My brugs are dead are most are the others are pretty close.. It is so hot and humid here here today was 111* it has been so hot. even the ones in the shade are not doing good at all.. I have maybe 7 or 8 brugs left from about 50 or more.. This is sad. I put the ones I have in pots on the porach to see if I can safe them.. The ones in the ground are gone.. What I didnt lose in the winter I lost to the heat ! I am so depressed... how do others take care of thier brugs in hot and humid weather. This year has been real bad here hot, humid and no rain in sight.
Brugs are baking in this hot weather
Sorry to hear you have lost most of yours.Today was the first day we have gotten a really good rain in a few months.I have mine in the shade too and it gets pretty hot here to.I have to water mine at lease 2 or 3 times a day while it is hot.The heat just sucks it up in know time.That is what i have been doing and i have a total about 30.
Cody
This message was edited Jul 6, 2009 10:54 PM
Wow, I thought it was hot here, but nothing like that. We've only been in the mid 90s. We had a ton of rain earlier in the year, but nothing in weeks.
I've planted my brugs in dappled shade with my hosta. It's too ugly here for even part sun and they're doing well and getting ready to bloom. I also water the heck out of them if we're not getting rain.
all I see is all my $$$$ I spend on my brugs all gone and nothing to show for it. I spend lots of money on my brugs and to see all the dead plants is very depressing. It's too hot to go put all the dead plants up . I will buy more in the fall and see what happens next year. I have lost too many already.. We do water 2 times a day ..
emh48,i have mine all in full shade when it is this hot.The ones you do have left just make sure they have lots of water while this wacky weather is like this.My zone is 8b so if you can put them in full shade.
I have them all in the shade now and am thinking about getting a misting fan for them..
That sounds good,but i won't keep them wet all the time,because the leaves may turn yellow from to much water.Just make sure no sun will get to them at all and it won't be as bad.
When I planted my 25 brugs, in my Angel Garden this year, I plcaed watersorb crystals in the hole first, then placed the brugs. I still have to water every day, but so far they are hanging in there. I have no bud or blooms yet. I think it is just too dang hot for them to bloom!
The watersorb crystals is an excellent investment, for the next time you plant them in the ground.
I will have to get some thanks for the tip LindaKay
Elva,
You have my deepest sympathy regarding what's happening to your Brugs. Until we get a good deep soak, this heat is not going away. Right now the temperature is up to 102ºF, but the humidity is at 10% This drought, which started in 2005 and was broken only by 7 months of near normal rainfall in 2007, has given rise to billions of grasshoppers. These guys are eating anything that looks green including many of my Brugs. Some, strangely enough, seem to be left alone or have very little damage. I would be glad to share cuttings from whatever survives into fall.
Thanks bettydee..that is so kind of you..
We need rain sooooooooooo bad..the pastures look like toast.
I have mine under a shade shelter, and a couple under an umbrella. In years past I just try to keep them alive in the summer. Even with a lot of water they won't do any blooming until fall. This year with the water restrictions I expect I might lose a few. We can only water 3 times per week. A bunch are going up to a friend's house, who has a good well and no restrictions. Need to get the spare truck running to get them up there before it's too late.
Yea,that is the best thing about having water wells,you can water any time you want.I have two of them.
I can't imagine loosing so many... with so few options in their care... hopefully I'll also have lots of cuttings to share as in earlier years..
This has been about the perfect brug weather I could imagine..and for the summer...Temeps rarely in the 80's..and with rain every other day.. to a few times a day... I've only started watering them in the last few weeks.. even the sangs are looking all green... and just this week starting to brown out a bit on the lower leaves..
My heart goes out to you all..... I too would be thinking of getting more also in the fall...were that condition here... such is our love and the hold they have..
Awwww Gordon. You would have to rub in the rain! No rain in sight and without rain we don't get a break from the heat. BUT for me it's the grasshoppers!!!! They can decimate a Brug in a few hours. A Brug can disappear in a day. Fortunately, a few Brugs must have something grasshoppers don't like. Mine are still in the greenhouse which doubles as a shadehouse. It's the only way I can keep the humidity up so they don't go dormant completely the way they did last year.
Bettydee,putting yours in the greenhouse dosen't may them wilt more?When i go in my greenhouses it feels like it's about 200 in their.It would turn mine into toast.I have a huge tree in the back of my house is were i keep all mine in the shade.
The greenhouse is situated so that the wo sides of the greenhouse that roll up face the direction of the prevailing winds. I've noticed that difference in temperatures (outside vs inside the greenhouse) vary no more than 5º. The floor consists of pavers and sand. These keep the humidity high in the greenhouse so I seldom get wilting unless I forget to water. Or as I've been doing in this nasty heat, waiting until the even to venture outdoors.
Bettydee, my friend at LSU dept of entomology recommends using pyrethrums to control grasshoppers. I used wasp and hornet spray on lubber hatchings because it seemed to kill them. Dale said it worked because wasp spray contains pyrethroids....but he said it was an expensive measure and the less expensive pyrethrum should work just as well on all grasshoppers. He also said a lack of rain in the spring means less of the fungus in the soil that attacks and kills off the newly hatched grasshoppers and crickets, so we have an inordinately larger number of adults.
I guess because my greenhouses don't have any shade around them.
And where do we buy this pyrethrums?
Can it be used on the brugs with out harming them?
themoonhowl, I know that pyrethrums are non-discriminatory in what they kill, but that's not a problem right now. There aren't many bees around and the grasshoppers seem to devour just about anything else. I'm worried about secondhand killing. What happens to animals who eat pyrethrum-killed grasshoppers? I'm thinking mainly of birds, skunks and armadillos. Can you find out for me? We used to have a bug zapper. We essentially opened a diner for our local wildlife. I would hate to accidentally kill other wildlife. Thanks. :-)
Bettydee, below are a couple links that should be able to answer all of your questions. Pyrethrins are organic based insecticides with a short soil half-life that causes no residual harm to mammals, humans or birds. They are poison to fish and tadpoles and will kill honeybees.
www.npic.orst.edu/factsheets/pyrethrins.pdf
and a website that deals in solely organic based products : www.ghorganics.com
Jean
Thanks Jean.