I have kept brugs in a half dormant state in pots in the garage the last couple of years, but there is no room this year. I think I caught someone's casual remark about storing their Brugs bare root, while discussing banana storage. Can this be done? I have cut some propagating wood today, and would love it if I could knock the dirt off the remaining plants, perhaps loosely cover, and put in the crawl space under the house.
What's the story?
Thanks!
Peter
Storing Brugs bare Root?
Thank you for starting this thread!!!
I would love to know if someone has tried this in our zone. I know people around here store their bananas that way.
PLEASE speak up if you have tried this and it worked!!!
Judy
I've heard that some people have done that. I tried one last year and wrapped it in newspaper and had it in downstairs in the basement. It totally dried up on me. I also tried putting them in a ziplock baggie with moist peatmoss and taped the bag around the stem but not tightly. It did really well for me and survived. I've done it again for my older woodly looking brugs. Let me find a picture of it from last year.
:) Donna
Here's what it looked like on January 26th.
HI Donna, Where you been for so long. I have heard of that being done with the bags also. I don't think the bare root would work.
I've been hiding to see if anyone would find me.
:) Donna
That is encouraging. My plants are much bigger, but I am sure that the same principal holds. Moist not wet, to not rot, and not shrivel with dry storage. Anyone else tried this?
Peter
I store my trees (6- 10 ft) in unheated unused bedroom, water enough just to keep the soil from shriveling- in their pots.
this semi dormant, just maintain state is a lot less effort for the plants and for me.
It seems I haven't posted here in ages but I just stopped in and found this thread. Just last week I 'dug and dropped' as I like to call it. For the plants that are in the ground I dig a SMALL root ball and drop it in a plastic pot. The only dirt in the pot is that of the SMALL root ball I dug. I water when it comes to mind and they all seem to make it until spring. They stay about 45-50F all winter in a garage with no extra light. The dig and drop came about because I have a very bad back and sometimes all I can manage is a very light load.
All but one of my brugs are already in pots - like Dedda's. I have been debating with myself about using the unheated room solution, but they will go close to freezing where I would have to put them. These plants are obviously flexible and one of those that truly one can say, "hard to kill 'em" So, I am thinking that above freezing is all they need.
Example of tough: last fall, about a year ago, I took many sections of brug branches and stored them in a couple of five gallon pails, part full of water. Some I never got around to putting in dirt. To make things worse, I stopped replacing the water. The rooted sections stayed in the unventilated greenhouse for about 6 months, into some serious heat, 'til the water was 1/2" deep. Finally, about May 1, I took these pathetic looking critters, disentangled their flattened roots, and planted them in pots. They wound up all growing, into 5' - 6' plants!
Datdog, what I guess you are saying by emphasizing the small size of the root ball is that you in effect root prune them before the transfer. i remember another DG-er writing last year that he does root pruning, when taking the plants, in pots, out of the greenhouse to refresh the soil, in the spring.
My mom had blooms in the middle of winter last year. My folks enclosed their backyard porch with windows and have it semi climate controlled (at least enough for the tropicals in winter). She has always had blooms on the porch, but last year she even had blooms on some of the plants that were in the outside shed that has almost no light! ~~~ Carol
Wish I had a porch like that Carol. But dream on! I think I will be storing them in the pot in an unheated room above our garage, which will take in some extra heat from the sun. We'll see.
For the past 3 years I have cut mine back to the ground level, and cover them with pinestraw. I take the cut parts, trim them up and drop them into buckets of water, and keep them in the unheated fiberglass panel topped outdoor room all winter...well what I don't give away for postage here on DG. Mine come back bigger and bigger each year. The cuttings root and I usually give them to relatives who pass them along to their neighbors and friends.
The pix is of the Brugs last year...Each was a single stick when my sister in law gave it to me 3 years ago.They were twice this big this year.
I know this does not answer your question, but might be another road to check out.
There is no possible way I could dig these puppies up!! The last one we moved had to be dug up with a backhoe...I swear that is the truth!!
I am in zone 7 if that helps any.
Wow, there is some serious blooming going on there. I can't imagine what they must have done this year. Beautiful!!