Brug question

First off, where did the brug forum runn off to?????

It is supposed to get close to freezing tonight, or in the very high 20's. I thought I read a few years ago that brigs can take that temp and not do a croaker. Is that true? I did not get time to dig my monsters that are in the ground. Will they be toast in the morning if we do get a light frost? I will get them dug tomorrow......sometime. LOL

Anna-Z...
In your zone--the Brugs will surely die from the frost. In Z 8 and up--you could
leave them in the ground all year.
I am only in zone7a--but I have to take my Mama Brugs in the basement for the winter.
They will stay there--semi-dormant until spring.
I cut them back--severely--like right NOW--and root the cuttings. Use ONLY solid wood stems.

You should take woody stem cuttings (NOT soft stem cuttings!) of your Brugs NOW!
Cut them about 5"-6" long--minding that there is a node at the top and bottom.
Pot the cuttings in Pro Mix (just shove them all the way down in the soil). 5" pots are OK.

They root rather quickly--maybe in 2-3 weeks. You should keep them under lights-
or by a sunny window. Re-pot them to a bigger pot as they grow. This will make
them grow healthier and bigger in no time. This is according to "donner"--
who has grown Brugs from cuttings to full size and blooming plants in one year,

Good luck! It takes time to get all this down to perfection.
I will be glad to fill you in if you have anymore questions. D-mail me.

There is a Brugmansia Forum (or used to be) where you can ask any questions.

Good luck! Gita

Doesn't seem to be one.

All I am concerned is will they croak if it gets to 30 just TONIGHT???? I did not have time to dig them up today as I was finishing taking my ginormous amount of plants in to the g'house and picking up client's plants that I overwinter. I will dig them tomorrow. I am hoping that it won't get that cold. *fingers crossed*. I have rooted lots of cuttings.........no problem there.

Here is what they looked like this summer.

AnnaZ

I looked too and could not find the Brugmansia discussion Forum.

I am sure it got absorbed in another topic.
Contact the Admin. and ask them where it went.

Gita

Deleted---duplicate post

This message was edited Oct 16, 2015 9:04 AM

I'm ok, didn't freeze last night and I will get them dug today. Because it IS going to freeze tonight!

AnnaZ--

I never plant my Brugs in the ground. Digging them up would be a nightmare.

When I first became enamored with growing a Brug--I was still on Garden Web.
That was about 13 years ago. There was a man going by "TNgreenthumb"
that became my mentor. I learned all I know from him.

He always advocated the Pot-in Pot method of growing Brugs in areas that had actual winters.
Basically--you get a 3 or 4 gallon black Nursery pot. cut 4 or 5 1" holes about 1/3 of the way
up from the bottom of the pot and plant your Brug in this pot.

THEN--you plant THIS pot into a much bigger (decorative?) pot, leaving the rim exposed on top.
This bigger pot needs to be pretty heavy and sturdy to hold up in high winds.
You will need to water the brugs almost daily as they get big--sometimes 2 gallons a day.

The roots will grow through the holes you cut out around the black pot. It is OK!
When it comes time to take your Brug inside for the winter--you will have to hack off
the roots that grew out the holes and lift the pot out. NOT an easy job!!!
You will need to cut all the stems back pretty low. Yes! This is always painful--as it is done in October (here) when the Brug is in its best bloom flush. Just do it!
You can root the stem cuttings (NO green growth ones!!!) and you will have new Brugs next year.

Put a plastic grocery bag around the dug up black pot and store the Brug in a dormant state
in your basement or anywhere else (garage?) as long as the temps are not freezing.
You cam always run a small heater to take care of this. Light is not needed.

Anna--You are in a much cooler Zone than me--so I do not know how this would differ
in what i am telling you to do. BUT--knowing you have to dig your Brugs up every fall--
I think this Pot-in-Pot method is the best solution.

Your brug will be just fine in this procedure. It will just go dormant. Do not water it.
If it is a dry area--a cup about 3 times during the winter is enough.
It will drop most of the leaves, ut keep the tip ones growing.

Come spring--you just take it outside--somewhere in shade for 2 weeks--and watch
it turn green in no time and start growing new leaves.

Before you pot it back up--you can give it a good root-pruning and pot it back
in the pot with the holes in fresh soil mix.

I have been doinf this for years. it works. Don't know how much difference the
zones would make?????

Does this interest you at all????? I have written a Primer on "Seasonal care of Brugs"
and can mail you a copy if you want. D-mail me your address.....

Good luck! Gita

Gita, I have done the "pot in the ground" thing and I will NEVER do it again. It was miserable trying to dig those suckers. Just putting the whole plant in the ground isn't any worse digging, and the plants do MUCH better. They were gorgeous this year. Besides, the digging gives me exercise. LOLOL

I have 3 humongous brugs in about 30 inch pots...........I cut them back pretty far (I use a hacksaw). What I REALLY need to do with them is horse them out of those pots, root prune, and then put them back and add some new potting medium. (I make my own). Those are about 10 years old. I have a large greenhouse......30x64, so I just let the potted ones grow all winter, but I usually strip all new growth off 2 or 3 times during the winter and finally let them keep it about late March.

I don't usually root any cuttings as I have a couple plants of each variety and don't "need" any more. In fact, I got ruthless and just a couple days ago ditched Wretched Mess, because it NEVER bloomed during warm weather, just in the greenhouse. Outside it would drop its buds all the time. I don't have room for non-performers!

I fertilize with double strength Miracle Grow 2 or 3 times a week in the summer and those that bloom (well, I guess that would be all but Wretched Mess) get Epsom salts a time or two over the course of the summer season.

Sooooo..............I guess tomorrow it is dig, dig, dig, but it won't be too bad. I have "only" 9 in the ground, and 2 of those are small; they didn't do well at all. But they were marginal last fall. I will give those 2 one more chance. Hope I have enough "ingredients" to mix up some more potting medium.

WOW--AnnaZ!!!!

I can see that you DID NOT need my advice! Can't always tell how knowledgeable
People are just from reading a Post... You are wayyyy past me in experience!

Lucky you to have a Green House...Mine just go into the dark, cool shop.
This year--I will just do cuttings and leave the mama plants outside.
This will be a brand new experience for me....kind of scary...

I have to admit that I almost never fertilize them--other than mixing osmacote
into the soil when I plant it. I am VERY lax about fertilizing anything....
I imagine my garden could be 2x as lush if I did.

Frost coming tonight and tomorrow night. My plants are all in now--and my LR and DR
look just like the picture I posted above. I am always so fussy about where I put what--
as I want it to look like it "belongs there".

Thanks for sharing your Brug experiences.... Gita

Thanks for all the input............as you say, it's hard to tell from an initial post with a question as general as mine just how much experience you have.

I have to add that I try and "feed" all my non-flowering plants (ferns, EE's, etc) once a week with 1 T. urea per gallon of water PLUS Miracle Grow.

There is a 5 gallon pail there for comparison purposes so you can tell just HOW big those suckers are. LOL

The philodendron was a charity case purchase.............I felt sorry for it when I saw it WM about 5 years ago.........scraggly, small.............It has rewarded me greatly. :>)

AnnaZ--
What form does Urea come in? What does it do for plants?

Your Tree Philadendron is huge! I had one once and it too grew massive.
I ended up donating it to my local HS Library. I am sure it promptly died there...
as I don't think anyone there had any interest in the plant.

Gita

I get it from our local "Farm Services" business. They sell seed, chemicals, and have a grain elevator. We used to be customers of theirs when we still farmed, "donated" lots of $$ over the years, so when I would go and ask for some, they'd give me 10 pounds or so and just kind of wave me away. LOL Now DS#1's GF works for that business, so I just give her a container and she gets it for me.

It is like little BB's. I think it is formulated like that so it is a gradual release in the soil for the farm crops. I just put 1/3 cup in a 5 gallon pail of water and let it set all day or overnight. They are mostly dissolved by then. I usually do 10 or 15 gallons at a time. Urea is nitrogen and promotes lush growth, so you don't want to use it on flowering plants, just things like ferns and the EE's. They LOVE it. So do the sweet potato vines I have. Soak them all up good once a week and they go berserk. Plus the Miracle Grow on top of that once a week.

Thanks, Anna. Not sure I will mess with all this.....
I live in a development and space for plants is limited. Don't want any "monsters"
growing anywhere...

Gita

Get plants so big people can't peek in your windows. LOL

Anna--
Talk about BIG plants--this Giant purple Amaranth just decided to grow in my small
bed by the front door. It self-seeded from some seed from years ago.
The seeds of this plant are the size of Poppy seeds--or smaller.
It is amazing that something this big can grow from a seed that small!
I had had this same plant here a couple of years ago--but NOT this big
This one just grew ...grew and grew--and grew....I dread t think how many
seedlings there will be coming up next summer!!!!!

1--Here is a picture of ME--5'7 and long arms--and this "thing" was almost 10' tall

2--Here is the top-fill of a zillion tiny blooms. SO pretty!

3 and 4--Here is the broken off top after the storm. Geez--the stem was almost
like a baseball bat! Anyone want seeds to this next spring--just let me know.

Gita

There is a product out there called anti stress 2000 you spray it and it acts like a latex glove. I spray a couple good coats and my plants are not effected by frost. Google it well worth having lasts a month or better