Should I re-pot this guy now?

Here are a couple of questions folks:

I got this Brug. a week and a half ago from a postal Garden Service. I let him relax a wee bit on the window-sill just to get over the rigours of his travels in a black stuffy box with 18 fuchsias. First of all, he lost a couple of big leaves, which I reckon was just travel-, and change of environment, stress.
He is getting big and strong now and no more yellowing of the leaves is noticeable. So here are the questions Ladies and Gents:

1). Should I wait another few days then pot him up into the pot in which he'll live for the rest of the summer, possibly the rest of his life, or should I do it as soon as possible?

2). The company has already fertilized the earth in which he now stands, when re-potting, should I add more fertilizer, if so which?

2). a). Are the long-life fertilizer pellets good for this plant, or is there a special fertilizer which appertains only to Brugmansias.

I thank you all for your thoughts, and replies in advance, although you all know I'll thank you again afterwards ;-))

All the best

Wintermoor

Nice looking plant. I defer to Monika as she is in Germany also, but brugs do like time released fertilizer...i don't have time to fertilize plants every week or two.

My thoughts are that the sooner you get it potted into a larger pot, the sooner he will start growing a little faster. I know that we all do things differently, but my best luck comes in BIG pots or in the ground. Like Arlene said, timed release fertilizer helps too, but don't forget to use lots of fertilizer besides that. I fertilize a couple of times a week with a 20-20-20 fertilizer. What is the name of this great looking plant? I think we are all looking forward to having a bunch of them in bloom. Hope you will post a picture once it is up and blooming.

Thank you,
The Garden Centre which sent him call him 'Brugmansia versicolor Aphrodite' in their catalogue.
IF I get him to bloom, I will definitely get cuttings from him, if you can tell me how, and SOMEHOW get them over to the U.S. if anyone is interested, but don't forget that this is my very first Brug., and I'm a wee bit nervous about making a mistake here.

All the best

Wintermoor

wintermoor,
We are used to mistakes here at Daves.....I'm sure we have done our share with the Brugs.

Wintermoor, I too am a new brug grower, but I have learned from all the various posts here to get it into the bigger pot sooner than later, preferably sooner. I look forward to seeing photos of your blooming brugmansia. And good luck

Thanx Glory, Thanx Pebble,
I'll be out there and have him in the pot first thing in the morning.

All the best

Wintermoor

This message was edited Monday, May 6th 3:37 PM

Wintermoor, Check the roots before potting. Well rooted plants hold the root ball together. I would not pot this plant in a large container, but use a 16, maybe 18cm sized pot. ´Zu große Töpfe ergeben in unseren Breiten, und besonders im Hamburger Schmuddelwetter ' kalte Füße '. Es kommt leicht zu Staunässe und die Wurzeln faulen. Wenn es sich wirklich eine B. versicolor handelt,ist es eine empfindliche Pflanze. B. versicolor sind wärmeliebender und reagieren auf Fußkälte mit stockendem Wachstum und später Wurzelfäule.

obviously i have no idea what Monika said. I just want to reassure everyone here in the sunny south that that moving up by increments like people do house plants is a waste of time on brugs. i have rooted a couple hunded brugs in the past year, almost all in 1-3 gallon pots and have no reservations about putting a rooted baby in a gallon pot into a 10 gallon or higher, they do great and love the room. i have even stuck unrooted cuttings straight in the ground with success.
can't speak anything about europer though were the growing conditions are different.

I usually root in 4-6 inch pots and then move into the ground or 8-10 gallon pots. Haven't had any trouble so far. Biggest problem is keeping them alive while in the small pots. Drink too much and go dry too fast.

I think she said that large pots result in cold feet. B. versicolor is a sensitive plant, warm loving and reacts to cold feet with growth inhibition and root rot.

Wintermoor - can you post a picture of an Aphrodite bloom?

Dave, are you reading her German or using a translator? :-) I did lose a versicolor orange this year in the garage. It was a big plant in a big pot, but was cold and Jim overwatered. Got a fungus and that was the end of it.

Edited to correct spelling.

This message was edited Tuesday, May 7th 9:22 PM

Brugie: Ich kann ein biSchen deutsch. :-)

dave

Hope that says "I can speak German" or maybe "Read". The quick translator didn't translate the biSchen.

Why Dave, you're just full of surprises. :)

Dave, you are a genius.Good to know, you understand ein bisschen (bißchen) german. The climatic conditions in Hamburg are different from mine. They have much more rain as we and since close to the North Sea, cooler but the humidity is higher. Brugmansias thrive very well up there, but sensitive plants as versicolor and insignis, have problems.
Its impossible to compensate the Florida climate with ours.
Many plants known as hardy in GB, do not have a single chance to survive the winters in Central Europe with the exception of the vine growing areas Rheinpfalz, Baden and the Oberrhein area between Bodensee and Stuttgart.

Let me apologise to all those who have posted in the last few days, I thought I had this thread on my 'Watch-List' but I seem to have cancelled it.

The pot in which I have planted the Brug. is 42cm, so it's not too big to move to a more sheltered spot if really wet weather occurs, is this still too big Monika? The rootball was compact and healthy, and I've mixed a good bit of rough sand and pebbles into the lower part of the pot to reduce the chance of 'Staunässe', wet feet.

Lizh, I will post a photo of a bloom if it should occur, cos I'll be the happiest bear in Christendom ;-)

AND DAVE,
you never cease to amaze me M8!!!! Not only a great webmaster, an obvious wandering encyclopeaedia of gardening, but can speak a bit if german too. Hoppla!!!

All the best

Wintermoor

Wintermoor, I will answer in german. Its easier for me to explain.

Ich vermute, der neue Topf hat 42cm Durchmesser? Oder Liter?
Anhand des Bildes vermute ich die alte Topfgröße zwischen 13 - 14cm. Die Nummer steht unterm Topfboden. Ich hätte die Pflanze erst in einen 22cm (5 Liter) Container gesetzt und je nach Wachstum, Ende Juni in einen 10 Liter Container (Putzeimergröße). Ich verwende dann die preiswerteren Mörteleimer. Es gibt sie in 12l (27cm Durchmesser) und 20 Liter (ca 44cm Durchmesser). Der kleinere Topf erwärmt sich schneller und steigert das Wurzelwachstum. In zu großen Gefäßen bleibt das Substrat feucht und kühl und damit es gibt ' kalte Füße' und Staunässe.
Anhand der Blätter vermute ich, daß es keine B. versicolor ist. Die Blätter sind zu rundlich und glänzen oberseits.

OK so that's the trick.

Danke Monika,
I'll do that.

Wintermoor

Wintermoor, ich have die Düngung vergessen. Ich verwende ein Nährsalz, Hakaphos Spezial in der Zusammensetzung 16N-6P-22K-3Mgo plus Spurenelemente. Bei einer jungen Pflanze dieser Größe jeden 3. Tag 10g in 10l Wasser, ab Juli 20g. Dieses Salz ist sehr gut für weiches Wasser geeignet. Es hält den ph-Wert länger konstant, da es nitratbetont ist. Um bei weichem Wasser den zusätzlichen Kalk zuführen zu können, verwende ich zusätzlich Kalksalpeter 16N. Kalkammonsalpeter ist in allen Gartenmärkten erhältlich, aber BITTE NICHT VERWENDEN!

Hakaphos Spezial ist nur als Erwerbsgartenbaudünger in 25kg Säcken erhältlich. Ebenso Kalksalpeter.

Manfred Meyer hat Nährsalze in kleinen Mengen, aber sehr teuer.

Warum nichts Kalkammonsalpeter, Monika?

Nur wenige Gramm zuviel und die Wurzeln erleiden schwere Verbrennungen. Bei größeren Pflanzen wird es Herbst mitten im Sommer! Sämtliche Blätter fallen innerhalb weniger Tage ab. Außerdem verätzt das Gießwasser die Rinde im unteren Stammbereich, wenn es damit in Berührung kommt.
Ich habe Bilder gemacht, wie das Blatt einer, mit Kalkammonsalpeter überdüngten Pflanze aussieht.
Das ist mir mit 5 Pflanzen passiert. Ich habe 2000 Liter Wasser gebraucht, um die Wurzelballen auszuspülen. Die Pflanzen standen fast 6 Wochen wie tot da, blattlos und fertig zur Kompostierung. Mein Mann sah die kleinen grünen Pünktchen, bevor er mit dem Schreddern begann. Das hat sie gerettet.

Please excuse to all, that there are sometimes posts in another language as english. I do not want to make DG into a german website. Sometimes, it is much easier for me to explain something to somebody who understands german and in this special case a fertilizer with the name of Kalkammonsalpeter, unable to translate.

Thanks Monika,
I'll look out for that, as it is obviously a very important thing to know, before I burn the plant out of the ground.
To all others, please bear with us a wee bit, cos I know a lot more of the names of fertilizers in German than in English, and it's easier for Monika to explain that way.
Hey maybe Dave will open a Foreign Language Forum soon, and we can all learn other ways of how to say "Morning Glories" ;-)

Thanks again to all

Wintermoor

I rather enjoyed all the german reading :o)

Hoffe es geht euch allen gut und wintermoor, ich werde auch auf ein bild warten. Wie gehts denn der maus?

Ok, guess that's enough German.....LOL

That sounds great, flowox! Another helping hand for me!