I told my mom in Florida how cool Brugs were (after discovering this Forum) and she said my Granny had a Brug in her yard!! So she brought me Brug and Hibiscus cuttings, but we weren't certain which was which. If this is the brug, can anyone give me advice on whether to plant it or keep it rooting in water? Thanks!!!
Here are the roots starting, I hope!
That is a brug. The hibiscus will have wider leaves, and the stem looks different.
Welcome Tam Tam. How great you have one from your Grandmom's garden! What color is it?
If it were me I would stick it in dirt now and put it in shade. Once it has the lenticles, those white knobbies, it is ready to start growing out the roots.
I rarely root mine in water but I know lots here do so successfully. Sometimes they root very easily with a minimum of fuss. I find I have 99% success if I take the time to do it a longer way, esp. in the winter and fall. I water a pot of dirt very well. Make a hole in the center and I stick the cutting in rooting powder if I have it. I push the soil tight around the cutting. I place the pot into a wet plastic bag. I gather the ends of the bag and blow into it so it puffs out and then I secure the top airtight with velcro. It forms a little plastic greenhouse. I find I can root any brug this way. I have left them in there for over a month. Just make sure you place it in a totally shaded place for it will steam cook in the sun.
Kell! What a neat idea to make a greenhouse! I like it!! :) I'm in the midwest and it gets VERY hot - over 100 degrees...I do have shade but do you think it would steam cook even in the shade? Hmmm... I'm so excited to have this baby I don't want to hurt it... (And I feel kinda silly I didn't even ask what color it was - guess I'll have to call Granny & ask her!!) Thanks Kell and Olga, I sure am glad it's a Brug!!
You can root them easily at this time of the year by just potting them up and putting the pot in the shade. I would worry a little about our heat and using the baggie air tight. Maybe loose over the cutting, but not air tight. I really think you would do best during the hot part of the summer, just planting it and waiting. Mine have been rooting in less than two weeks during this last hot spell. Good luck.
PS. You and I are only about 180 miles apart. Would love to have you come to Iowa sometime and meet our group of Daves Garden people.
You are probably right Brugie. Where I live it is usually much cooler than where you are. Thank God.....LOL!
Keep us posted on your progress with your first brug TamTam! I am sure it will be fantastic regardless of its color but if your Granny tells you it is a double pink PLEASE let us know immediately! LOL
Brugie you're right about things rooting so much quicker this time of year. The difference is like night and day!
What's the matter Kell, don't like our east coast humidity? Nothing like a 90*F day with 95% humidity!
I had to get another perm. because the heat and humidity in Ohio made me have a "bad hair day", EVERY DAY!!!
It is miserable here Susie. If I lived here I would have to get up at dawn to do my gardening for past 9 it gets too muggy. I hate being wet all the time. I am too fat for this heat. I was hoping it would melt some off but it just sizzles and stays put!
LOL Kell - the only way to be outside is w/the sprinkler running for the kids (so you can run thru too!!!) So tomorrow I'll plant the Brug, put it in the shade w/a loose Saran-wrap covering - I think I'll put it right under my iguana's outside cage and I'll mist it when I mist him!! Wheee! I'll take a picture for you!! :) THANKS!
This message was edited Monday, Jul 14th 10:45 PM
Hey TamTam, that sprinkler sounds like great fun. Oh, to be a kid again!
Hibiscus, you can also put out misters, they use them at the zoo to cool the animals and have them set up here and there along the trails for humans to cool off with too. It feels great and doesn't make you soaking wet. We used them in the greenhouse in the heat of summer, really cooled things down fast.
When I raised bunnies to show, we would put the sprinkler so it would go over the roof of their shelter and cool the air around them.
Whew, sounds good to me!
I may install one over my head! LOL
Well she's planted!! And one of the hibiscus cuttings I planted turns out to be a brug (uh-oh, planted it right in the garden - think I ought to dig it up & put it in a pot?) so I have two!! Wheeee! I also just came home from Walmart with clear plastic wrap - I only had PINK and didn't think that would be good!! So off I go to cover her up! Thanks for all the good advice! Happy Brugging!!!
Here's the one in the garden!
It will be fine in the garden, but you will have to dig it up or take cuttings this fall before frost. They are looking good.
Hard to believe it will be big enough for cuttings by fall, Brugie - I'll wait, tho, and see how it does!! Thanks for the invitation, by the way - I bet it's fun to have friends to share gardens with - I'm kind of a loner with mine, but I drag the little kids around and show them all the exciting new things each day!! Now you've got me thinking how great it would be to share with another gardener!! Hey - come see my gardens anytime!!! :)
Thanks TamTam, but I'm not much for driving very far. I definitely don't care for city driving. I'd love to see your place and would also like to drop by and see the Rootdoctor. Maybe you could ride to Iowa with him sometime for a one day visit. You will like him when you meet him. Would love to share with you this fall when it is time to take cuttings.
LOL Brugie - we might have to be pen/camera pals, I'm just like you - I'm going to Florida next week & I'd really rather stay here in my gardens! (Oh, they will MISS me!) I know, I'll send stuff w/Root and he can bring back your goodies!! Hee Hee! Hey out there, Root - are you listening?? :) Here - this is my front porch garden...Wisteria is blooming for the first time - I have three blooms! Yay!
that's so pretty! I'd rather be in my gardens than anywhere else.
Cool garden. I love your porch. Right now tiG, it is too hot to spend much time in the gardens. My veggie garden requires time for picking the stuff, so the flowers are only being watered. I haven't even had time to deadhead things with all the company for a week. Tomorrow I get back on schedule.
Tam Tam,
sorry, I did not read all replies. I only watched your pictures.
You can overwinter these plants without taking a cutting.
If small in autumn - overwinter the whole plant. Pretty dry and without frost.
Please give time to me - in some weeks I will have more time for replieing.
Tam Tam,I'm here just coming in from draging my sprinkler around back,LLLLLOL!seems they run all day!Your place looks great!!!Is that Nicotina you have out front?Don't worry about your Brug in the ground,I put all mine in the ground,they are tough and survive digging in the fall no prob!Give me an Email sometime,maybe I can be like Brugie and make your addiction worse!!!She is a sweetie,can't get out of her yard without more plants then I brought!!and the way we Yack it's hard to get out of the yard at all!I may drop up this fall for a glass of tea,I would love to whiff all the ones she has going,she has tought me alot!I am looking at one of my oldest and saying if you don't get off your butt and kick out a flush,Compost!
Boy, if you gave it that talk, it will be blooming in no time. I'm not having a lot of bloom yet. Seems very late this year. Maybe they will all decide it is time one day and it will look great. More food for the cucumber beetles. Doc, I dug up an A. Mac. today and put it in a pot. The poor thing was getting lost in the jungle. Hope it will do well in the pot. One of my favorite ears.
Water Water Water!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay.....thanks!!
Both Brugs are under Saran Wrap tents - last night when I checked on the garden one it was looking WILTY!! Oh, NO!!! I promise to give it TLC every hour on the hour today. Root - I'm so impressed you recognized the nicotiana! LOVELY smell and too cool flowers - first seeds I traded for on Dave's were Lavendar - boy was I surprised when my Lavendar I'd babied turned out to be Nicotiana (not that I knew what it was at first!!). I have plenty - baby plants coming up all over and quite a few huge ones - want some? :) Do you know I just read one of your other posts, Root, and you mentioned how good Brugs smell!!! I had no idea they smelled good TOO - I just thought they were so beautiful!! WOW - now I really can't wait!
This message was edited Wednesday, Jul 16th 11:25 AM
Ludger - I'm new at all this gardening stuff as far as the Lingo anyway...what does "Over-wintering" mean? I'm assuming it means leaving it in the ground...but it gets so cold here, and the first winter I would think I should take it inside! Thanks tho, I have all the time in the world for anyone who will help me learn more about gardening!! :)
TamTam, it's bringing it into the greenhouse or a cool room to go dormant.
Oh!! Thanks, tiG - do Brugs "have" to go dormant? I've never done that... Whatever it takes, tho! :)
they do in nature, and from what I kept dormant and what I let keep growing, they do much better with 6 weeks or so of dormancy.
Well there ya go, I learned something else!! So hmmm, I'm trying to think of a cool room I have - iguana's habitat heats up the basement real well (!!!) so I suppose it would be the garage, but it doesn't get alot of light in there! Still have to have light, right??? I'll have to think on this some more - maybe a plant light in the garage? And I could rotate plants every six weeks or something? Hmmm...something to think about! :)
no, it doesn't have to have light. just keep it above freezing, above 45 if at all possible.
Do you save potatoes for the winter? Such cold room could be good for overwintering brugs.
They will sleep all the winter. You donīt have to change the place every six weeks.
In autumn ( before first frost ) you must put them into a frostfree room.They will stay there for all the wintertime.
You must water a very little, never the pot may get really wet. In spring after the last frost the brugs can "go" into the yard again. Hope this will help a little. Please ask as long as you will have any questions.
If it is very hot I would not keep it under saran. I put mine in an wet, airtight bag because the wet sides of the bag raises the humidity and it keeps it from wilting. But open saran may not do the same. You may want to leave them out in the air and mist them to increase the humidity. No need to water the soil unless it is almost dry. Make sure in total shade until it gets roots.
Sometimes when poeple see the wilting they think they need to keep the dirt too wet. Since it is just forming roots, it can't drink the water in, so do not overwater.
Oh Jeepers Kell you're too late. It didn't take long for me to realize the Saran was a bad mistake - the one in the garden suffered, I'm afraid. The one in the pot is fine... Heavy Sigh. I'll keep you posted. (I think the one in the pot got "misted" by the kids and their water games!!)
Tam Tam,let me know if you would like to get together for coffee sometime,I have tons of cuttings going,I grow them for the smell as much as the bloom.
This is a great picture with our flag in the background. I love it.
