Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Brug Dormancy Question, 1 by Gitagal

Gitagal wrote:
Marlene---come join us at the Mid Atlantic Forum. We are a most friendly and helpful bunch.
Very active as well. We hold 3 Swaps a year.

I cannot add anything Gordonhawk said. ALL good advice....

I have 3 Brugs--Dr. Seuss, Maya, and a NOID pink-- and i also cut them back--pretty severely, and keep them
in my dark, cool Shop for the winter. I may water them once or twice during the winter. That's it.
We live in the same zone and only an hour apart. I live in Baltimore near White Marsh Mall..

I grow all mine by the pot-in-pot technique--or pot-in the bed. Cut 5--1" holes in the sides of the pot
for the roots to have access to the soil around the pot. You will be amazed how the roots grow out those holes!
I dig the pot 3/4 way in the bed, or in the larger patio pot for the season.
Then dig it back out in late October, severing any roots that have grown out of the holes around the pot.
This does NOT hurt the plant at all--but can be a bit difficult!

Yes--you can keep your Brugs inside if you have great light--and they will just continue growing and blooming.
A sun room would be ideal.

NOW--I want to tell you that, after many tries of rooting cuttings, I have had 10 times the success
putting them straight in a 5"or 6" pot of soilless mix. They root within days! Definitely in a week's time.
In my earlier years of growing Brugs--I tried the water way--and then the Bubbler way--but my cuttings always
got "the slime" and died. Sticking them directly in the soil works great. Use rooting hormone if you want.

One caveat---Do not try to root the soft-growths, the same season, tops. Go with a woody stem cutting--about 5"-6" long.
And--try to take your cuttings from above the "Y". They will bloom sooner for you.
You could even root the main stem this way--if you wanted to. I have done it.

This may not be everyone's way--but it has worked for me for years. I recommend it.

1--This shows you the amount of roots it has grown in just that short a time (5 weeks).
2Here they all are--just before Christmas. They went crazy!!! It was hard keeping them all in tip-top
shape before the Swap here in May at Holly's house. Really hard.
3--This is where my 3 Brugs will spend the winter--chopped to their bones....They are already growing leaves....:o)
4--Here is my Dr. Seuss hogging the whole bed. It was hard to cut it back to "the bones" but there just was
no other way i could get it into my Shop. It will leaf out next spring. No worry on my part....Been there--done this....
5--Here is a picture of my 26 stem cuttings from last fall in 5" pots. I keep them on top of, and under, my light set-up
as I do not use it for seeds this time of year. Great place to grow out all kinds of cuttings.
You should see how amazingly Coleus cuttings root under these lights!!!
These Brug cuttings were potted just 5 weeks ago. A definite "WOW"....

Gita

edited to say:
Sorry--the numbers and descriptions of the pictures got all mixed up. #5 should be #1, etc...
Try to put the right pictures with the descriptions.
Something went whacko when I was "choosing the file"....

This message was edited Dec 4, 2012 6:16 PM