post pic!
Brugs - do you grow them?
have a couple more pictures.
more
The plants seem to be ok but I don't know how long this fuzz has been there. Haven't looked in 4-5 days.
This is another pot. The pellets are alfalfa. also added some dried molasses and watered with Super Thrive spiked water. Did all of that on Monday, 14th.
I would very carefully scrape the top of the soil off along with the mold and spray it with a baking soda solution of one tablespoon to a quart of water to kill the fungus.
Also see if you can lower the humidity.
Josephine.
I meant to spray the soil in the pot, the stuff you scrape wrap it up carefully and put it in the trash, you don't want it to spread.
This message was edited Jan 24, 2008 4:35 PM
same here - scrape all that top off and the solution Josephine said.
My brug is flamenco. I was reading creamsickle and just wrote creamsickle. Go figure, and at my young age! LOL
Thank you. I will do that right now. It is in my little barn/tool shed so there is not much moisture other than what is in the planter. Hoping my little electric heater can keep the freeze at bay one more night. This from my seeds last spring. No blooms as yet.
They look good - really good, congrats.
The upside down shelves are just the cheap $9.99 plastic ones from wallyworld. They have the capability of holding water if you turn them upside down. I can squeeze in 8 of the 3pt pots on each shelf. The proper underside has sections in it that you have to work around. That makes it a very tight squeeze, but it works fine. I put about an inch of water in the bottom of the tray and let the plants wick the water up to the roots. I put more for some of the thirstier plants. It seems to work wonderfully and I think a side benefit is the fact that it adds moisture to the air in the house when it needs it during the use of dry heat effects of winter.
My DH is wonderful or he would never put up with the inconvienience of these shelves in front of every available window. Hey, it's cheaper than a greenhouse and you get to have blooming flowers in the house all winter.
I use the same shelves outside in the shade with just a little sunlight for starting cuttings in the summer. You need to use a mosquito dunk if you have a mosquito problem. My cuttings are squeezed in so tight that mosquitoes don't have much room to lay their eggs and we don't have many mosquitos anyway. I put my cuttings in foam cups with holes in the bottom and vermiculite in the cups and the cuttings go crazy rooting as fast as they can and soon poke through the holes in the bottom of the cups. (Except for a few stubborn kind.)
The flameco plant color is different inside the house than when it is outside. I was told by a knowledgeable brug person that the color is affected by temperature and light. Outside it is a much lighter pink than it is inside. Inside it is much prettier than when it bloomed outside at least to my liking.
LouC, you need to discard all of the soil because more than likely there is mycelium found throughout the soil. The cuttings will have to be sprayed with some sort of fungicide — either organic or inorganic. Fungus grows in cool, moist dark situations. It could be that the soil remains wet for too long. Pot each individual cutting into a small plastic cup that you have punched some holes in to drain. Keep the soil on the dry side during the winter. Provide more light if you are going to water. If you plant in individual pots or cups, the risk of contamination is smaller. If a few get the soil borne fungus, you won't lose all of your cuttings.
http://www.umass.edu/umext/floriculture/fact_sheets/pest_management/dampoff.html
http://www.actahort.org/members/showpdf?booknrarnr=648_24
http://backyardgardener.com/gp/Vendors/Yardiac_Garden_Cente/Garden_Center/Plant_and_Lawn_Care/Organic_Products/Organic_Fungicides.html
Do not use the household bicarbonate of soda. That is Sodium bicarbonate. The sodium may burn the tender new growth and putting it in the soil is like pouring salt into it. You will need to purchase and use Potassium bicarbonate.
charlenesplants, your knowledgeable friend is correct. I'm sure that is why my Creamsickle has not gotten the apricot color except maybe a light apricot when the bloom is very old and then only inside the greenhouse during winter. LOL Heat can also make them do other strange things. The first flush of my lemon yellow Brug produced all shredded flowers. I posted the photo and received all kinds of trade offers. I couldn't take any of them because I knew the shredded flush was probably a fluke and it was.
After posting remembered I had purchased horitcultural cornmeal. Went to the forum site and have done as is suggested. Had already added dried molasses to the top but the forum says HC is a fungus control as well. I have scraped the most obvious and added a generous portion of HC into the top 2 inches of the soil. The plants still look really healthy so maybe the roots are not damaged as yet. Will keep a close eye on it. Thanks for everyone's help.
Christi
Upside down shelves.
Gun by door is DH's long Tom and he can't shoot it because it has too much kick and he has a defibralator. The doctor said no way to shooting that gun! A friend is coming over to see the gun.
Charlene
Forgot to add the photo duh!!!
Love it - what a great idea.
Just a simple plan by a simple mind. I don't know what made me think of it, but it works for me!
Charlene
It just works - thank you for the idea.
Thank you for the suggestions on the container for the brugs. Does anybody have a recommendation on one named Brug for a beginner? Aren't some more tempermental than others?
Maya, or Dr. Susses
Geez y'all sure do talk alot during the day when I am at work...no fair....oh wait a sec the doc put me off at the restaurant for a week to see if my foot gets better so I guess I'll be poppin on the forums during the day between bus routes for a week LOL
Mitch ya silly boy ...LOL...yes Doug and I are coming in April I already marked me off on the calendar at work for it and who do ya think told TJ they would drive the bus if he gets one for running all over as a group ...LMAO
AnnieJo, many of the singles are easy to grow. Both of the ones Mitch mentioned are excellent, but I think Dr. Seuss is healthier. I like Audrey Hepburn. She has always been very healthy, sets pods easily, has a great fragrance and big flushes. I can send you a cutting for postage in early spring when they are easier to root. I should also be able to send a cutting of Dr. Seuss. I also like Georgia Peach. If you like yellow, Whiskers is wonderful with long tendrils. Unfortunately, mine died this past summer and my replacement is still just a cutting.
http://davesgarden.cu om/guides/pf/go/85945/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/53940/
My Dr. Seuss is a cutting from my Mom's. The fence in the photo is 7' tall for reference.
I want to plant my Brugs in the Front because they are such a show stopper. How much sun can they take? I have a Hosta buddy in Georgia who send me cuttings every year. She insisted that I try them. Well they are a beauty, if I can just remember to fertilize them everyday.
Wow Betty thats really tall, no wonder my friend use them to shade her Hostas.
Sylvia ~ here I find mine do better in afternoon and evening shade. They wilt severely in the scorching afternoon sun. They look like they need watering when they don't.
Mine in pots are tall 6 to 7 feet tall and that brings me to a question... Mitch, you said you have "40 some". Are they small? Or where do you keep them in winter?
Here in Texas they really need afternoon shade. Even with shade, on a really hot day, the leaves will wilt a bit even if they have been watered that morning. On those days, I put an overhead sprinkler on so the mist hits the leaves as well and it helps to rehydrate them faster. Some Brugs are able to stand more heat and sun than others. You have to experiment with them a bit. If it doesn't like the location, it will let you know one way or another. :-)
20 in house, 20 out in ground. In house I have cut them back to 4 to 5 foot tall, or 10 are very small cuttings.
The only area that I have fenced (protection from the deer) is in west facing sun, so the Brug that I choose needs to be one that can stand more heat. Is Dr Seuss one of those? Reading one of the above posts, do you really have to fertilize them every day?????
Annie
Thanks for the links Bety, great info. Your Dr Suess is stunning!
I only fertilize once or twice a week, everyday might be too much.
The ones that bloom the best for me are in the sun all day, it seems the ones that have more shade tend to lean and grow sideways and don't have as many flowers. But, I make sure they never dry out so maybe that's the key.
Annie, I would start with amy brug that is free LOL, so you can get to know them, they really aren't that delicate, just a challenge to get that big flush that's so beautiful.
West facing sun? It is going to be very hard for any brug to take out Texas afternoon sun.
If I pot it, I can put it in an area that will dapple the afternoon sun. I also have a place that would have bright shade all day. Those would be my choices in the backyard.
Annie
Bright shade would be wonderful - my best bloomers are in bright shade.
Mitch, I had to think about it....they face southwest so they start to get some shade about 6pm, but do get strong sun most of the day.
Since they are poisonous, I wonder if deer eat them, luckily I don't have that problem.
I dont know how poisonous - I know guys back in school that ate the leaves for a high powered trip, a few of them ended up in the ER for a while.
I've heard of that too, pretty dumb isn't it?
Yep - but there are people who do it... even a few web sites with their terrible stories, it is never from what I have seen a good trip. Teen boys with nothing to do is very dangerous.
Plus, how would you know how many leaves or flowers would kill you? Is it just a guess? Definitely risky!
I thought about that when I planted them, they are in the front yard. But, there are so many poisonous plants that are all over the place, probably everyone has at least one poisonous plant in their yard.
Right, I already grow Morning Glories and they are a lot bigger and better in the posion area.
No idea how much or how you would find out.
So, are brugs in the same category as datura? First time I planted one of those, I was advised to keep it out of sight from the high school kids. Heard stories about people tripping on jimsonweed and having bad trips that they never got over. Very dangerous, not just poison, but psychologically.
I'm reluctant to put up the links, but the Internet has everything you'd want to know about ingesting the hallucinogens found in Brugmansias and Daturas. The South American shamen used it to communicate with the dead, I believe. There are so many poisonous plants, but if used with care, there is no reason why we can't enjoy them. I root cuttings in the kitchen. The cats have given up being curious about them. Outside, Blue has never shown any interest in them either. The peyote cactus was used by South Texas and Mexican natives, The seed of the Texas Mountain Laurel can also cause hallucinations and death and probably more so than Brugmansias. Brugs are supposed to be deer resistant. If they are not, you can watch them stagger away under the influence. LOL
http://www.npsot.org/plant_lists/deer_resistant.html