TIME TO ASK "WINTERING" QUESTIONS!

Hi there everyone! Since I'm new at Brugs, I need to know a few things about over-wintering them since I live in the Great White North.

1) What is the lowest temperature a Brug can tolerate? (so I know when to bring them indoors)

2) Do they need light in the wintertime, when you bring them in the house?

3) How much food & water should I feed them in the house?

Thanks for all your help! All of my brugs have buds on them now, and am hoping I can continue to leave them outside until they bloom!

These are my thoughts on over-wintering brugs.
First, they can all take low temps where they won't get frost damage or freeze, but the versicolor types do not like to be cool all the time. When the day time temps are not going above 50 at all, I would consider getting them inside. The others will be okay in the upper thirties as long as the night temps don't go below that. I'm sure it would be unusual to have day temps in the thirties without freezing at night. Just use good common sense and remember that these plants are tropical.

Once you bring them into the house, if you are talking about keeping them where the temps are normal winter living temps, you should give them some light. Just a light amount of fertilizer every month will be enough. If you want to keep them growing, you would have to feed them a little more and give them more light. If you have a basement that is warm, say 55-60 degrees, you can keep them alive with a small amount of light and just enough water to keep them from drying out. The main thing to remember is that cold temps and wet roots don't go together. You will lose more than you will save if this is the case.

During December and January, I wouldn't feed them. Just keep them alive. They need a little rest period before they start putting on the spring growth. Others may grow their brugs differently. It all boils down to what works for you.

Thanks Brugie! Saving this thread to my favorites for future reference.

Brugie has explained it very well Karrie. When you follow her advice, your brugs will be ok.

Thanks Monika. You all know who I learned almost everything from, don't you?

thanks Bugie, you just anwered my questions, boy DG is great, wonder what I ever did befor I found it.

I also am new to brugs and these were questions I had. If anyone else has advice for us "newbies" please post. I only have 7 brugs but do not want to lose any. I think I will take cuttings of each and protect the outside plants with mulch and feed bags. (is this ok?) Hopefully I will have many more next year since Kell has been kind enough to add me to the list for seeds! (so excited)
By the way, when should I start the seeds to have them ready to plant out next spring? I don't have a greenhouse but I do have a huge living room with a triple size floor to ceiling glass window. I do have plants inside now but there is plenty more space if I move furniture around. Can they do allright with indirect lighting (this is a southern exposure)?
I don't mean to break in on the thread but thought others would be interested to find out these answers. Thanks, Jenny

Jenny: I started mine in late January under lights, then when they got too big to be inside I moved them out to my little greenhouse. On April 14th most of them were planted in the ground (by that time they had been in one-gallon pots for at least a month. So, I think a big consideration has to be if you will be able to "house" them once they start to get big. I have some going right now outside in an eastern exposure, and they are not growing nearly as quickly as the ones under lights did. With a southern exposure you might have better luck as long as they don't fry. There are many people here that are experts at starting brugs from seed -- someone will jump in here and give you the right advice :) Gretchen

More "wintering" questions:
For potted brugs that will be pretty much dormant (per Brugie's post above), would you leave them in the same pot/same soil that they grew in all summer, and re-pot in the spring?

Is there any de-bugging procedure - a spray, perhaps - to use, to avoid bringing insects or disease into the home (which may spread to other plants)?

When to prune off suckers/shoots - before or after the leaves drop?

Thanks for the info!

Eileen

Thanks Gretchen, you have so many outside so I know your advice is sound.

Eileen those questions are great. Hopefully we will get some good advice so we can plan ahead. Jenny

Brugie, you said "The main thing to remember is that cold temps and wet roots don't go together. You will lose more than you will save if this is the case."

I just traded for some yellow brugs as well as some purple datura. Living in Israel means that the winter is simply wet. The temps don't go to freezing for us (more like nights at about 40+). Should I cover the Brugs in winter with mulch? How deep of a mulch? And should I cover the mulch with a plastic bag to keep the ground underneath from getting too much water seeping through the mulch?

Second question: what happens to the Brugs in winter? Do they die back to ground level? Should they be cut back to ground level? If they don't die back, should the be left as they are and just mulch around their bases?

As you can tell, I'm very new to Brugs and haven't a clue what to do with them. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

I won't even be planting my seeds til spring, but still, it's nice to have a little advance knowledge to help them be successful. :-)

-Julie

I wouldn't use plastic. Water can still seep in under it and then it wouldn't allow for drying during the day from the sun. If it were me, I would take cuttings the first year and keep them in the house during your winter to make sure that you still have a brug in case the weather does take yours. Brugs that don't freeze, won't die down. They will slow down in cooler weather, but not die. I would think that once you get one well established, it should continue to grow well for you in the ground. I wouldn't put your new start in the ground until your spring arrives. I'm afraid it might not survive. Let it get a good pot full of roots before putting it in the ground. Do you know which brug you are getting? A versicolor would have more trouble surviving than the other brugs, but you may have no trouble at all. If you don't have standing water and it soaks into the ground well, you should be okay.

I just looked over my brugs and I find several with Ys that are sitting on a very short bottom of the Y (tail of the Y), especially on my Pink Favorite. Do I plant the whole Y in the pot and have two sticks coming outta the pot???? Or should I take cuttings without taking the entire Y?? I hope that makes sense...

Very glad I started this thread when I did. Many of us with questions, and need those answers before the snow hits! ;-) Thanks for those of you who have helped us! I have noticed some questions yet unanswered, hopefully will happen soon. Definitely ear-marking this thread, as questions are answered, because I had a question on how to do those cuttings, as well - one of my "shoots" has a "y" now.

If it were me, I'd take cuttings from above the Y. If the Y is that short, it wouldn't do any good and might make your plants remain very short because it would continue to make Y's to the side instead of allowing for more upright growth. Just a guess. I hope someone who knows will answer this one. Having never tried this, I'm in left field with my answer. LOL!

Julie, it sounds like your winter weather is like mine except I get more nights in the 30s. We get all our rain in the winter. My brugs always make it thru the rain. I have only lost some when we get that rare deeper freeze avery 10 years or so.

I also build a hoophouse for my best ones just in case it is the winter that will get the bad freeze. I find that inside the hoohouse is so wet I can have problems with rotting. The versicolors make it but the bark gets weird bumps in the winter. But outside the air circulating seems to keep them from rotting even though so wet. Also when really raining for a prolonged periods, I tip my pots over sideways so the rain will not go in the pots.

I am not ready to talk about winter yet!!!

Okay, I want to add to the question list. How do you know if your brugs are versicolor or not?
Terrie

karie brugi is great with her knowledge follow her advise min were in my cellar last winter where the temperatue was in the fifties and most of them survived this year though my room downcellar i put a register in the wall plus grow lights and i am sure they will do much better. bob

Karrie and everyone who has questions about over wintering brugmansia's, I found this website to help alot...hope it helps some of your questions to be answered...

http://www.americanbrugmansia-daturasociety.org/brugmansia_winter.htm

and here's the front page with alot of information too, same site...

http://www.americanbrugmansia-daturasociety.org/abadssitemap.htm

Julie

This message was edited Sep 8, 2004 5:22 PM

Brugi speaking of versicolor i was surprised that they seemed to bloom the most and the thrips and spider mities did not seem to affect them that much. bob

Thanks Julie...your link was very helpful ! I copied it for later use.

Your welcome Picturelady and all who get info. they need from it.

Versicolor brugs have blooms that hang straight down. Generally when the buds are foruming, they will stand straight up and you might wonder what is going on, but at a point, they bend to hang.

That is good news Bob. No one hates the bugs more than I do. LOL! Thanks for your confidence in me.

Thanks for the link, Julie. There is alot of useful information there!
I guess for the rest, I'll learn by doing.

Eileen

Yes Julie! GREAT links! Saved to my garden file on my favorites!

And yes, I think Brugie has some good pointers in there.

Thanks, Shirley. I wonder if there are pictures anywhere out there of the example of buds you just described? Anyone?

This is Madeira - I think this is a versicolor. The buds are quite pointed and the first one had a cute curly tip on the end of it. In this picture, it's hanging down and opening, while the other 2 are still pointed up.

Eileen,
The picture didn't post correctly. Can't open. Thanks for trying, though!

I'll try again...

Very nice Eileen!!!

Terrie: Here is a link that may help answer your question about identifying versicolor brugs:

http://www.americanbrugmansia-daturasociety.org/brugmansia_versicolor.htm

Gretchen

Oh, that's beautiful, Eileen. I absolutely do not have buds that go straight up like that on the tree I have blooming. Will have to really watch the others next year.

Thank you, Gretchen! I can use all the help I can get!
Terrie