Tropicals & Tender Perennials: I think I'm going to lose my Brugs! What am I doing wrong?, 1 by AuntB

AuntB wrote:
Hi, I have a bit of experience.... If you want a "standard"-tree like form - snip off the shoots along the trunk. If not, let them grow for a bushier type, or to use as trades or for yourself, later in the season, semi woody is great for starting new plants... hope I helped... Amanda, your's could be a Dr. Suess, too, I think they turn from yellow to orange.. This pic from last year, I started the year before from seed... it reminds me of Equador Pink, but I can't be sure. It's still pretty and is a lot bigger this year, it almost seems top heavy, it's in a 25 gal tub, now.
They need quite a bit of sun to bloom, afternoon shade is good for some that don't like so much. I have a Pink Beauty that waits and waits and waits to bloom, just about the time I'm whacking on them to fit in the basement, it wants to bloom--finally.. I keep all mine in pots, whereas, you are lucky to be able to plant them once.. I did put one in the ground this year. I "planted" an empty 2-liter pop bottle with the cap off, bottom cut off and the capless end buried in the dirt next to the roots. Leave about an inch or so sticking up. Where the capless end sits in the soil, I through in a couple handfuls of gravel so it could drain... Now I put in 2 or 3 scoops of fertilizer a couple times a week when I'm watering, fill it with water to dissolve the granules... I think it helps get the fertilizer to the roots... (just a funny thing I do, I guess)