Last Feb a friend of mine gave me a cutting, he didn't even know what the mother plant was called he just liked the flowers. It survived the winter on my window sill over the kitchen sink. I put it on my deck in April and WOW!! I had no idea it would grow so fast or how beautiful the flowers are. It is now 4 feet tall and I have no place in my house to winter it. Someone told me to let it go dormant and keep it in my garage. I plan on trying to root some cuttings, I have the space for small plants, but I'd really like to keep the mother plant. What should I do??
New to Brugs, how to winter them in zone 6??
put it in the garage for sure I would if I still lived in zone 5
Do I need to cut it back? What about water? And when should I do this? We are still having 80 degree days and my Brug is quite content on the deck for now. Thank you for your reply.
In a pot, brugs must be kept in a frost free area. My garage gets down to about 35 degrees and my potted brugs do just fine in there with only a 40 watt light bulb. What you have to watch is that you don't over water. A cup or two of water each month is enough to keep them alive. You can trim if you want or wait until spring. I'm trimming so I can get more into the area I have for them. Watch for aphids, spidermites and white flies. Generally, white flies won't be a bother in the cool garage, but can be in the house.
If your garage gets below freezing, you can put a potted plant in a closet. I have a friend who did this for a couple of years while she was living in a mobile home. It worked just fine for her.
Hope this helps.
It helped me too. Thanks!
I would leave her outside until the nights hit below 40. Then take your cuttings, unless you need them earlier, and put the mother plant in a frost free, but cool (40's) area for the winter. This dormancy for brugs is quite natural. (I also do this with hibiscus.) I would also take off all of the leaves so you don't have a mess in your winterquarters, (they will almost all drop off anyway,) or host any unwanted leaf guests. I water mine lightly about every two weeks, when the soil is good and dry. In the Spring, your brug will wake up by itself....you will begin to see the growth of light green leaves. They know what they are doing probably better than we do. Move her back out when the night temps are 45 ish. I was very leary trying this for the first time, but it sure does work. I am zone 6 too.
Hope that helps!
Jackie
(Edited to say, Brugie beat me to it, lol! Love the closet idea!)
This message was edited Oct 23, 2007 3:43 PM
I'm in z6, too. I just stick mine down in my basement after stripping off all of leaves. That has worked well for me these last few years.
I'm going to put my hibiscus down there this year.
Lora, I'm curious...will you strip the leaves from your hibiscus like the brugs.?
Tussee
ACK! I don't know! This will be my first year wintering it in the basement.
I guess I'll go searching on the hibiscus forum and see if anyone else has an answer. I'll let you know if I find one.
Hi LoraB & Tussee,
I winter my hibiscus over dormant too, and I take off most of the leaves before hand, except the top few leaves, because they will usually drop off like the brugs. I notice around the middle of March, that new green leaves (and sometimes even buds) start growing again. They can handle the same temps as the brugs during the winter, and I treat them pretty much the same, same amount of water.
Good luck!
Thank you, Jackie, for the information. As slow as some things are going around here, I may have to winter some of my hibiscus over in the potting shed with the large brugs. So good to know exactly how to deal with them.
Tussee
Thanks!
Do they need any sun at all during the winter? I've got a basement I can store my burgs in for the winter but will have no light?? Also, I could put them in a root cellar which is totally dark once I close the door.......?? Also, someone said strip the leaves?? I didn't last year....but you're right...they fall off anyway....
I am in zone 5 and have an unheated garage, but no light. The garage doesn't freeze. In fact it stays around 50 degrees F. There is a little bit of light from small windows in the top of the garage door, not all that close to where the plants will be. I can easily water them, but will they survive in such dim light? They have been outside all summer.
They don't need any light really as they think they're sleeping. The temp is the most important thing to watch, just don't let them get below 38 degrees. 50 degrees is fine, make sure you water sparingly ( as in only when the soil is completely dry,) like every three weeks. Even then , don't saturate the rootball, because there are no leaves or new growth to require a lot of water. Some do it once a month, which is fine in the lower 40's, but from my own experience, at 50, they need it a little more often. I had some dieback of the tips my first year because they were too dry.
Stripping the leaves before dormancy helps keep out any pests who were hoping for a warmer winter inside, and eliminates the need to clean up dropped leaves in your winter quarters.
Good luck...they are worth all of the work, lol!
Thanks! I was really wondering what to do. The garage will be perfect. it is insulated but only heated by a refrigerator and the heating unit for the house. It is a pretty constant 50-55 all winter. Thanks for the tips about removing the leaves and amount of water.