I just bought my first two Brugs this year! Each plant is about 18" high, but almost all the foliage is at the very top. Need some advice, please!!!!
What to do about leggy Brugs?
plant, water and feed with balanced fertilizer. watch it grow and bloom.
brugs have to form a 'Y' before they will bloom, if you cut them off to 'make them grow bushier', you'll cut off the top part where the 'Y' will form and it will just be that much longer before you get blooms.
some brug varieties are naturally more of a tree/canopy form, others are more bushy.
Thanks TN, I'll just have to be patient (not one of my virtues) :-))
Hello,
My great granddaughter cut one of my poor brugs all up she got the leaves and all and lol and behold it came back with a Y thought had lost for sure cause she had a pair of sissor,s but it coming on strong!! bet i see a bloom before frost. My Aunt always kept them down to a small shrub but I was always afraid to cut my great gran proved me wrong on this one will see what she does, I really thought was a gonna lol. But now thinking can cut them back and get awesome blooms!!
Will post if she come's thru!!
Thanks for the encouragement! I wish brugs were hardy here :-(
As you begin a regular feeding regimen and providing your seedling with good sunlight your plants should begin to fill out and thicken up. Be prepared to stake them up, even if small. For me, what generally happens when a seedling starts out leggy and i begin to fertilize heavily is that i will begin to get rapid foliage development on top and a slow thickening of the trunk. It's all part of the process. As you encourage that top growth you are allowing the plant to feed itself more and the thickening of the trunk will come in time.
A little help in staking early on will go a long way in the final development of a sturdy, healthy plant that is able to stand on it's on two feet.....or something close to that! :}
Most importantly FEED THAT THING and give it good light!!!
This message was edited Jul 16, 2009 12:48 PM
I bought these from Plant Delights in the spring and each is now about 20" tall. One is a Cherub and the other Miner's Claim. I haven't staked them yet as they did not seem to need it, but I will do that now.
Thanks all for your input; I can't wait to see them bloom !!!!
Here is Cherub, does she look healthy?
And how about this one?
Kudrick,
Once you start a regular fertilizing program for your Brugs, you'll be surprised at how fast they grow. A well fed Miner's Claim doesn't drape. It appears your cutting probably came from below the "Y". It's growth will very upright. You might consider placing it in a regular pot until it forms a "Y" and has subdivided to form several "Y"s. Then take and root cuttings from above the "Y" Those will have better drape. There are a few Brug that tend to drape more. Here's a link to kenboy's thread on Orange Sunshine and others:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/826348/
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/796120/
What is the best feed...I use miracle grow is that ok or I should use something different?
That's what I use as well, but I'd stay away from the formula for acid loving plants. Every once in a while I add a small amount of epsom salt. I like what kenboy's Recipe does for the plants, but it takes forever to spray all my plants with it.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/803019/
Lo and Behold! Finally, on Nov 6, my first bloom opened!! I am surprised that they bloom so late in the year. This is Cherub; Miner's claim did not bloom and is in the garage for the duration. Can I store them as they are, or cut them back????
Hope someone is still watching this thread.
Here's a pic of the whole plant
If you have the room I would store them as they are. Then in spring, you can prune them leaving the first two tiers of "Y"s. This helps prevent the dreaded die-back. If you don't have the room and must prune, be sure to spray the cut end with a fungicide. That also helps prevent die-back. Be sure to store your Brugs in a frostless location. Does the temperature in the garage ever drop below 32ºF?
No it doesn't, but I wrap bubble wrap around the pots and put them in bags of styro peanuts to keep them a little warmer.
Thanks!
maryann
maryann,
Please let us know how it turns out. Your information might help some of us who are always looking for other ways to overwinter our brugs.
Will do!
My brug seems to be being beaten up by wind, should it be sheltered? Full sun? Part sun?
I should have made this post earlier, but it's been a busy year.
I overwintered both Brugs in my garage, with the pots wrapped in bubble wrap and a big plastic bag. I occasionally gave them some water. By April, both looked dead, but I put them outside anyway and they are now doing very well! Here is a current pic of Miner's Claim next to a Dutchman's Pipe.
And here is a pic of Cherub.
Well.. your miners claim looks good.. any one of this plant that's living is doing exceptionally
is cherub in full sun.. for a second year plant it looks a little in need of something.. how often does it see food...
Your Cherub died above the soil line, and resprouted from the trunk at the soil line. It is growing back, but it will have to start over and Y again even if tyhe original cutting was above the Y. The original cutting is dead exxcept for the roots and the base of the trunk. They do the same thing here if planted in the ground.
They were re-potted and fed well last week and Cherub is in almost full sun. Should I move it? Also, should I cut off the original Y?
Thanks
If the branch is completely dry, go ahead and cut it off. Just be careful not to hurt the two live branches. How often do you feed you Brugs and with what? Brugs can easily handle being feed once or twice a week with a complete liquid fertilizer. As for moving Cherub, if she is not suffering any ill effects by being in the sun, she may be alright in that location. Miner's Claim, however, can't handle much if any direct sunlight because most parts of her leaves don't have the protection that chlorophyll imparts.
I just happened upon this thread this evening, and thought I would share what I did for overwintering. I bought my brug last summer at the garden center where I work. It's 'Insignis Pink". It grew and bloomed beautifully last summer. I can't overwinter it in our garage because it's only a little warmer that the outside temperature (which can be as cold as -30 degrees). I put it in my basement when it started getting cooler (sometime in September). I slowly stopped watering it. It dropped most of it's leaves. It was in a kind of dormancy. I watered it occasionally, whenever the few small leaves started drooping. In April, it started growing more leaves, and then flower buds. I watered more frequently. It flowered quite a bit. I hated to do it, but I pruned it back. It was about six feet tall, and looking kind of leggy. The y's on it are about a foot from the base of the plant. There are more y's further up. In late May, I brought it outside to a shady location. Gradually I moved to a full sun postion on my deck. It's been doing great, and flowering well until recently. We had a thunderstorm, and the leaves got a little torn up. Some of the older leaves are turning yellow and falling off. I need to fertilize more often. It's also looking kind of leggy. It does have a lot of flower buds on it right now.
It won't be long before you become addicted and have to have more. lol. That's how most of start out.
I don't know if I have room on my deck for anymore big potted plants. It is starting to look like a jungle. I'm jealous of cocoloba. It's summer all year long there. Texas must not be too bad either, weatherwise. I have never been there in the winter.
Since there are no mountain ranges to block the cold air coming down from the Arctic and Canada, it can get cold. How cold depends on what part of Texas one lives in. For the last 10 years, except for this past winter, here in central Texas, near Austin, our lowest temperatures has been between 25º and 27º with some days up in the 70s. That's why I have a greenhouse.
I've been doing some thinking about .. the leaf yellowing/dropping.. I'd always related it to the conditions.. how much water.. did it dry out a some point.. too much of the bloombooster.. not enough nitrogen.. too much sun...
I'v come to some other considerations this year.. and emember.. this is only speculation.. and projection on my part.. but this year.. i have a great Maya.. growing and doing great.. just packed with leaves.. and just before this last flush of maybe 100 buds opening.. I still got the yellowing on old/new leaves.. from underneath.. and on the top.. so it's not likely sun.. or age.. I think some of the yellowing is the plant making way for the flowers to come... giving the flowers room to hang gracefullly.. and not be incumbered by a bunch of leaves in the way.. or perhaps showing yellow.. to get insects to start visiting early.. to visit a flower.. that isn't there yet.. just to get them comming by... for when the flowers are opening.. and another reason.. perhaps to control the undergrowth of the other plants /weeds spring up underneath.. as like a self applied mulch.. or just diverting so much growing energy to flowers the leaves were neglected.. big or small.. it's not always my fault.. or something I could have done better... as never have I had a brug in such a good shape.. before flowering.. and still as clockwork.. just before the opening of the flowers... massive yellowing.. but still a really leaf packed plant...
I think it's also other considerations.. like an effort to protect and promote the flowers/plant
as a perfectly natural occurrance...
there's extenuating circumstances.. as there was really no other reasons for me to be loosing so many leaves there...
well.. no yellow leaves seen... might have removed 50 of them during the day yesterday, before the picture
Beautiful, Gordon! (as always)
Gordon, I suppose it could be, but I've seen massive ones in the San Francisco Bay Area (Planted in the ground.) laden with hundreds of blooms without a yellow leaf on them. I think it might have more to do with limited root growth if in a confined area. Many plants and trees under stress will produce large numbers of flowers and seeds. (Brug seedpods, of course, take forever to mature.) It could be a method of keeping the species from disappearing. If the plant is under stress and it's genetically programed to save the species by producing more flowers, then something has to give... and that something would be some leaves. Since we keep feeding it, it doesn't die, but the stress would have been real and its effects seen.
betty, i am now feeding miracle gro every week; should i try twice per week?
lots of new posts! great info all, thanks.
Gordon, your brugs are spectacular!!!!!!!!!!!!
I would try it.
thanks, i will
I thought that I would update my Brugs post. I am sorry to say that Miner's Claim died in the garage over the winter, but Cherub survived and is doing very well. I have been feeding her Miracle Gro weekly and I think she likes it!
I have 2 blooms in September and now have a bunch. This is a pic of what she looked like this morning.
Here is a close up of these gorgeous flowers.
Congratulations on Cherub. She is a beauty. I bet their perfume is heady at night. I'm glad your Cherub survived and don't feel too bad about Miner's Claim. It can be very finicky about it's environment and is a challenge to grow. Some Brugs are more cold sensitive than others. If the temperature in your garage went below freezing and it probably did unless you have an enclosed area with a heat source, Brug mortality rates can be high.
I'm enjoying all the Brug flowers that others have posted this year as mine either went dormant during the heat and drought we are in and about half and are re-growing from the buried trunk or they have died all together.
Thanks! My garage usually stays at 40 during the winter, except when we have to open the garage door. Miner's Claim made it through the previous winter, but maybe this year was colder.