Can I use grey water to water my Brugmansias that are in pots? Also, does anyone recommend pinching back some new growth to produce a bushier plant?
using grey water
I would be leery of using gray water on potted plants. The impact on the roots might be too great. In the ground, the detergent components are bound by the chemical components in the soil. I don't believe that is the case in potting soil. I'd be afraid that pH changes in the potted soil would make the fertilizer unavailable to the plant.
I've seen some Brugs are are bushier than others, but since Brugs are more tree like, I don't know how bushy they can get. A plant started from a cutting taken from above the "Y" would be bushier than one taken from basal shoots.
Anytime, you pinch out the tip on plants from basal shoots, the new growth has to start from scratch in terms of the length it must obtain before it blooms.
I have been using gray water during the summer for 2+ yrs now without any problems. If it wasn't for gray water It would be very hard here to water the plants daily. I haven't had any problems to date and the plants do well. The only gray water I don't use is after washing blue jeans. The lint is horrible in the water not to mention the blue die. I also use a detergent that is plant based to wash laundry.
I was about to post that Dot. If I get to the point I have to use gray water I am very careful of the the soap products I use.
If you take off new growth, or new shoots on Brugs you will end upwith a tree, they do not bush out. the only way I know to make them bushy is to never cut any off.