type flower?
I think that a very big CONGRATS is in order for that beauty cestrum and Wayne....those stripes are amazing....and the flower looks promising too, can't wait to see the next flowers...
That will be the first of many for your Sanguinea, Jean....mine has many flowers and all the ones growing locally are loaded...
Glad to know that everyone's imported Sphaeros are doing well, even if we haven't had a flower yet...they'll probably all start to flower at the same time....
OA is a dear old thing, mine looks terrible at the moment, but it won't be long before it's beautiful again...
Ivoire has started to flush again, small flowers still, but they are such pretty little things, not big and bold like the warm weather flushes, but small and dainty with their long petal tips..
Wayne and Cestrum I also like your double/triple white. Keen to see 2nd and 3rd flush of blooms. First blooms often do not show the full potential of what they can be. I, like Chrissy, would like to know if it has a nice perfume.
I have nothing against whites, in fact they often look more attractive in full bloom than a lot of the coloured ones.
Allan..
Every garden needs white flowers. They are so clean on dull days , accentuate the bright colors and merge beautifully with the pastels.
I could not have a garden without white.
The sun has gone and left for parts unknown again.
I did weed a bit and went around to check all the brugs for buds or Ys.
I am still watching Hyacinth. Her buds are growing longer.
I have another tall seedling with a Y. . Langenbuscher Garten x Charlston.
I hope for buds this season.
Jean.
Ivoire is so cute here too ...tiny, sweet, cheeky blooms that you can smell during the day, not as strong as GHA or BB but lovely.
Yes white highlights and lifts colours ...I am pretty sure there will be lots of lovely double whites in the future.
Jean that cross sounds great ...can't wait.
Yes Allan I always say if it does not have a fragrance it had better be a real performer, I am a scent Fan (as you may have guessed)
Some of the " Brug sticks" (you know the ones that look dead after the frost- the late Autumn cuttings ) are starting to throw up leaves from below the medium. Whoo hoo most have survived.
All you who are new to brugs don't throw your "sticks" away, they will come back most times as the soil warms up.
I will take a pic tomorrow to show what I mean. (camera battery is flat). ^_^
chrissy
It looks like that Wayne & Cestrum's Double/Triple is being subjected to color vilification and this is unfair as the plat has said nothing and only did what it is genetically told to do and that is to grow & show us what is possible with just the Australian CV's crosses
Im also prone to the whites and don't mind them in the garden but i can also see what cestrum is talking about as she has been growing out OA crosses that seem to produce white's and all looking the same.
I would love to be on the end of a cutting when wayne is passing it around to see how it preform in one of the cooler growing area's for Brug's my temp's are about 4 degrees lower then that of Melbourne CBD
Jean Langenbuscher Garten x Charlston sounds great and probably will produce some yellow or orange blooms this is a great start to new Crosses for the future
Here is some pictures
1 Buck Fizz
2 Red Hot Pink
3 Mango Cornet x Buck Fizz ( seed pod )
4 Buck Fizz x Mango Cornet ( seed pod )
Buck Fizz x Red Hot Pink ( seed pod )
5 This is Mango Cornet now ( not in the pot but ground )
Hope they hold, because from 10.00 it is hot, ( it may be to late and hot )
but the nights and early mornings are cool, very nice
I got some seeds from e-bay ( which are American cross ), they are from the same place Arghya Gardens and they put the card in of BGI ( Brugmansia Growers International ) We only have a short time for seeds, the rest of the time is to hot, ( some seed from Cestrum are up thank you ) so far all good, I am Addicted.
Gena well done ! I was going to surprise you with some seeds, looks like you have plenty going on there.
Do you want some more ?
You know, so long as you have shade, you can get your seeds going through Summer. I did, when we were having a heatwave years ago. Water and shade, will see them survive. Then they will grow well during mid to late Autumn and through Winter where you are. Don't feed them too much when it is very hot.
Congratulations on your growing collection ^_^
chrissy
WOW Way to go Gena getting those Blooms and now seed pods i bet your smitten with the prospect of being a Brug Seed Mum,
Good Luck with the seed pod and i also hope that they mature well
I would just like to say thank you to all, I wouldn't have the collection I have, with out all your help.
You have come a long way in a very short time Gena, well done with all of them...
Your garden must look very pretty and smell wonderful....
Save some of your seeds for next year, they keep very well in the fridge in an airtight bag or container..
If you only plant a few of each, they are much easier to care for.....
Good luck with them all...
Dianne.
oops hit the wrong button and off it went before I was finished. ^_^
Donated pods on Buck's Fizz, these ones still safe so far (some lost to frost previously) Pic 2
Sticks, sticks, sticks. But Starting to wake up ... 3 and 4
This Y died right down, but is coming up from below ...amazing what a little sun can do.
chrissy
