Happens every year - splitting bark

My brugs start to split due to all the rain during the summer every year. I'm afraid I'm going to lose my Peach Versi, which bloomed for the first time last year. It took me seven years of it dying, and me re-rooting cuttings, to get it to bloom. It's in a big pot, but I'm going to try to move it into the ground, and bury the part of the trunk that is splitting, to hopefully get roots from that section.

If that doesn't work, I'll have to re-root more cuttings and start all over again.

Has anyone else found the Versis harder to grow? The peach is the only one of mine that even survived. My pink ones died after the first year.

Many have trouble growing versi's in the south.

Too much water will cause them to split. You need to makes sure you have soil with very good drainage and keep it up on blocks to make sure the water is draining from the pot.

Thanks so much for that info! Nobody had ever told me that about versis. I grew one in SC for years, no problem at all. Down here, it's a disaster, and it's so pretty when it blooms!

I guess putting it in a clay pot wasn't enough with all the rain. I'll repot with some stones in the bottom for drainage next year. I'll be happy if it lives right now.

Deborah, adding stones to the bottom of a pot doesn't increase drainage, it just means you have less soil. Adding perlite to the potting mix does a much better job of improving soil drainage and root aeration.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1216/is_n6_v196/ai_18425721/
This link says the best mixes have between 10 - 15% perlite. I've never measured how much I use. Maybe some one who does can give you a better formula. I just use 2 or 3 handsful to the MiracleGrow mix I use for every pot of mix.

I think they meant elevating the pot on bricks to make sure its draining. I had some sitting in the grass and the drain hole at the bottom got clogged up. Elevating them is a very good idea. I have seen versis growing in the ground in florida and they did well in the ammended sandy soil.

I uaually buy Jungle Growth dirt...bag with the gorillas. Normally I mix 8 parts dirt to 3 parts perlite.

I use about 1/3 perlite in my mix. Actually, last year I grew mine in the free county compost, and they did great!

If you live in 9b why are you growing them in pots? I am in hot Texas in 8a and I grow all mine in the ground. I would not grow any Brug if I could not one to brug in seven years.

Hi rag lady! I moved from NYS to Tn this fall. Hope my brugs survive cause they're in the care of someone who knowns nothing about brugs.

MollyD formerly from Canandaigua,NY

Molly, didn't you grow daylilies too. Well I hope you have better weather where you are.

Good luck in your new home. If you need any brug starts when good weather arrives let me know.

Yes I do (or did). Weather here is hovering in the 40's with occasional dips into 30's or peaks into 50's. We had 'winter weather' far longer than this area normally gets this year. Started just before Xmas and seems to be winding down. My son lives in Chattanooga and he says spring there arrives mid Feb. We'll see what happens here (I'm 3 hrs from him)
My daylilies are scattered across 4 gardens in NYS so I have hopes of having them find their way down here once things thaw out up there.

Thanks! I'll let you know when it's safe to send cuttings.

MollyD

I am growing it in a pot because it is evidently very susceptible to nematodes and did not do well in the ground. Texas 8a is VERY different from Florida 9b, believe me. I bought the plant blooming, and it bloomed the first year, so I knew that eventually, I would get it to bloom again. I don't give up as easily, as you do, I guess.

Unless you've gardened in South Florida, many times you have no idea that the zones here do not line up with similar zones in other states. Our intense summer heat and humidity, our soil, our rainy and dry seasons, all contribute to a huge difference that others just do not comprehend. When I first moved here, I thought anything should grow in Florida, right? Wrong.

It is not that I give up easy, it's just that I do not grow Brugs for their foliage and I am no stranger to Florida and it's weather. I have many friends that grow Brug in FL and some have blooms on their Brugs almost year round. I have been to many a Brug swap in Fl, GA and Al, all seem to be big Brug states. I have driven through town in FL where people had yards full of Brugs and they were full of blooms. All I am saying is that if it takes seven years to get a bloom on you Brugs, either in pot or the ground, something is wrong.

Versicolor Peach;

I have a good friend in Fort Lauderdale who grows many many brugs, including versism he grows both in and out of pots. He seems to get many to bloom the first year. His seem to get to 8, 10, and even taller in one season.