Hello all you wonderful angel lovers! I hope you can help me with a problem I am having with my first brugmansia. A wonderful DG friend in HI sent me a cutting from her Cherokee and I seem to be unable to get a bloom. The first pod opened, but the flower never completely emerged. It seemed to be "stuck", and then died. There had been two other buds on the plant, but something happened - I have no idea what - and that stem lost all its top leaves, including the buds. It has since filled out again, and appears to be healthy. New leaf growth, but it does loose one or two of the older leaves every night. We have had lots of rain lately, so I haven't been watering it, but I do feed it some Schultz plant food about every three weeks (that is all I can get out here). Last week it put out another pod...got about 2 1/2 to 3 inches long, but didn't open. Today I looked closely again (I have been trying to be patient), and the top of the pod by the stem, was empty...the flower had fallen to the bottom of the pod and rotted. Any ideas about what I am doing wrong? My friend just sent me 4 more cuttings, and I certainly don't want this to keep happening!
Brug SOS
I don't know what is happening to yours but I do know that you should be fertilizing more often. Hopefully the fertilizer you have is balanced for the plant. I try to fertilize mine every week at a minimum. I am no expert.. this is just my second year with brugs and they have mostly been in small pots. this year I am hoping to have them grow larger.
good luck.
tammie
Thanks Tammie...you are right, everyone tells me that the brugs are voracious eaters...I just haven't given it a lot lately because I didn't know if maybe I had given too much, and that was the cause of the trauma. Also with all of our heavy rain lately, I didn't want to add to the moisture with the diluted plant food. Just fed this am, so will do it again in a week - thanks for the advise!
islandshari, what is the soil like where the Brug is planted? Can you be more specific about how much rain you have had? If the soil is has a high clay content and doesn't drain well, you could be having a problem with root rot. Sometimes, bud drop can happen because of drastic temperature changes or high temperatures. Any extra info you can provide?
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/641076/
I have it in a pot with just regular potting soil...my only choice, ground here is coral, not dirt. Have had probably 3 inches of rain in last 5 days. Root rot is a major concern for all my plants, so I'm always checking for drainage...temps here don't fluctuate, always between a low of 78 and a high of 87...does this info help any?
Hi Shari do you have your cutting in afternoon shade ? ...better still in nice dappled shade? ...how big is the cutting? The roots need to be moist but not wet (in other words well drained).Is there a chance of a picture? if the cutting is only a few inches tall I would only use diluted fertilizer until you have good steady growth.I hope you can save it but then if you do prepare for the addiction.
chrissy
First, i have never heard of cherokee so I don't know about it's habits. Most likely it is growing pains. Make sure it has good drainage as mentioned before, feed it and give it some time. Often first buds will get goofy and take a while to get itself right. All of the advice given it correct, just let nature take it's course.
I forgot to ask wether it is a single or a double? if it is a double ...read some of these threads and you will find that even the experts have trouble with doubles sometimes ...I think they need to get big and strong before they can pop out a "big" type of bloom. Make sure it is in a reasonably sheltered situation because of the salt in the sea air (protect from the wind ).
chrissy
Thanks for the help and advise everyone! G'day Chrissy! Long time no talk to!
Yokwe,
Shari
Sorry mate I have been heavily sucked into an Angel addiction and now have hundreds of babies in various stages of growth to care for and adore ...in Australia we are reving up the interest in breeding so we can have some wonderful Angels here ...we only have about a dozen to choose from and it is very frustrating to goggle and dream over the stunning Angels overseas ...we fully intend to rectify that. I hope everything is great on that darling island on which you live ...it must be awfully difficult in some respects to do what we mainlanders do in the garden because of your limited supplies ...what kind of Angel is Cherokee? ...I hope you can save her ...I feel confident that it is just getting used to it's new home and will thrive under your tender care ...good luck with it my friend ...
As to what kind, only Jenny would know - she sent me the cutting, bless her heart. Here is a pic of my baby: now remember she is very young!
And here is the poor sad flower pod:
Here's a link to photos of Cherokee
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/94044/
Thanks bettydee! I had looked at that page, then promptly forgot it. Silly me.
Have you checked this plant for mites, the curled translucent leaves make me think it could be a problem. Is it in full sun, what are your temperatures like???? Lots of questions. It should be lush and green. Check it over with a magnifying glass for those nasty critters. I have seen so many post in every brugmansia site today about mites. If it isn't mites tne try to find it a place where it can get a some afternoon shade. It could just be too hot.
Thanks for the suggestion...I'll give it a good check.