If we get an Indian summer I can keep her outside and she might bloom. Otherwise, I'll bring her in and hope for something inside.
So close to bloom, so close to frost
I, too, hope you get an Indian summer. You need to see those blooms!
Erick
I will keep my waterhoses crossed so that you will get to enjoy the bloomers!
Oh you are sooooooo close! Good Luck! I hope you get blooms!
I brought the girl inside a week ago, just to be safe, and despite losing 4 lower leaves her buds keep growing, numbering 16 today. She's in a south-facing window and I'm continuing to feed with weak 15-30-15, which she seems to love. No evidence of mites yet, but I'm keeping an eagle eye.
I promise photos. This is one of Kell's seeds.
Last year I brought some inside that had buds and they bloomed. Good Luck
Looking forward to the photos, and glad the move didn't upset things too much :-)
Sharon
OH I do hope it blooms for you. I am surprised buds that small did not drop with the change. They must love you!
I know it is not PC to use a fertilizer with a high phosphate these days, but I always had great results with 15-30-15 MG for years.
Sad to say, my buds dropped about three weeks after I brought her inside. The lowest, biggest bud had split and the flower was out a good 4" with tendrils a'curling, bright green and just starting to colour at the bottom, when it fell. The others didn't open, just fell off. Ah well... We have had three weeks of leaden skies, only three days of weak, sporadic sun. That might have been a factor.
I'm keeping this one and two others in the light; the others I'm putting in the basement to go dormant. This is all an ongoing learning experience for me.
I am sorry to hear that. We all were looking forward to blooms
Especially those of us who live lower than zone 9. :*(
I have a friend who has a 'grow house'
she gets blooms as soon as the brugs acclimate (for winter) in there about
8 - 9 weeks,lots of ordinary flourescent lights,
I think day lenght determines blooms more than strenght of the light.
Her lights stay on min. 14 hrs a day .
As we head to the winter solstice, our hours of natural sunlight go down to about 8 hours here. Brugs are tropicals and so I would think 12 hours would be the minimum. I don't want to get into lights, so I'll keep two in natural light and put the others into dormancy.
Does anyone have tips on managing dormancy?
About throwing them into dormancy...I only put mine in a cool, dark place and hold back on watering so they only get enough to just keep them alive. I might loose one over the winter, but I think my losses are due more to the coldness than putting them into dormancy. My spare garage is where I keep them and it probably gets near freezing. Good luck with yours.
This message was edited Nov 1, 2006 11:57 AM
Oh NO, so sorry to hear that they have fallen off. You were so close!! So frustrating. But I bet they bloom early next year for you and once they start they keep going!
The gardener's mantra: next year. Thanks, Kell! You are so right.
Brugie, mine are going dormant in the basement at about 50F and minimal natural light. I'm planning to water lightly once every 2-3 wks. I'm keeping 2 in my sunsplashed south-facing kitchen, hoping for some bloom but I will be satisfied with survival.
I raised these from seed. Do guys have maternal feelings? YES!
LOL, no hormones, just 20-20-20.
Your sense of humor is great. I love the no hormones comment. LOL!
I am already off and running thinking about next year, Andycdn. I have so many plans. I can't wait. LOL! We both will get lots of blooms!
One of my babies bloomed!
Of my ten seedlings, I put two in the care of others.
Maria, who knows nothing about plants, got a bloom from the brug I gave her (I think my demanding fertilizing schedule paid off. She followed it better than I did). She brought the plant indoors from her apartment balcony in late September as frost season approached and put her in the south-facing window of her bedroom. Then she noticed there were some buds forming, one especially.
She called me around 10:30 pm last week to say, "I hope I'm not calling too late. I came into my apartment and thought someone had broken in, a woman wearing cheap perfume."
(you're supposed to laugh here)
The brug had opened, and Maria was overwhelmed by the scent.
This is a cross from Susie, Eventide x Butterfly, which I germinated this February. I was so pleased to have a bloom within a year!
My poor friend found the fragrance so overpowering she had to move the plant into her apartment hallway overnight so she could breathe and sleep.
I went over the next evening and shot these photos. As for the rest of mine, I'm putting them into dormancy and hoping I can keep them alive until spring's joyous renewal. They've lost all their leaves and I've sprayed with insecticidal soap for evident spider mite.
Andy
Another photo. The exposure makes it look darker than it was. It's really a powder-puff pink.
