I have a 4 gallon bucket of water I keep in the green house with 2 tsp or so per gal of peroxide added. All 80 of my cuttings are in jars, and the water is changed about every 10 days; the 25 I have potted are watered the same. All are thriving; so far I have not fertilized the potted ones, but will give them a mild booster after Christmas.
My 14 pots from the patio last summer ( I cut them back) are growing happily with just the watering as needed. I've had a few slugs and some aphids to deal with; otherwise, all is well.
The brugs are in for the winter....
PG-That's good to hear. Sounds like you know what you're doing. It is always helpful when people share the good experiences they are having in the garden or greenhouse. Merry Christmas!
It's 7:50pm and my greenhouse is 39 degrees. We have an inch of sleet, ice on the ground. Looks like I'll be buying a second heater tomorrow and yet another bubbler. What are the temps, tonight, in your greenhouses????
Mine should be about 9 degrees since there is no heat at all in it right now. Heading down to 7 below tomorrow night.
Sherry...it is 5:50p here and 54 degrees in the GH and outdoors. If it is in the low 40's around 8-9pm, I put my propane heater on....it keeps it about 10 degrees warmer than it is outdoors.
Good luck to you!
Shirley, do you salvage lots with temps that low??? This is my first year for a greenhouse or inside wintered brugs, so I know zero. I do know this - I have a yard full of brugs, and even if I only save, say, 10, I'll have lots of brugs next growing season, compared to this year.
Margie, that sounds like summer time, you are a lucky girl!!!
Sherry, I have some of the plants in the garage, but I take cuttings of everything that I know I want next year. I just can't deal with big plants in the house so basically, I start over every year. I grow a lot of seeds so probably 75% of my brugs are seedlings.
You know, Shirley, so far, I'm not nutz about the greenhouse. Maybe I'll change my mind, but, I can honestly say that starting over in the spring might be my cup of tea too. I'm not going to give up the GH, but it's got to be lots more fun to maintain my interest. I never have enjoyed house plants and that's justa bout the way I view the GH, so far...
I know this is not good for Brugs, but does anyone want any SNOW we got 10" today and 10" more forcast befor morning, we are getting and Inch and hour, brrrrrr
me me me lol...just for a couple of days though, after that we have to keep our jobs down here and everything kinda stops or shuts down...except for your home. I think that's why it's so special down south at my house and families....because that white stuff brings us together, we play, we laugh...and stare in wonder. I love the snow and when I think of snow and it's beauty, it make's me think of my family and past time's....so I wish I could have some yes LOL...
Thanks Kareoke!
I just watched the new's and saw people stranded up there your way. I hope and pray everyone will stay inside and off the roads and be safe.
Happy Holidays
Julie
Yesterday the snows stopped right at Richmond; our Children 60 miles away in Newport News were inundated.
I have doggies to bathe and groom today and tomorrow, then it's out to the greenhouse to pot cuttings.
My greenhouse stayed comfortable when it went to 12 degrees last week; so far I am very pleased with the Rion 40, and the heater I bought from IGC USA.
The windows self vent/open, and the pebble,cement tile pavers are good as a floor.My problem with chipmunks is under control, too.
I thank you all for adding so much to my life this year through your well taken advice and support.
My best wishes to you!
Good job, PG! We got down to 0F and I had a little damge to the tips of plants that were up against the outer walls. My little GH was not meant to perform in temps in the teens and lower for four days straight.
On a good note though the ones in the tub are doing great.
Best wishes to you also!
Polly, could you tell me more about the heater you bought?? I have a Rion that is 10 x 12 and I would like more heat, tho 39 degrees is as low as I've seen the temp on the inside. My GH is on a deck, not the ground, and at this time of the year gets very little sun, they would cook if it did, even when the temps are low. Is IGC USA a chain?? I don't think we have them in this area. TIA!!!
Sherrylike, go to www.IGCUSAstore.com and see the Rion on the home page; scroll down to recommended accessories, and there are the heaters. I also bought a thermostat connector so it will turn off and on at 50o for another $20..Both are doing well.
Thanks, Polly!! I just discovered that I have the thermostat connector, if I can figure out how to connect it. I also found a light, apparently a grow light, so maybe that will do me until I can get another heater. If the weather continues like it is today, 65 degrees, and supposed to stay that was for over a week, it could be that I can get by without buying anything else...
Update-None of the brugs has died. In fact most are putting on new growth. No rooting to speak of either. However L'amour, Whiskers, Isabella, and Big did not like being in water at all and looked like they were headed downhill so I potted them up. Creamsickle, Ecuador Pink, and Shaman's Dream are doing excellent and it looks like if I fertilized they might even put on buds. What is funny though is I stuck to rather large plants in a bucket of water in the greenhouse. Have'nt changed the water only added more. They look better than any of the ones I have tended to by changing the water and such.
Update-All the brugs I overwintered in water with a bubbler made it through. About a month ago I potted them up and put them in a sunny room. All made the transition easily and as soon as they got a little sun started leafing out. Most of the roots had been trimmed off over the winter as they looked like they were going to rot. KBS has already bloomed. The Aurea NH was the one that did not seem to like it much and it died back below the Y but it is putting out growth. Besides KBS, my Creamsickle and Tiara liked it very well and are already looking pretty lush.. And it looks like I will have blooms in the Spring. WooHoo!!!
I would say overwintering my brugs this way was successful and had several benefits. I had 13 mature brugs in a 30' x 60' space, was able to cut back with at least 8 nodes above the Y''s, no heavy pots to move, and easy to take out and give a hard rinse for mite and aphid prevention..The brug that did the best though was the one out in the greenhouse not cut back, stuck in a 5 gallon bucket in the corner with water added maybe three times over the winter, no bubbler, with temps lows in the mid 30s averaging 50F. It is loaded with buds and leaves.
Loretta
Edited for additional comments
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This message was edited Mar 18, 2005 6:54 PM
Congratulations Loretta- great news! Joelle
Loretta, that's wonderful news! Don't forget to post pictures :)
Julie
Hi Loretta. Good to see you again. I had been wondering where you were. I think I'll follow in your footsteps next fall and start mine in water with bubblers. Sounds like a good way to save a lot of space.
Glad to hear they did so well for you Loretta.
You are sure to have early blooms.
Thanks I was just taking a little break for a while. Now the garden is waking up around here, so I am too.
I was surprised how easily the brugs went from water to pot. That was the part I was a little worried about but it did not faze them.
I know I feel so much better in the spring too, Loretta. And this is good for there are so many things to do! A great experiment and congratulations on your success!!
Loretta, did you try any from the bubbler to the ground?? I'm sure it would work, I did it last year before they were rooted, but it was later in the spring. I'm thinking the ground might be too cold right now...
Hey Loretta, glad to hear you had success also! Me too!
It seems that I had 2 that didn't like to overwinter in water, but I still have some of them left. The 2 are Jesse Noel and Species, and were in the basement without a lot of light. JN was never a strong one to begin with (too bug prone) so she may still have her 2nd chance.
As I had said, I had 3 different locations and climates for the bubbling brugs trial. The office brugs had nice light (regular office flourescent and an eastern exposure) and regular temps 68. These were the most aphid prone :( they grew leaves and lost them, but still no real growth, other than leaves.
The 2nd location was the basement with a pretty regular temp of 50-55 and was much darker in contrast, (had problems with lights due to basement flooding-dang washer!) But these have done the best--my KBS has a bud and so has the potted Kyle's Pink. The growth on these brugs was the highest, PB, Rosamond and my Star all have new branches :)
The 3rd area was my extra bedroom with great light south and southwest windows plus a grow light and the temps had a wilder fluctuation from 50+ to 70+ or higher on sunny days. This also was a battleground for bugs--this time spidermites. You'd think this would have been the best, but I'd have to say it was the worst--maybe it was the temperature changes?
Curious to get your opinion on this.
I'll pot a few for the swap, but most are going right into the ground, you're still coming I hope?
Next fall, it's going to be tubble time for the P.G. brugs - maybe even I'll start the cuttings.
One of the problems with the G.H. is that we go to 60o many days, and even with the auto vented windows, it gets hot in there. Then the nite temps go to the high 20's, and the heater keeps the temp around 50.So it's been aphid heaven, and with 14 pots in there, the quarters are tight.
I can see such an advantage to two big bubbling containers, with river rocks at the bottom - I'll use the Bayer rose systemic two weeks before digging. and taking cuttings, and I think my life will be easier.
I kep learning more and more from all of you!!
I expected to have bugs in my GH, and I will NOT say I haven't, YET, because I haven't been out there in 24 hours, and you all know very well how quickly bugs can come in and take over!! This I will say about bugs - I put 4 very healthy seedlings, one that bloomed last year, in our big house and my aunt took one, a tall, unknown tree, that I rooted and it was very healthy. Two different houses, two different care givers, well experienced gardners and all 5 brugs came out looking pitiful, chewed and aphids, most leaves gone and the ones that were left look awful, one of the seedlings appears dead. Next year, what ever I bring in will go in the GH. With this broken ankle, I'm not able to start planting my bubbler rootings, but they look wonderful, with exception of my fav Rosamond that was bitten by a late frost and lost her first flush, but she is recovering nicely, and I lost three small green cuttings, but not to mush, they were firm, just didn't root. Could be, surprisingly, that my zone 8a is good for something, I will use the bubbler system in the winter (until someone comes up with something better).
I have a question...does anyone think that if I were to place my brugs outside, and the temps for the week are in the upper 70's and low's in the evening/nights are 40 to mid 40's...would the 40's be too much on them???? I don't want them to die. I think the frost season maybe gone now. Can you all give me YHO???
Julie
Julie, we are in the same zone and the rule here is that any and everything can go outside following Easter, which is this weekend. I've had some brugs out for several weeks and all my new seedlings too. None have been bothered by 33 degrees, a couple of nights 32, but only a short period of time, maybe an hour or less. My brug in my GH that was frost bitten earlier, but had her head outta the top of the GH, after the GH window blew open and frost hit her, I wasn't home or it would not have happened. If the window had not blown open, she would have been just fine...I could have, would have had more stuff out for the last month, but mainly the drenched, boggy ground held me up...
Well, that's sounding good to me Sherry! I think I'll try to get the DH to help this poor decrepid ole' lady out this evening to get some of this light rain we're having. They sure do need it. I am so sorry to hear about your GH though. I wish I had one lol...maybe one day, when I strike the lotto or oil even lololol!
Julie, I was lucky re the GH or I never would have had one either. My son bought it for an iguana that escaped shortly after it was set up and they wanted it moved, so I brought it to my deck. I like it and all that but WAY too $$$ for me to buy one, since I would have to have someone else put it together...it is just plastic - I believe I could have put one together myself that would be just as good and way less expensive...
My brugs are sitting out and it has been getting down to 40F. They look just fine, putting out leaves and such.
Sherry I did not try any right in the ground because we still might get a killing frost. I have seen it snow the second week of April before. But I am sure it would work just as well as potting them up.
VB-my impression is that cool temps and bright light worked the best. Next winter they will all be in the greenhouse in bubbler buckets. Spider mites started to infest mine but I got a spray bottle, filled it with 3% hydrogen peroxide and and used it to get them. The spray knocked quite a few off and the rest got a nice white froth around them. Then waited about ten minutes and used a squirt bottle with plain water and rinsed. I looked today and only saw a few. I will repeat it again in a day or so. That works pretty good when the brugs don't have many leaves.
Kell- feel like a different person when the garden wakes up. My mood improves and I get all excited. Physically too! An old person. lol
My mood has been better since I started drinking hot tea several times a day. Amazing. When the weather gets good enough to sit in the garden and drink my tea, it will be heaven.
Loretta, because of Lefty, my 'busted' ankle, I wasn't able to take all my seedlings in, when the temp went down to 32, only for a very few minutes, at least twice. They were under the eves, but it didn't hurt them and i counted my blessings. Yes, it snowed here one time on April 3 and one time on April 10 - both times, some of it stuck for about a minute and it looked so funny to get up with all the spring perennials, bulbs & fruit trees in full bloom, sitting in snow. What I'm told, and it could be an 'old gardners' tale' is that one can put out everything, beginning on Easter Sunday and that is the rule in Louisiana, where my daddy was reared too. As you know, sometimes Easter is late, and I think it was last year, and sometimes its early, like this year, which is sorta an indication of an early spring.............but, I have not removed the mulch from the brugs I wintered outside!!! Several did spring up and the low tems did not hurt the new growth. When will it be time to give them Epson salt??
My mood has been better since I started drinking....just kidding. The canna are already showing some green which is a good sign. And the lows are in the mid 40s for the next week so maybe we can plant. I do not have a lot of experience with epson salt on brugs but if you are using Cal-Mag you would not use both. On roses I applied right about now but then they were hardy.
BTW-This year I am doing alfalfa pellets, earth worm casings, and the agricultural limestone, which is calcium and magnesium, that comes from the feed store. I remember people talking about using Cal-Mag but don't recall if it had fertilizer in it or not. Anyway, the calcium-magnesium at the feed store is 2.95 for 50# and the alfalfa was 7.00 for 50#. Luckily there is a fellow in my little town that does earthworm casings. 10# was 7.95 but I am hoping to do a little wheeling dealing with for bulk. Made a tea with some cal-mag, alfalfa, earth worm casings, and manure then applied it to my brugs Sunday. I will keep ya'll posted.
We can still have a 20o nite until April 20 here; my wisteria gets blasted at least every other year, which is tragic! (That vine is the most labor intensive, and invasive of anything in the garden, and when you lose the three weeks you endure if for, it is sickning).
LOL SG lol!
Calling the local feed store now lol! Sounds like this makes sense to me, so I may just try it out. So are you just going to mix all this together in with the soil when you plant them in pots? How much do you put in it of each source?
I always thought the best way to go would be the organic way. Sure is cheaper anyhow lol...living on a budgic here and it ain't easy sometimes. Especially when my son, his wife and my new GD baby come's in a week to stay here for a couple of months. :-)))
Happy Easter Everyone!
Julie/ BaBs
Julie, I will amend the soil but probably won't add the earthworm castings except as a tonic. It would just be too expensive. As for the mixture I just did it freestyle but went easy on the Cal-Mag because I have never used it before. Must have been OK cause the plants I used it on look perky and greened up. I guess it is just something you would just play around with it to see what works best. I think a tea works good and it is easy to make and use. I have a 50 gallon plastic barrel that I will mix up a batch in when I put everything out. And I don't want to leave the alfalfa pellets too accessible cause the animals might think my garden is a buffet.
Loretta
OK Loretta, I gotcha! So you mix with the water in your 50 gallon plastic barrel as a solution then, right?
I did the alfalfa tea last year and it was soooooooooooo gross lol!! My back has not been the same either after that. I'm hoping to get a deep well pump for my pump outside, cos' right now it's a manual thing and age is not helping my back lol...if I do that I can put this solution in the barrel and then put it in one of those sprayer thingys that you put MG in. :)