my first brugs

Well I finally got it together with my digi-cam and some techy stuff....and so here are my first four brugs. A neighbor gave them to me and we stuck them in dirt...not soil, dirt. kept them wet and covered for a while and today I bumped them up to 2gal. pots. There are two pink and two yellow although I don't know which is which yet. The leaf margins are different so I'll only need one bloom to know. I want more ( = already. I broke off a little side growth and so I stuck it back in wet (soil) hoping to get brug #5. Any advice, corrections...comments???

And another brug addict is born. Welcome aboard. They look great. So does your coleus.

And the picture,nice camera!The serrated leaves are more then likely the yellows.
Root.

Pancha,I see smooth edged leaves and I think I see serrated edge leaves on some.The serrated edge are the yellow/orange.

Oh Wow...Thanks everyone. I've been reading here with the brug posts for a while and I was sure you'd all know which color was which. So the smooth margins are the pink?
I do love my coleus....a neighbor gave me so many different ones and all but a couple took. (Proud Mom) Here's another pic of them... In the meantime...I am just dying to get more brug cuttings. Brinda lives in my area and when the weather gets warm again she's going to hook me up. Can't wait........thanks everyone!

Nice going!! Brugs and coleus look great.

Thanks...pretty white roots starting to peak through the bottoms....I have some bumping to do tomorrow.

Please sign the waver below---We at B and G cannot be held responsible for any brug addictions or related problems you will most likely encounter due to photos, possible cuttings, and or seeds. We are also not liable for any behaviors you may develop due to said plant, such as but not limited to---excessive brug forum surfing, beggin whining, and stealing. please be aware of the risk, and understand that this type of illness has no cure. that said----welcome :)

Before you pot up check the following string. A few roots coming through the bottom of the pot is not sufficient evidence to pot up. A more mature root ball should be attained first. http://davesgarden.com/t/377034/roots

This message was edited Jan 9, 2004 8:44 AM

Thank you Padre, I was wondering about that but here is one more question... about how long can it take for a rooted cutting to get that rootbound. Im sure it depends on the time of year, location ect. just trying to get a general idea.

Hi Pancha, it's great to see you here! Your brugs and coleus look great!

Brin :)

Padre: After reading your post and link, I'm wondering if I started all my new cuttings in containers that were too large -- most are in 1 gal. containers because that's what I happened to have an abundance of. They seem to be thriving at the moment. Do they need to be rootbound for any reason??? Help! I'm worried sick now that maybe I'm killing all these new babies... Thank you, Gretchen

Gretchen, I started cuttings in gallon containers this fall, but I put several cuttings in each pot. I do think it takes them longer to grow in this size pot. I may be re-potting into smaller pots soon and then trying to figure out how to keep all of these cuttings in the house. I was trying to take the easy way out and it was the wrong way.....Those that I put in gallon pots during the summer months to root, did well.

Shirley, I've done the exact same thing with the cuttings I received in the fall ... 3 in each pot (larger than 1 gal, but not sure the size of pot). Have I really done the wrong thing, here? My concerns were not only room in the house, but available pots... easy way out, for me, too ;) sigh.
All seven of the cuttings are going great, but I've been wondering how long it will take them to get great roots... surely don't want to disturb them at the moment. I'd figured I'd only deal with them if they appeared to become rootbound, or at setting-out time in the Spring. Should I do anything about these right now? Have an abundance of 1-gals, now, but even those would be too large right now, if I'm reading this right, eh?
Just been wondering to myself lately, and thinking out loud at the moment ;)
TIA

My experience had shown me that I don't lose the cuttings, I simply slow down their growth by planting them into too large a container too soon. Cuttings which I put into gallon pots this past summer with a weak root ball have been passed in size by cuttings rooted much later but kept in smaller containers until they were root bound.

Well, thank you all for the advice. I only have one cutting in each container. I wonder if I should transfer them to 4" pots? One of the problems was that the rooted cuttings had roots above the soil line of a 4"r and were also so tall and top heavy that they wouldn't stand up. So I figured that the 1 gal size would provide more stability for them...I have plenty of 4" pots. Would it hurt them to move them at this stage? Thank you all!!! Gretchen

PS They are in my greenhouse and its nice and humid in there :)

The key is soil temperature.It must be warm regardless the size of the pot.For most,the smaller pots stay warmer.The problem with smaller pots is that the soil can cool quicker
as well.

I potted up 12 cuttings about 2 months ago. 3 I did in 1 gallon cans the rest in 4 inch pots. The gallon can ones are green and lush and 3 times the size of the 4 inchers. I am regretting I did not pot them all up in gallon cans. Tomorrow I hope to find the time to move them up. I find brugs put down a long root, even seedlings. If you can find pots that are narrow but very deep,they seem to be happy.

For my seedlings I overpot the germinated seed right in those big cups that McDonalds used to sell their McSalads in. They are much deeper than 4 inch pots but about the same width. They quickly fill the cup with roots. It takes about 1 month. I think that is quick but maybe I am wrong. It would have been quicker but I just finally gave them light. They were slow until I took them from the dark window sills and put them under lights.

Mine are all inside the house so it is about 70 in here, so maybe what JT said is what is helping me out here.

Well... there just really is no right or wrong answer here, is there? If I have learned nothing else with the brugs, its that different things work for different people, and I would imagine its because we have so many variables involved in the growing process. I really appreciate everyone's help and advice here. Kell -- love the McDonald's cup! Wish I knew a place where those could be purchased in bulk... And, I think I'm going to keep them as they are. Mine in the 1 gal. containers seem much happier than those in the 4" pots, so time will tell. I'm unfortunately from the school of hard knocks... Wonderful day to you all!!!
Gretchen

I agree Gretchen! No set answer. Tracey also moves them into galon pots fast andhers are incredible I do think though that if you do not have optimal growing conditions, you are asking for trouble if you plant up too fast. I know in the spring I can put a 4 incher in a 15 gallon and it will flourish and now it may rot!

I got those McDonald glasses last year when they changed their salads. I just love them and I do not have to transplant for quite awhile. I just take off the dome cover that makes it a mini GH when the seedling is up. So I just go from the seedling pot directly to a gallon can. I am a lazy gardener! It is a theme thru out my gardening ways. Fast and easy!

Thanks Kell! I'm headed out to check on them right now. I guess that's part of having something new, but I feel the urge to "check" on them quite a few times each day ;-)

Hey Kell,

I have some seeds from Brugie that I've planted. 7 out of 10 have come up and are about 4" tall now. They are just starting to get their second leaves. (Planted the end of Nov, does this seem slow?) When should I pot up? Now or after they get their leaves? I'm so new to this and a little scared I will hurt them.

Brinda :)

Playsndirt......about the waiver. I'll sign, I'll sign! Just want more bruggies...more, more, more!

That is great Brinda! Isn't it excitng??? What do you have them planted in now? If they are slow drying out I would not pot them up yet. The biggest killer of brugs is overwatering.

Yes Kell....it is very exciting! Right now they are all in a container (take-out container) in potting soil mixed with a bit of sand. I hope that is ok! I think that they are slow drying up....so I will wait awhile to pot them up. Thanks for all the 'brug support'! LOL

So far almost all the brugs I have started except for a few I started in 1 gallon pots. Same reason as Kauffman, thats what I had the most of at the time. Most of the ones I kept to wet I lost and the ones that got the right amount of water are growing like crazy. Pot size didn't seem to matter as much as the amount of water.

I also had some in 4 inch pots and they pretty well did OK but needed alot more attention. They dried out faster and needed to be potted up to the 1 gallon in about the first month or two. So I wished I would have started them all in 1 gallon pots to begin with.

As long as you don't go crazy with water in the 1 gallon or any other they seem to do fine.
Dee

Thanks for your input Dee. So far mine seem to be doing just fine in all the different pots. The ones that are in clay obviously require more frequent watering, but aside from that, they all seem okay. I have a few from Nestor in the 4" pots that have never shown any signs of life (planted on 12/24) and are brown and dead looking. I'll give them a while longer, but they're starting to look ready for the trash pile...In fact, none of those I received from him look anywhere near as good as those from DG'rs :o)

Kaufmann,
......Take them out and closely examine the roots.
Gently!!
........... New roots are VERY fragile.
You just might find some good roots or even a new shoot starting...
(-;
§

Thanks Scooter -- I was planning to do that this afternoon. I figure if there are no nubbies, then they are shot after this amount of time. There are others in the same cultivars that were planted the same day and thriving...

Kaufman, that is true! They seem to do well in all different kinds and sizes of pots! LOL. That is what is so great about brugs, they generally are easy to grow plants. Just do not over water them in the winter esp. and they should do great!

Well, I think I may have made a mistake by mentioning a name in my post! I'm so sorry, and did not intend to insult, nor was I complaining!!! I am so happy with my cuttings overall, and most that I received from Nestor seem to be thriving. There were a couple of duplicates that just didn't make it and they were culled and pitched today. As far as I'm concerned, brugs have been a gamble for me, and if any survive to adulthood, I'll be tickled "brug" pink :) If I offended anyone, please, please accept my deepest apologies!!!!!!! Gretchen

edited to correct spelling error

This message was edited Jan 13, 2004 6:25 PM

I would never feel bad if someone said that some of my cuttings didn't make it. I think it is fairly normal to lose a few. I don't think anyone should be offended if you lost a few cuttings. It happens to us all.

Thanks Shirley! I appreciate you saying that!!!

It has got to be reasonable to fail and lose some especially when you are starting out new and not knowing anything about these.
But sometimes it seems for some reason that you will lose more from one batch than you will from another. And there is not ryhme or reason to it. I don't for a minute belive it is the fault of the grower that sent them to me. I just think it is the luck of the draw and no one is at fault.
So we go on and just contend with what ever we have to and get them up and going by trying again and again.

I always try and remember and old saying I read somewhere that "Failure is the forerunner of Success, without our failures there would be no reason to strive" there is more to it but I have forgotten the rest.......It has certainly been true in most things I have tried .........

Last year I couldn't root a Butterfly cutting to save my soul. This year, every one of them rooted. Last year I had no trouble rooting Aurea Pink and this year I lost every single one of them. It is never a sure thing, so I try to send extra cuttings when I can and of course sometimes there just isn't enough to go around, let alone send extra. Gretchen, just whistle in the spring and maybe I'll have some extras that I can send to you of something...right now I don't even know what all I do have.

Gee Brugie, you best watch out what you say or in the spring the whistling will be so loud from all over the country, you will go deaf!

Newbies, I bet you didn't now you just had to whistle for new brugs!!

Deafness runs in our family, right? LOL!!

Darn it, I never did learn how to whistle, but I learned how to beg when I was just a small child. lol

I just realized I do not know how to whistle either Sylvia! LOL