My brugs in the ground are coming up. They have lots of nice sprouts right at the soil level under the leaf mulch. This is the 3rd year for several of these and I was worried because of the terrible cold spells that we had had this year. I'm at the very top of zone 7a, so y'all in the lower zones shouldn't have any trouble getting them to come back for you. We're due one more cold spell this week, so won't remove the mulch just yet.
outdoor brugs are up
Congrats on your babies sprouting back for you Cala. I place milk jugs filled with warm water and throw blankets over them when a light freeze is coming and the sprouts have already started poking through the soil. Arlene was talking about some kind of freeze wrap that protects them as well....
I certainly wish I could plant them in the ground and have them come back. It would sure save a lot of back aches. I'm going to use the watersorb crystals this year, so maybe that will make the digging a little easier. I wish I had a lot of your sand up here and that you had some of my black dirt. I've added nearly 16 tons of sand to my garden and beds and they still need more sand and compost. I know that sounds like a lot of sand, but it really isn't. Sand is very heavy. Getting to be too much work.
I'm going to try leaving a few in the ground over the winter,I'm gunna mulch them with 2 bales of straw!!!
Cala. we have the brightest sunshine at the moment but an eastern wind, that you love to wear a warm winter jacket. Frost at night is below -6°C and I had 0C last night in the other greenhouse. I must put a second heater into or isolated for that time. But the isolation swallows much of the needed light for growth.
CC,
What about mushroom compost? It keeps warm as it decomposes. If you place that over your bales of hay your plants should stay toasty. When I lived in Indiana I did some groundskeeping for the state. Those mounds of compost in the middle of winter would steam if one flipped them over a bit. You could dig holes around your plant or a trench a few feet deep. Fill it with compost as well to keep the ground from freezing. The heat released from the compost would warm the surrounding soil. So, in effect one could warm the soil from a circular trench as well as simply mounding the mulch over the top of the bales of hay
What if I use fresh manure?cover the plants with straw and then heap on fresh ,hot ,stinky manure?Would it burn them?
I can't answer that as I have never used fresh manure on Brugs. As much as they love fertilizer you might be able to get away with it. You are talking about putting some straw on the plants first so as to keep the manure off of the plants though aren't you? If I could talk some of the cow farmers around here into a truck load of the fresh stuff though I would be willing to try it. Wife might kill me though as the stench of the composted stuff outside gets to her when I get to working in it.
There is a part of my garden that is in the leach feild,its always a bit wet but never freezes.Maybe I'll try some there for the winter too.I planned on growing some in there anyway.......They might rot but its just an experiment....Oh,I feel like Calla all of a sudden...
hee hee, another mad scientist on the loose!! First we got Brugie to experiment, now CC......hmmmm wonder who is next? Isn't experimenting fun?
I have overwintered D. wrightii outdoors in zone 7. I covered 0.75 m with straw and these came back next spring. D. wrightii will not make it under - 1 degree celsius, so when they can make it I think brugs will too. Last week my Ida-plant survived - 5 degree celcius and is putting out tiny new leaf buds. I can`t say, if versicolor can make it under these conditions, as this plant group is more cold sensitive than most brugs.
This message was edited Sunday, Mar 31st 2:28 PM