When you put your brugs down for the winter, in other words let them go dormant, does it help to remove the leaves, or just leave them on, and would my garage be warm enough, (50) with a light overhead all day, I am trying NOT to put them all in my plant room this year so they have more room.
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I don't trim mine, only enough to get them inside, or down in basement. I would think if they don't get in 30s' in the garage, would be fine, just don't water them a lot in winter.
You will, have trouble with white flies, aphids, mites etc. I spray couple times with Avid, Neem Oil or whatever works best for you.
If I trim or take all the leaves off, takes them forever to come back in spring to even bloom for me in summer.
Thanks I purchased a spray to use befor I take them in the house, then I have a powder that you mix in the top of th soil to supposedly keep bugs off for six months, hope it works, the spray is Ortho Malathion Plus and the powder is Systemic Houseplant Insect control by Bonide
Sounds good to me. Much luck.
Alright, as I'm all new to the overwintering thing, is it really that hard to do? I'm assuming these are different than, let's say, overwintering a ficus or hibiscus?
I'm going to have an arsenal of bug/mite killer before I even bring them in at this rate!! :)
Kareoke, I overwinter mine every year in the garage. I leave the leaves on but alot of them end
up falling off. I water mine when I see them start to droop. At the beginning they take more water
and then they will taper off. It is great because it is cold enough that they are not bothered by
mites or anything. I have a thermometer in the garage and when it starts getting in the 30's in there,
I run a small space heater. The last few years I have not had to run it much because it has been
so mild. I don't leave the lights on very often for them. When it starts getting warmer in the spring
they start putting out new leaves. I overwinter quite a few plants this way or shall I say whatever
I can fit in....and still park my car in it. LOL
Thanks bruglover, this will be new for me, I had a plant room built 2 yrs ago, and last year it was so crowded I could not handle all the bugs and watering ever other day, my garage usually never gets below 40 I figured I may need a light as there is no window in there.
Kare, I put my brugs in the basement last year. There is one glass block window by where I put them. I didn't leave a light on and they wintered over fine. I didn't remove my leaves but let them remove themselves. I think I read somewhere that Monika doesn't take her leaves off so I figured it was ok :)
Thanks Jazz, think I will put some down my basement too, it is much warmer than the garage but lots of steps.
How are you doing, and your Dad, I seldome go in chat room these days so haven't seen him, but bet he is a busy man now he is re-married, tell him I said HI.
Are you supposed to cut the plants back? I have one that is doing terribly (because I don't know how to care for it), and I'd love to have it be smaller. Is this the right time to cut it back?
Where can I find basic information on care of brugs?
I'm glad you asked this. I'm dealing with overwintering my first brug this year too. I don't have a basement but had planned to put it upstairs in an unused room. I wasn't sure how far to trim it back and it's getting too cool to keep it outside much longer.
Mine are so HUGE this year that I will be forced to trim them back severely....We'll see what happens. Usually I dig them, put them in buckets and set them in the barn to lose some of their leaves. This year I am going to deleaf them as much as I dare, and bring them in the house. Mine all turn to sticks in the winter, but have always leafed out come spring. This year I planted a couple that looked totally dead and low and behold, but they are gorgeous...
They seem pretty forgiving. When I received mine from an eBay purchase it was essentially a big stick. Not a twiggy one but one you could conceivable beat someone with (not that I've ever considered that:LOL:) but it did have little leaves budding out and the "trunk" looked alive and healthy. It started out around 18 inches tall and about as thick around as a quarter. Now it's over 6 feet tall and is sorta shaped like one of those multiheaded floor lamps you put behind a sofa that sorta fans out. Its loaded with blooms now but we've got a few 38 or 39 nights coming up. Mine is already in a pot weighed down with a big paver in the bottom and a few bricks on the top. Guess I'll be lugging the paver filled pot upstairs:}
If I trim it back, can the cut pieces be rooted? I've not done it before and wasn't sure.