Hi! Can anyone tell me how much and how often I should be fertilizing brugs in the cooler months here in Tampa? Do they need to harden off? I am going to keep them outside in ground and containers and will cover them if it gets towards freezing.
Will this be okay? I asked at Mannys on the bay nursery because he grows his year yound and they are huge! He said they wouldn't die back in this area- he said we are in zone9b. Is this correct? Sometimes his info is slightly incorrect. Thank you for any help you can give! Wendy
.
feed during "winter" in zone9 Florida
What is your lowest temperature you reach in the winter? If it's above freezing, you can grow them out year round. They slow down when it gets cooler, but I still get some blooms in the winter.
edited to add: I wouldn't fertilize much, if at all during the winter months.
This message was edited Sep 7, 2006 4:53 PM
The average lows in dec. through feb. are in the 50s, during the day the 70s. It occasionally gets down to freezing at night or just below- last winter this happened 5 nights. I planned on doing the tent poles and thick blanket for the coldest nights, and bringing the containers into a garden shed. I have some heat generating lights to put under the makeshift blanket tents on the others. It stays a little warmer in my backyard because I have 80 year old oaks almost completely covering me and a full privacy fence. Thanks so much for your help Carter!
I put out manure and water it in in Oct and nothing else. I am afraid of how big they would get if I fed them all winter.
I can get a bit of die back from light frosts we have here - but nothing has ever died from it. That's the good news. I threw blankets over some of my favorites last year before I got the greenhouse for them. This year I have more than I can fit inside the greenhouse so some of them will have to have tough love. They seem to need less water and fertilizer when they go into a semi dormant state - caused by lack of light rather than temperture here. You're further south so maybe your days are a little longer in the winter.
Thanks frogsrus and mpabbott! I wish I had room for a greenhouse. Let's all hope for a mild winter! silverkitty