The "Y" can anyone explain it to me?
The "Y" can anyone explain it to me?
Sure, GuardanGirl. All it means is when the brug puts out 2 stems forming a Y. It does this when it is mature and ready to start making flowers. I have seen it happen as short as 4 months from seed to as long as over 2 years. The usual time it takes is about 9 months to a year I would say. Once a brug Ys, flowers should be a long soon which is why you hear us all get excited when it happnes.
You will hear us talk about cuttings from below the Y or above the Y. If you get cuttings above the Y, they can flower quite quickly. They usually form a bush shape while a cutting from below the first Y must grow up and Y to bloom so it usually takes longer, I notice.
Here is a picture that may be more helpful so you can recognize it when it happens.
This message was edited Nov 5, 2006 2:03 AM
You have some nice looking plants, GuardanGirl. The one toward the back looks like it could be an early bloomer. ;-)
It just takes time. When it happens, you are blessed with a chance for a wonderful bloom.
A Y is a time to applaud the plant and hope for something very special!! Just remember the first year may not be the best bloom!! I have noticed beautiful blooms , the next year, that were melted out the summer before! If you have room, try to keep them more than one year.
Bonnie
Oh Ok,
I have 6... no 7 brugs. ( Jeremy just gave me another one today) and all but one looks to have a "y"
I would also like to make a standard out of them. Do you know about how long do I have to wait?
also my plants are young as you see in the pick. I just planted them about 3 weeks ago, anyone know how i should protect them this winter? In my Zone?
I'd hate for them to die. = (
Thanks,
Sylvia
Standards can be made from basal shoots easily or from growing brugs from seed. Sometimes it takes a while to get a basal shoot from a cutting taken from above the Y. The closer to the ground your cutting comes from the taller it will probably get. However, if it is an above the Y plant...it may be a while before you see any tall, straight growth. You may get more bushy growth until that first basal decides to grow.
ok thanks, Wish I would have known this before I bought the plant because I dont know where they were cut from
I was interested in "Ying " too . From what I have read the plant has to go thru puberty before it's ready to reproduce [ make flowers . ] So far I haven't read about any hormones that will make it happen sooner .
--You have to read where the person posting is located and what there weather is . A 9A zone in Texas is Different from a 9A in northern CA and Different from a 9A in southern ca or Florida .
--There are a lot of foods , chemicals , lights that say quicker - better - bigger flowers but none have been quicker , just bigger better looking flowers . If they do grow faster , the stems are weak and don't support the flowers .
--Try to keep first number the same or smaller than the other 2 . The first number it for growth above ground and the other 2 are for the root growth and general plant health . 5-10-10 for me is good . 20-3-3 is good only for grass and a green cover crop . Yes I use mighty plant [ 18-18-18 ] but mainly as a foliar spray .
--The better the diet the better the blooms . Watch for micro on label . I add Epson salt at least once a year . The more rain , the more STUFF is washed out of soil unless it gets a lot of run off .
--One place said foliar is better because it gets what it needs quicker . Then I read that foliar is better after it Y's so it develops good transfer systems from roots . That is how it gets most of it's food and water .
-- There isn't much on Brugs that I have found , but a lot on general flowering of plants .
--By the way , use should click on watch this post so when some says I am wrong or says something else , you don't miss it . Don't worry about people saying you are wrong if it works - I argue with wife all the time about plants - try to keep notes if you are trying something different .
Tonyjr is right. The grass always looks greener in other pastures so we try to do what they do and end up disappointed many times. Iowa is a challenge due to the amount of time we have to get blooms. I differ with tonyjr on the fertilizer. I use 15-7-15 CalMag and do quite well, but guess what.....20-20-20 from Peters works well for me too. Generally I can get three flushes in our short summer, so I'll stick with what I'm doing. What I use may not be the best for Tony, so I will try NOT to push what I do off on anyone else, but will just give my ideas and products names when I think it might help. Every person is an individual and every yard can probably be described the same way.
I think each of us has to try things in our area and if it works....use it. If it doesn't, pitch it in favor of something that you can deal with. It's good to go out of our area to get ideas but believing it will work for us may be a disappointment in the end. Buying big can be a mistake too...so I spend a little extra to get a small bottle to see if it will work for me rather than spending a ton of money on some things that I won't be happy with. I can tell you that my garage is full of stuff that I've not been happy with. I was a slow learner, but now I use very little other than a couple of insecticide/miticides and a fertilizer. Brugs are very happy with just being fed well and only a dab of spray if needed. Water spray works wonders. JMO.
Guardiangirl shoots that are above a Y have leaves with distinctly asymmetric bases (except for the first leaf on each Y arm of the first fork!). Generally a plant grown from an above-Y cutting will grow a bit and then have enough energy to put up an upright vegetative (pre-puberty!) shoot with symmetric-based leaves. This shoot (and subsequent ones like it) will build the framework and bulk of the plant.
The change-over is an internal one that the plant makes in its own time: it cannot be induced by cutting the top out of an upright shoot. However, it can be influenced by feeding etc, though it seems to be in part genetic - seedlings from the same pod grown under indentical conditions may differ markedly in the height at which they first Y. For example I have some seedlings of 'Dark Rosetta' x 'Apricot Queen' which have Yed - some at about 3 feet tall and one at 6 feet tall and one at nearly 8 feet tall, in spite of all having been treated identically.
This message was edited Nov 6, 2006 10:18 PM
Don't fret GuardanGirl. Alistair says it so much better than I could.
I have found it doesn't matter where I get cuttings from really, above or below the first Y. I actually prefer the ones from above the Y because they bloom so fast for me. That way I can see the basic structure of the bloom for myself and decide if I even want to grow that particular brug. Sadly, my space is so limited.
I grow practically all standards so I just wait till the bush form plant from above the Y cutting puts out a sucker. Then I leave it on till it gets to be the height I want, cut it off and root it then toss the bush part. I always get such a straight tall standard tree that way. Fast and easy! And these big suckers have woody ends so they are so easy to root without rotting.
I'm with you tonyjr, re the zones, I'm a total zone addict - yet, the more I know, it seems like the less I know, whew!! As for the better diet, this year, I could not feed because of the drought/heat and the brugs were under such stress that I was afraid to feed them. I did use micro mix in the water and super thrive and occasional ES. Fall was the payoff, wow, they are still blooming and smell like heaven. I was just astonished recently when I was picking up twigs, to find that I have, for me, giant pods. They likely won't ripen before GH time, but they surely are big for late bloomers. The cold has scorched some blooms and I've had oddly deformed buds this year, something I haven't had before, the drought/heat, I think. Thing is, for me, every single year has been odd. One thing I have not had, and I sincerely look forward to is a perfectly, wonderful, growing season. Has that ever happened????