I've put my brugs out this spring after wintering indoors. I see sprouts popping out up and down the main stems of them. The plants are 2 years old, never bloomed, so do I let these sprouts grow out or do I brreak them off. My brugs look like palm trees, having lost all their leaves except 3 or 4 at the top. I 've never grown these before so don't know quite what to do! They are about 2 feet high or a little more.
sprouts along main stem
Doris, you can leave them and have a bushy plant, or if you like the tall straight ones that look like standards, cut off the side shoots and root them.
OK thanks. I think I will let them grow then. I have one pot, 14" across with 3 of these brugs in it. All 3 are tall. Should they each be in their own pot?
DJM, again, it's up to you. If you like the look of a bushy clump and are willing to water, then leave them together. I put each brug in it's own pot so when I take cuttings there is less chance of mixing them up, plus they don't take quite as much water.
I have been breaking off side shoots and rooting them. After seeing all the "Alley trees" that is what I want mine to be when they grow up! LOL Somehow they look more impressive with that huge umbrella of flowers, but that is my personal opinion! LOL I'll just be happy when they all start blooming. ;)
Oh, then there will be flowers if I let them have the umbrella look? That may be the way to go as I'm forever watering them and I do have enough pots so I will plant them seperately. Then I'll see if I can root the little sprouts. Thanks for all the lovely advice! Doris
I break off most that are below the Y on the older plants..on younger plants I thin out half of the offsets to send the growth to the tip! :-)
Doris, the umbrella part has nothing to do with flowers. They have to make a "y" to bloom if the cutting used was a growth cutting or it was started from seed. Some people just like the tree look instead of a bushy look. They will bloom bushy also, some just seem to take a lot longer than others to get to that point.
I didn't know that! Then the "palm tree" type won't bloom unless it has a "Y"? I'm beginning to think I'd better read up on these plants! Thanks for the help! Doris
Well, unless I've missed something somewhere. Cala, correct me if I'm wrong on this. I've never heard
"palm tree" type used in relation to brugs, so I may be showing my ignorance. Everything I've learned here and from reading lead me to believe what I posted above.
All of mine are bushy. I have not pruned to be a standard which I assume is what you call "palm tree" or "umbrella". And yes, I have blooms.
Mine all look like palm trees because they spent last winter in the house and in the process, lost all their leaves and the new ones sprouted out at the tops.
Doris, just leave the top foot or so of the plant alone for now. Go ahead and take off everything else on the sides and root them if you want. No, they don't bloom til they "Y" which is the top of the plant splitting into more branches. By taking all the side shoots off, the plant can put more energy into the top.
Thanks, I will do that in the morning then. Now I know where the "Y" will happen if it does! So I won't worry about thetop at all right now!
Gingerlily, I think when they say "palm tree like" they are refering to the "standard" shape, done like a topiary...straight stem, poofie top. Yours probably Y'ed low, making it bushy and still blooming, some of mine did that.
Some of them did, Cala, some of them didn't. But the larger ones all have multiple trunks and I have just left them that way. I have a hard time cutting back my brugs, but maybe one day I'll break down and try a standard. It does make the blooms real showy.
Thanks all of you, because I learned a lot from your postings :) It never occured to me to break off the side shoots to give more power growth to the top, but after reading thorugh this thread yesterday I was so inspired that I went out and stripped all the seedlings as I would have done with a tomato plant *lol* They are looking like small palm trees now, but happy ones :D I am happy too, because its much easier to water now that I can see the pots edges and easier to spot bugs as well :)
LOL Oh no! We broke Tonny!!! :)
Tonny, now you can make believe Lenne is in the Bahamas, have her lie down under the palms and you go get your self that puppy!
Kell, *lol*lol* She won`t be fooled easily. She went to Magerita a couple of years ago, but ... maybe I should start dressing like a pool boy, serve cool coconut drinks with ice and sing under her window at night *lol*
Hey if my DH did that for me he could have anything! bow wow! LOL
*lol* Lucky your DH. I would probably only get the guitar stuffed i down my neck and asked to wear appropriate outfit and then she will ask me to build her a pool, so that she can drown me in it *lol* If your computerscreen begins to tap drip water and you have to wear a bikini the next time you read one of my posts, you know that I at least tried and was right :P