I have a corky type stuff on the trunk . Any idea what it is ? If I scrape it , it is green underneath .
Sorry pictures are sideways .
lower trunk pic - next is higher up .
Disease ?
Cork on stems is often caused by a too high humidity, often in combination with cool temperatures during overwintering.
Our humidity can vary from 20% to over 90% all year. I bought a rooted cutting of Herrenhauser Garten last May. It started to get those "warts" as the stem matured. The plant now has about 8 tall suckers and all the stems, which developed during the summer and fall months, have the corky stuff. They seemed fine until the stems started to turn from green to tan. Then the cork developed. It is the only Brugmansia I own that has that cork. Does this cork reduce the vitality of the plant? How do I keep new suckers from developing this cork?
This past winter was the first time I had any Brugmansias to overwinter in my greenhouse. I wasn't sure what the temperature in the greenhouse should be so I set the thermostat 50ºF, but by the time the heater really kicked in the temperature would dip down to 46º or 47ºs. Was that too cold for my Brugmansias? They never really went dormant. In fact, many of my Brugs bloomed all winter. The daytime temperatures in winter can get into the 80s. Then plunge into the low 20s overnight. Weather here in central Texas is one of extremes. Would my Herrenhauser Garten be better off spending winter in the house instead?
Thank you , I thought I was the only one . Mine is also a Herrenhauser Garten .
You can move the thermostat closer to floor , It will come on sooner , Heat rises so the higher it is the warmer it is .
Go to a dollar store and buy 2 thermometers , put them at different heights .
The problem is if its 40 at 2 ft it mite be 60 at 5 ft .
I have a sensor set on one of the greenhouse tables so I can read it from the house. Next winter, I'll get my husband to move the thermostat closer to the floor.
I remember reading in a thread that the cork was common on HG.
The cork is definitely common on HG. I've seen it on this brug in Vero Beach FL at NHE (huge tree and planted in the ground), on Susie's huge plant (in a pot in her greenhouse) when she lived in TN, and I had it on my smaller HG's when I lived in TN too. Also when Mary H. lived in LA she had it on her big outside HG too. Inside or outside, with time the cork covers the bark completely. Does not hurt the plant even though it makes you think you've got an awful creeping crud.
Not a very clear picture but this is a pic I took of NHE's HG corky bark
Thank you everyone . I was afraid it had some disease or I would have to scrap it off carefully .
NEW question -- Is Herrenhauser Garten the only one that gets it ? Can I assume if it's there it is a Herrenhauser Garten ? [ or close relative ]
Is there a name for it ? [ corky outer covering ]
Do other plants get it ?
What book ?
I know these are probably dumb questions but I found out a long time ago " If I don't ask , maybe no one else will either "
My Equador Pink does this also. I tossed my HG, because I thought it was a disease, with the cork.
When I first saw your picture I said to myself "I'll betcha that's an HG". I personally have never seen it on any of the other brugs I've grown through the years.
Maybe Monika knows the name for this corking? I read somewhere a short blurb on Dr. Preissel's opinion of it. If I remember correctly his opinion was a possible fungus of some kind but he didn't name it.
I have not seen this corking on the HG seedlings I've been growing for a couple of years ... yet. I've often wondered if this characteristic will be passed to the yungins. Don't know the answer at this point but so far so good. No signs of it here.
It does happen to plants other than HG. I had it on two seedlings year before last and thought they had some horrible disease, so I threw them away. My HG never got it and I had her for three years.
Shirley has had other seedlings that got it but not on her HG. And Shelly's EP gets it. Brugs are just the strangest things sometimes. You just never know what the little boogers are gonna do. :)
I do know that every HG I've seen that has had the corking, no matter in person or in a pic, has always looked healthy and very much alive. Susie's ghouse was jammed packed (barely room to walk) with beautiful healthy brugs that were way over my head. I don't remember that she ever had a problem with the cork being contagious. Maybe she'll pop in and share her experience with cork.
You would certainly think that a fungus caused by high humidity would spread especially in crowded ghouse conditions ... but what I know about fungus you could put in a thimble. Tater scab I know nothing about. Couldn't even fill a thimble. If all the brugs are fed the same then it seems like tater scab would attack all of them that got too much calcium. For some reason HG is just more susceptible than other varieties to this excessive calcium tatery scabby high humidity fungusy stuff. lol!
Oh Tony, I had 2 or maybe it was 3 big trees of Herrenhauser Garten and though I never had corky bark, I had what I call winter bark. I get it on EP too if left out all wiinter in the cold. Doesn't seem to hurt the plant at all.
I will be amazed if you get your Herrenhauser Garten to bloom living here. I had mine for years and not one bloom! I finally got buds using Messenger, but they all dropped. Last year I let my husband get a thrill and cut them all up for the green can. But if you do, take pics!!! I just love the pics I have seen of it. LOL
I have 2 double orange trees that never have bloomed either. I think I am going to off them too. I may have given you a cutting of this one.
There are so many great bloomers why waste your time and space?
A few have been lucky enough to get a few nice flowers on HG. Not a great percentage but enough to keep people interested. I don't think even Herrenhauser Gartens grows this one anymore.
There is and always be high hopes to improve HG even though it is a stubborn cuss. The HG seedlings I'm growing are just as stubborn and are likely to never flower at the rate they are going. But there is no way I'm gonna trash them. It ain't over til the fat lady sings.
For what it's worth, the scab or cork on my seedlings happened outside. I don't have a greenhouse to use during the winter. We do have a lot of humidity at times. I just wonder why it happens to some and not the others. Are they weak to start with or what? Sure would have like to see them bloom. LOL!
lol ... no, it can not be stubborn to improve HG, so I am glad that you stick to those seedlings :) lol ... do you know, what stubbornness is? ... to grow HG and hope for flowers, but its is worth to must those, who do. Its probably not so few as you would think. Its modern to lust after the new and better improved hybrids, but some still has something with some older hybrids. Awe or old challenge? I don' t know? I still look forward to grow Rothkirch even though its an old song and then there is the old golden aurea, that don' t flower too good, but still I rooted 12 cuttings to make an alley along the driveway in May. btw. what is a thimble?
Its humid in the wintergarden too, but so far only 'Gold' had this stuff on. Due to a ventilation problem I have to remove 2-5 litres of waterdrops from the inside of the roof every day. Gee, we could have a basking shark swimming around up there all winter, but I don' t know about, how humidity and cold togehter affects them. The temps. rarely go under 15*C
Stubborness is to grow HG and hope for flowers ... heehahahee rofl! That's a good one Tonny! Too funny and so true!
I know it is not the "in thing" to wait 3 or more years for a new seedling to flower but by golly there are some that took that long and turned out to be floriferous and strong healthy brugs. B. Eternity is proof of that. What a trooper she is! The pokey HG seedlings belong to Larry Locklin. For him I would hang on to them for 50 years if that is what it takes. I will pass them on to my great grandchildren ... hee!:) Maybe one of these HG seedlings will grow up to be somebody before the 22nd century.
Shirley NHE's HG was an outside plant too. Planted in the ground. They didn't have a ghouse, only a 2 sided shed thingy. But of course FL is nothing but humidity most of the time. As far as HG is concerned I wonder if it is the sources of origin. For instance ... maybe an HG grower somewhere along the way got infected (his plant, not him) with this unknown and every HG that came from that person since then has it in it's blood. Some HG's don't get it. Maybe the origin is from a totally different grower that never had the infection.
Wierd stuff!
ps ... a thimble is a little tiny metal cup you put on your fingertip when you sew by hand. It protects your finger from the needle. They used to use them in the old days. Old days haha! I believe quilters still use them.
This message was edited Apr 16, 2006 8:19 PM
Whew - I thought I posted a dumb question -
So I will keep my Herrenhauser Garten
Anyway - Messenger doesn't help it to bloom [ I haven't even tried it ] , has anyone tried anything else to make it bloom ?
What conditions does it take to make it bloom ?
I liked the picture of the flower enought to buy cuttings off ebay . I bought 3 , 2 have died and I was given on that was about2 foot tall . Now it is about 3 foot and looking better . It is beside the house by my C G . full sun about an hour when not raining and partical/filter to full shade the rest .
Whew - I thought I posted a dumb question -
So I will keep my Herrenhauser Garten
Anyway - Messenger doesn't help it to bloom [ I haven't even tried it ] , has anyone tried anything else to make it bloom ?
What conditions does it take to make it bloom ?
I liked the picture of the flower enought to buy cuttings off ebay . I bought 3 , 2 have died and I was given one that was about 2 foot tall . Now it is about 3 foot and looking better .
It is beside the house by my C G . full sun about an hour when not raining and partical/filter to full shade the rest . This what I consider my hardening off zone
Messenger does make mine bloom! And YES! It is worth waiting for!
I have the corky bark on my HG and I also have it on Desiree. It took three growing seasons before I saw blooms on my HG. Had buds on HG the second season, but they fell off and it was time to put the brugs up for the winter.
Desiree took two seasons before getting blooms on her. Honestly, in my opinion there is not a lot of difference in these two brugs. But Desiree seems to hold her buds a little better and her fragrance seems to be better too.
Here is a pic of my HG from this past fall.
This is a pic of Desiree.
Tonyjr it seems to resent high heat and humidity. I don't know that I've ever heard of the perfect environment for HG that would make it flower heavily. It grows like a weed other than the flowering problem. Your hardening off area looks like a jungle :)
Kay have you found a perfect environment for yours yet? Are you getting lots of flowers with Messenger? Do you have cork?
..... edited to say that the EP you sent me last year is doing very very well! Thank you again!
David your pics are beautiful!
This message was edited Apr 17, 2006 10:00 AM
I had HG and Desiree for three years. Both didnt have cork on their stems.
Monika are there other growers in your part of the world that have seen this cork on their HG or other brugs before? Is this something more prevelant in the USA?
Vicki, I dont remember anyone having problems with cork on HG. I will ask in allegras german forum, if members still have HG and problems with cork.
When I know anything, I'll post on this thread again.
I have buds on my HG and it's bloomed once since I've lived here. It froze to the ground the year we had the freak snow(2004). I'll have to check and see if it still has the corky bark. I had corky bark on a seedling from someone else's seeds, can't remember the cross.
Corky stuff probably = oedema also called edema
http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/FactSheets/oedema/oedema.htm
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0101/oedema.asp
and in people low vitamuin B-1-- maybe plants to ?
http://www.diseasesdatabase.com/ddb9148.htm
then go to -
http://www.diseasesdatabase.com/ddb14107.htm
That's interesting info Tony. You've been doing your homework :)! Unfortunately (or I should say fortunately) the brugs do not show the blistering on the corollas or on the leaves. The cork is on the stem only. But it might be related somehow. Probably an AG inspector will be the only source that can put a 100% positive name to this wierd stuff.
I know at least 1000% more now , even if it isn't oedema , everything is going to get a shot of B-1 and maybe someone else will know . I talked to the people at Reagan [ they are nurseyman-women I trust ] but they didn't know .
The HD , Lowes - ect forget it . There is a big plant garden in San Fransico I go to a couple times a year - generaly when visters show up - I am going to ask . There is a nursey in Berkekly and one in Richmond I will ask also , but since nobody said it's bad I have to much to catch up on now that it's not raining .
So far I have cut the grass planted 20 6-packs of color , gone thru 8 cubic feet of potting soil - 4 bags - 1/2 bag left and about 30 plants - probably buy more today .
Boy , I wannasee that garden when it comes to blooming time.