I have a problem - this year my DH doesn't want to put up the temp Brug house we had last year. I have a neighbor that has generously offered to let me put some of my brugs in her pool enclosure. She teaches swimming and plans to keep it heated all winter. It is huge about 20X40 but I can only use one end of it behind the dive. The humidity is great!!
I am just wondering about the Chlorine fumes - could they sicken my brugs??
Will Chlorine fumes hurt my Brugs??
Guess everyone is afraid to say! I sure wish I know tho - don't want to lose them, her place is so bright, they should bloom all winter.
Hi Azalea -
I don't know about Brugs, but for 10 years in Marin County, the only gardening I did was in containers in a large enclosed pool area. My plants thrived and the humidity was fantastic for them. I grew all kinds of succulents & tropicals.
The only time I lost anything (and it wasn't much) was the winter that it got down to 17F and I lost a few tropicals but nothing else.
I would be more concerned about too much humidity resulting in a mildew problem than I would about chlorine....afterall it isn't killing the people hopefully. :-)
Thanks Happenstance, for just the answer I wanted!! I have thought about the chance of mildew too - don't know how to fix that.
I'm certainly NOT an expert, but I live in a little town with water that often smells strongly of chlorine. (I have Tulsa listed as my home town because it's close & people know where it is, but I live in a little town about 20 miles away.) I save rainwater for plants that are really sensitive to it, but the brugs haven't been bothered at all. When you run the hose, the water hasn't had a chance to lose any of the chlorine, and I have too many plants to water any other way.
On warmer winter days I would open the sliders (the area was about 75' x 35') that surrounded the entire pool and give it a good airing out. I also ran a fan to keep the air circulating on cold nights since the area was not heated.
Since this is just "borrowed" space it probably wouldn't be practical to be that intrusive or take advantage of the kind offer your neighbor has made, but I know you must have some of those warmer days over the winter in Georgia. If possible give them a day in the sun to air out a bit.
Over crowding with leaves touching each other could lead to problems with water collecting.....I'd check on them as often as possible and rotate them and keep them super clean and remove any leaves/spent blossoms that get that sickly look ASAP.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
We have a room off the back of the house with a spa in it. The last two winters I have also kept the big brugs out there. The spa was only used on weekends but the plants got a good dose of humid chlorinated air then. I noticed no problems at all. It certainly wasn't bad for the aphids or spider mites!
All this sounds like wonderful news to me - maybe we need to build our own "spa", no space for it tho. It does get terrifically hot in there tho - 100+ many days. She keeps her pool heated to 90F for the babies she teaches.
We also have a large pool, but the enclosure would be totally unaffordable. Thanks so much.
Have a friend who grows all types of plants in her indoor pool. They do great.
Even very sensitive farns are growing here next to indoor pools. I donīt believe you will have any problems with your brugs.
I know one of our local hotels has an enclosed pool. I've never been up close but from the road it looks like a jungle inside. So I would say no.
Looking forward to it now - I'll bet my babies will grow to 15' with all that humidity and heat 24/7!! It will be fun to hear all the comments from her clients all winter! Most are really loaded with buds right now, I hope they will bloom for me before I take them down there tho.