Tropicals & Tender Perennials: RE: Moving Brugs Inside, 1 by crestedchik

crestedchik wrote:
I live in zone 5 ,sometimes I think its 4
I use to bring all my brugs in the house for the winter,before I got my GH
So all of you that do not have a GH don't get all upset,they winter over just fine in the house.Some people even keep them semi dormant in the basement.
They will loose TONS of leaves...don't panic!!!!!
The change in lighting and temperature will do that and I think just plain stress and the change in humidity and watering will do it
When I bring mine in,which will be this week,(I've been pushing my luck so far)
I de bug them,I usually do some trimming,taking off some unwanted suckers,out of control branches,and remove leaves (not all,just some of the bigger older leaves)I take the leaves off outside to eliminate some of the HUGE mess they can make when they fall off in the GH
If they seem to be done blooming for the season I will cut some back,not DOWN.There is a great thread of Monika's somewhere that explains how far you can cut the canopy back without jeopardizing your blooming region.I think the rule is leave at least 6 nodes from the Y.But if you have the room I wouldn't even cut them unless they look like they need it.
One of the big things to remember is don't over water them.They will not use as much water cause they won't be growing as much,they do need a kind of resting period.......
Hope this helps,and remember ,this is what I do,you may find this doesn't work for you and some people may do the opposite of what I do........just trying to help
this is what my GH looked like last year after I stuffed it....LOL

Edited to add this link to monikas thread
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/362328/

This message was edited Sep 27, 2004 8:02 AM