I'm a (relatively) new brugmansia gardener (I've had a couple varieties for the last four years) and this summer a very kind DGer sent me a couple starts and some unrooted cuttings from her brugs. The two starts are in pots on my patio and the cuttings are busy rooting on a window ledge in my office.
Recently the two starts have developed gnarled leaves - one of them is covered with the misformed leaves, the other only has the leaves on one side.
Can anyone tell me what's going on here?
Here's another view.
And one more...
They sure look like something has been sprayed on them. Any chance a dog might have peed on them?? With some of the leaves looking so good, and others looking so burned it is the only thing I can think of.
yesrenda itoes look like something was on them.. fertilizer burn maybe.. broad mites ... well.. they seem a bit different..as does soil inbalance..
I'd pull off all the effected ones .. and see how the new replacments do..
The only fertilizer these have had is some acid-formula MiracleGro - which hasn't seemed to affect my other brugs.
Yikes!
How do I treat them?
The best nutrient up-take happens when the soil pH is between 6.5 and 7.0. I believe Brugs are better off with a more neutral fertilizer, such as regular Miracle Grow. The acid formula is meant for plants that absolutely require acidic soils. I've used the Miracid on a few other plants and had some nutrient issues later. I've noticed that broadmites usually show up on new leaves on the few occasions where they've attacked my Brugs.
scroll almost to the end of this link and you'll see a thorough discussion on broadmites. It doesn't actually list brugs as BM prone, but says to dunk in warm water for 15 min (doesn't seem practical in your case) or treat w/ any miticide.
http://ipm.ncsu.edu/InteriorScapes/insect.html
I like it that it had a drawing of what a BM looks like, so if you are so inclined, you can search for them w/ a mag. glass and confirm whether it is indeed BMs.
