I bought 2 "cloned" Dr Seuss from a lady here in Seattle. They were about 4 feet tall in June. I moved them each into a 28" pot. They are now nearly 7 feet tall. There are still Big leaves ( I assume these are the juveniles?) And there are new leaves coming in that are smaller. Do I need to wait (if so how long) for the blooms to come in? I've been feeding them Luminox(sp) since I heard they were heavy feeder?
I have another brug called Double Whites that are in a 14" pot, and they are coming in with a second group of flowers.( bought this one from a nursery). Its only about 4 feet tall. I know it must be due to pot size. They came in a 6 inch pot when I bought them. They are on the same feeding schedule and watering.
So is there something I should do to get them Seusses to bloom?
New to brugie..what does it take to bloom?
All of mine are in the ground and I've only had a few blooms on a couple of plants - I wish I knew what to do to make them bloom, too!
I put mine in the ground, but will need to bring them in, in the fall.
I've never grown a brug before, and was given this cutting by a DG'er.
It has bushed out "a bit" (about 15 leaves lol), but no buds. Once I bring it in in the fall, and plant it again next year, I expect I'll get some blooms. I'm going to baby it!
Brugs have two types of growth: vegetative and flowering. Each cultivar must go through the complete vegetative cycle at its own rate before it forms a "Y" and starts the flowering cycle. Some Brugs form a "Y" when well under 6'. Others need to grow much taller before they form that all important "Y". It's all dependent on each cultivar's genetic makeup. Keeping your Brugs healthy and well fertilized will get them to the flowering stage. However, if your Brug started off as a cutting from above the "Y", it will continue to form "Y"s and buds. You can tell whether your Brug came from above the "Y" or below. Vegetative growth is very straight and tends to grow as a single stalk. Flowering growth zigzags producing more branches and new buds. The leaf shape is also different. Scroll down to the leaves section in this link:
http://www.abads.org/members/anatomy.htm
The goal for their first year will be to get them through the vegetative stage and into the flowering stage. This may take the entire first growing season. Once you get them there, you can decide what you want your Brug to look like the following spring. If you like standards, pick a tall straight branch that ends in a number of "Y"s. Cut the branch at the desired length, remove the all the leaves but the smaller ones at the ends of the "Y"s and root the branch in water. You can do this before winter or take several cuttings before the first fall and overwinter them in a bucket of water. They will form roots before spring arrives. I suggest you take several cuttings to make sure of having at least one the next year. If you want a bushier looking Brug take cuttings from above the "Y". They will behave as if they are still attached to the mother plant, continue to form "Y"s and buds.
Starting off the growing season with a Brug that has already formed a "Y" will give you flowers a lot sooner.
Well, Betty, I appreciate your information. Mine were all grown in very large pots until I moved here last Sept. and planted them in the ground. They all bloomed in the pots in Kansas City - but not here. They get sun, plenty of water, fertilizer and bug treatments. Most are 4+ feet tall with many branches.
Kay, have you taken a look at the leaves to ascertain whether the growth is vegetative or flowering? One last time, many Brugs don't bloom much in hot weather. That's why my ears perk up when I hear about one that blooms despite the heat. Bad Angel comes to mind. A number of the newer cultivars are more heat resistant.
I love the way Veronica explains brugmansia's anatomy and physiology function. It's easy to understand and makes perfect logic. I personally have this obervation to add; Once mature brugs tend to flowers during somewhat extended cooler temp. as I've observed.
I live here in middle of the South. This year, for instance, I've noticed not only my brugs, but neighbors' too flowered early due to the extended/prolong 'spring' that we've had this year which is highly unusual for us. Normally it typically 'appears' as though we go straight from winter's weather into hot summer. During those 'normal' temp. our brugs don't produce flowers until late, late autumn. This year, I've had flowers as early as last month. And currently I've this 2 year-old seedling that is making many flowers buds. This is its second flush for the season. I'm pleased. My others (especially those that have been overwintered indoor last year, bloomed their first wave in June).
Mine make baby, tiny, teensy buds, but they fall off before they grow any size. I have a neighbor who has a Frosty Pink (I believe) and it blooms almost non-stop. Hers is about 8 feet tall and as big as a tree, and in a protected area on the west side of a brick building. She said it's been there for many years, so I don't know what's up, but I will be patient.
Kay, bud drop is another sign that there is sudden changes in temperature. Brugs in general preffer 'cool' climate to properly bloom and retain their developing buds.
Kim, thank you for the compliment. :-)
I had a Jean Pasko that dropped tiny buds well into fall. If I was lucky and had cool weather the first part of May, I got a few flowers from it. Late in October, it would retain enough to give me a decent flush. I finally tossed it. It just didn't seem to like Texas weather.
Thank you all for the information - I assumed it was the heat.
Veronica, I'm so glad that you've taken your time to share your knowledge and experience with us fellow DG members. Thanks for being there.
Here is a demo on my brug's experience this year.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/995024/
Kim, thank you for sharing your Brug photos. It's so nice to see undamaged Brugs doing what they are supposed to do. Lovely blooms! Congratulations! :-)
Thank you, chrissy.
((((((((Chrissy))))))))) how is your winter, is spring nearly here for you? Veronica, thank you.
((((Kim)))) it's cold!!!! and yes we are heading towards spring ...I hope your Summer has been wonderful ...lots of brug adventures ahead for us here in australia ...we have had some frosts, but on whole, winter has been pretty kind this year.I have many new crosses to look forward to and have been truly enjoying a voyage of discovery in the world of brugmansias.
Congratulation my friend on the new crosses. Wishing spring will be right around the corner for you. Here I've another small flush of bloom on this 'Versi Apricot' getting ready to open up. The unseasonably cool weather that we've had prompted this wave of blooms I'm sure.
Veronica I don't know how long those public links on that website will be available...if there is something important that you want for personal reference you should save the information on your hard drive before it's too late.
This message was edited Jul 28, 2009 7:31 PM
I don't know if the prepaid part is just for the paid member portion of the forums. I doubt if that includes keeping the public areas up as well...but i could be wrong. Members will still have access to stuff.
I'm totally out of the loop. I don't know what's being discussed here. lol.
I guess I missed something, too. Would someone explain what everyone is talking about?
The ABADS reference link posted by Veronica.
Thank you.
Both BGI and ABADS have areas that are available whether you are a member or not. As ABADS goes thru whatever transition they go thru it may become cost prohibitive to maintain the public areas.
Edited to say:
I just tried the external links on the home page which includes the "Abads public information site" link....its' already dead.
They still haven't removed my name as the VP and Forum Admin from the home page.....it's been months since i was involved over there.
This message was edited Jul 29, 2009 4:49 PM
Try it this way
http://www.abads.org/abads/Registry/namelist/
If you go through the members to public it does not work ...if you go straight to here it does for me at least.
Give it a minute to load though.
This message was edited Jul 30, 2009 9:00 AM
I was unaware of the public portion disappearing until I tried to access it to use in a reply. That was the section I usually referred to when I used it.
I just made a copy of the Register onto an Excel document. It has valuable information I don't want to lose.
that's why I mentioned it Veronica. It is valuable.
Bettydee did you get in via the link I gave you? I have gone in there a few times today just to check and it is still there, I could not get in there if I tried to go through the members section to the public part.
I also advise anyone looking at this to take some form of copy just in case.
chrissy,
I believe I did use your link, but I've had the site bookmarked for ages. I agree about preserving a copy especially if they are interested in hybridizing or just want to know who the ancestors were. I made a copy of Brug Anatomy. It's a bit messier because the photos have to be copied individually and pasted. So I captured portions of the site using the capture function and dragged them to a Word document. If I have time today, I'll go back and save the individual pictures as a JPEG file so I can use them later.
I noticed the image links associated with the Register disappeared ages ago. That's a pity, too. Sometimes it was the only available photo of some cultivars.