Here is this mornings blooms, with my new gardening buddy, Gidget. Actually it is my daughters little teacup Chihuahua, but as with all children, you know who gets to take care of her......MOM!! LOL!!
M&M with friend
Oh no!!! How cute!!!
Very nice blooms on MM too!
WOW meag, I will take the "friend"
I love it lol! Gidget it too cute!
That is a darling dog, mom should be very happy to take care of it.
Brug is lovely too, keeps the sun out of dogs' eyes.
What a cutie! And pretty blooms too.
Erick
They are both wonderful and must make you very happy.
Joan
Double Wow - both are absolutely adorable!!
Nice blooms. I think that is the most blooms I've seen this year on a MM plant. Mine sure isn't doing anything. The little cutie in the picture is just a doll.
Actually, mine is going crazy. I cannot get it to stop setting buds! I've now got 8 about to open on an 18 inch plant. Most definitely a keeper.
Melanie, after seeing your picture, I'm tempted to put my daughter's Chihuahua/Jack Russell mix under one of my brugs, but it would never look as cute as your picture!!
I think that is the cutest chihuaha I've ever seen. He likes his picture taken :)
I have an orange kitty that tries to get into every photo we take. When he sees the camera~that's it, he comes running -you'd think someone opened canned cat food lol.
Nice flush on MM. How old is your plant?
AAAAAAAAWWWWWW!!!
That is an award winning photo. I love it!
Thanks to all of you!! Shirley, I believe that by ignoring MM she really did better for me this year. Angel, I got M&M last spring as a small rooted cutting. Felicia, Gidget is 14 weeks old and doesn't even weigh a half pound. I am so scared that someone in the house is going to step on her. LOL!!
too kyute!!!!!
How in the world do you guys have such beautiful blooms on your plants?! Mine have been in the ground since May and NO buds nor flowers!! ARGH!! They're cuttings that I received from eBay - were 36" tall at first, they've both Yed and are now about 4-5 feet tall. The trunks are still green, NOT woody (when does THAT happen?) and no buds. I'm fertilizing 3-4 times a week like what was recommended - help?
3 to 4 times a week, Amanda??? That's a lot even for a brug. Shouldn't be more than 3 or 4 times a month - and that's still a lot. Maybe that's it - they are being over stimulated for growth and understimulated for blooms (causing them to not produce buds and/or dropping buds while they are still too tiny for you to notice). It can take a couple of months + for the oldest parts of the stem to begin to turn woody, depending on the hybrid.
That's what I thought, too. And geez, I'm blowing right through fertilizer which isn't cheap!! I posted pics of my brugs on a thread wondering why they weren't looking so great (see http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/746405/), and the replies I got told me to fertilize like that with 20-20-20. So I did and they really began taking off and have put on lots of new growth since. I'll take a pic tonight and post it for you one here.
But still - the cost of this fertilizer is NUTS!! Any bloom boosters I can get? Or what kind of care would you recommend?
Ok, BTW - I didn't mean 3-4 times a week, I meant 2-3. Not that there's a lot of difference ...
Also, what will a fish emulsion fertilizer do?
Stay away from high phosphorous numbers (the center number). It will help many plants bloom quicker, but it's not necessarily in the best interest of the plant's overall health - and other plants, it won't help at all. High nitrogen is good for root production - fish emulsion is a good natural source of that (if I remember correctly). You have to watch what kind/brand you get, though. I forget the details, but a friend was telling me once he was finding out the some brands of fish emulsion fertilizer weren't as good because of the processing or something like that (they all stink the same, though...). You can also use bone meal and/or blood meal (which, I think those are good for bulbs, too).
There's a place here in Houston I LOVE called Southwest Fertilizer. I buy bone meal, blood meal, and kelp meal from them and mix it with Lowe's brand granual fertilizer (equal parts). I then mix it into the soil when potting, and then again every couple of months or so. I have to bury it in a little and then water it in good though, for later applications because otherwise my greyhound will dig it out and eat it (which, is another good thing about using the meals - they are much less harmful to pets if ingested). You can find bone meal and blood meal at Lowe's/Home Depots, too.
What are bone meal and blood meal? Do they help with blooming, too?
They are natural sources of organic nitrogen. They help with the overall health of the plant, which indirectly helps with blooms. I think they help the plant develop a healthy root system.
Melaine, I know what you mean about being afraid to step on the dog!! Actually, I think I'm more apt to trip over the 30 pound cat before stepping on the 5 pound dog!!
A thirty pound cat??? Run Gidget!!! That cat just might think that you are a mouse!!LOL!!
Cater, what I use is Better-Gro Orchid Plus. It is 20-14-13 plus all the minor elements. I use it half strength, twice a week as both spray and watered in.
Awww Melanie the pooch is to cute. I sure like your MM . Looking good!!!!!
Cindy, I told you she was huge!! This was taken after a haircut! LOL Once again, thank you!!