Please help! I purchased my first two brugs last year and they were doing fine until this spring. First of all I have a problem with caterpillars. I daily have to pick off 2 or 3 on each of my plants. My Brugs are kept in pots in my atrium. They are in full sun and I don't let them dry out, but they are not looking good. Very few leaves and no sign of buds. Are they in too much sun, or too much water? Any help would be very much appreciated, I don't want to loose them. Thank you!
How much fertilizer are you giving them? They need a LOT.
Ok, there is my answer!!! I have not fertilized them..what a bad mother I am...fertilizer advice would be most appreciated :0)
Any advice on how to get rid of the caterpillars?
You can buy Miricle grow and follow manufactures instructions, but with brugs, feed once a week. I now use all organic fertilizers and feed twice a week. Go the forum here called the recipe, there are recipes there for organic fertilizers. I use the basic recipe and add what I think the plants need depending on their growth.
Use a systemic pesticide or Bt which kills only caterpillars.
Thank you both for your help! It is greatly appreciated.
Can you tell me where I can find the coir bricks,,,coconut shell potting mix in bricks to pot my brugs in? I can't find it here. Noone knows what it is!
Audrey
Coir is the shredded fiber that surrounds a coconut. You can find it bagged loose or compressed into bricks. You should be able to purchase it at any hydroponic store. I purchased a few bricks of coir for orchids from Logee's, but I've seen the shredded bricks elsewhere. Goggle for coir bricks. Coir by itself may be too lightweight for a Brug. I can picture the plant blowing over in a light breeze.
Yes, I understand I'll have to mix it with potting soil. I googled for coir, and only found large sizes. Any idea where I could find it in West Tenn.? I got shreded peat moss, will that work? It was recommended that I use a soilless mix.
Audrey
Have you looked for a hydroponic store locally or nearby? Peat moss, especially sphagnum peat moss is highly acidic. Unless the plant requires acidic potting mix, Brugs don't, your plant may run into nutrient uptake problems. Also peat moss tends to remain wet for longer periods of time. As much as Brugs need moisture, their roots will rot if the roots remain wet for too long. You might be better off getting regular potting mix, like Miracle Grow potting mix, and adding something, such as perlite, to improve drainage. I use MG potting mix straight from the bag and haven't had any problems with it.
I also read that Coir is not good for brugs... something about it retaining salt? I can't remember exactly.. but just know it's not great for brugs.
I just use Miracle grow.. I add perlite and compost or whatever I have.. but if I have to use it straight out of the bag.. no problem either way.
I use Super Thrive... is that good for Brugs?
^_^, Excuse me for being dumb, but how do they get the salt? If you use potting soil, would it still have salt?
Audrey
Audrey, fertilizers are salts. I don't know if Joyce meant fertilizer salts or NaCl. In any case, the molecules of fertilizer ionize in water. Some of the ions are attracted to and adhere to certain parts of the soil. Over time enough builds up in the soil to become toxic to the plant roots. You get salt buildup in any potting soil over time which is why it is a good idea to run water through the potting soil to leach the salts out of it every once in a while. Adding coir to the mix speeds up the accumulation of salts.
So that's why it does no good to add "more" fert? I was also told to use a very weak solution on my brugs. Now I know why! By the way, I have one brug outside, it had roots when I got it, it's doing nothing. The others I kept in, some in water, they all have leaves. Why?
Thanks,
Audrey
Brugs are heavy feeders. Feeding actively growing Brugs at least once a week with regular strength feterlizer isn't out of the ordinary. Additionally, some growers add other supplements or fertilize more often. You can use a weak fertilizer solution on newly emerged seedlings and maybe newly established plants. Otherwise, weak solutions don't provide enough nutrients to an active plant.
About your outdoor Brug: Does it have any leaves? Did it overwinter outside? Is it in the ground? How often do you feed it? (It's not getting enough nutrients.) How often do you water it? What kind of sun exposure does it get? Ideally morning sun and afternoon shade is best for them although a few individuals grow some in full sun.
About your indoor Brugs: Are they cuttings? Rooted? Potted?
All in all you need to provide more information.
These all came from the same place at the same time. I got them on the 3rd. The one I put outside had very long roots. No leaves. It's in a 5 qt. icecream bucket. It gets morning sun and afternoon shade. It's on a plant stand, it has the top to the bucket for a saucer. I water it every day, it's in Miracle Grow potting soil mixed with perlite. All the ones inside have leaves since I got them. Most of the ones that were already there, dropped off, I think they got to hot in transit.They're all getting roots. Even the ones I put in MG has new leaves. I don't have to water the inside ones as much.
Audrey
Don't use a saucer or your Brug's roots could rot. While they need lots of water, the soil has to drain quickly. If the soil stays too wet and if the plant is not growing, the roots rot rather quickly. Since your plant doesn't have leaves, check the soil's moisture content before watering. Without leaves, the cutting doesn't have much need for all that water. Try fertilizing it.
Why are you growing them indoors? I root cuttings indoors, but put them outside when I pot them up.
OK, I'll put them out tomorrow. I also need to pot more of them. Do I still need to feed weekly even though I used Miracle Grow potting soil? It's supposed to feed for 3 months.
I too used MG and am wondering about the feeding schedule?
thanks for the heads up on the saucers! I'll be removing all mine tomorrow! could this be the reason why my seedling babies are yellowing on the leaves? too much water?
The MG potting soil contains slow release pellets releasing the fertilizer too slowly for your Brugs' needs. That's why slow release fertilizer is not recommended for Brugs. As soon as your Brugs get established in their pots, about 1 - 2 weeks, you can start to feed them regularly. Feed at least once a week. Some DGers feed more often. When you water, be sure some flows out the drain holes and every so often, especially if your water has a high mineral content, run enough water through the pot so help leach out some of the salt buildup.
oneanjl, when your seedlings get their first or second set of true leaves, the cotyledons will naturally turn yellow and fall off, but if some of the true leaves are yellowing also, you may have a watering problem. You might also check the amount of direct sunlight they get. If they get too much direct sunlight and since the pots the seedlings are in are relatively small, the soil could be drying out or getting too hot. If the weather gets too hot, they may be better off in filtered sunlight. I would baby them until they get about a foot high and are in larger pots.
thanks betty....
heres a pix of the seedlings.. I think it was the first leaves that yellowed and fell of, the others look okay. also I just moved them to a morning sun afternoon shade area yesterday.
Here are my plants last year. the went from this :
to this in one season.
Don't let yours get too much sun until they get bigger. I kept mine under a tree when they were this size & then planted them int he front where they got am sun.
Linda
was there supposed to be a photo?
Help. How do I do more than one photo? I copied & pasted the clickable photobucket pictures the first time & nothing shows. If I use the browse button, I can only get the last one of what I add.
Well here's what they looked like last year on 4-20:
Linda
And on 9-24. Left to right: Jamie, Super Nova, Super Sport. They all Yd & all but one of the 15 I got last year bloomed. Snowbank was the stubborn one & she bloomed first this year. I was so excited to see the one flower on my variegated peach that I walked right past the two flowers on Snowbank & didn't find them until they were done & limp. Once they start growing good, they are like weeds & I feed mine twice a week after they are a couple feet tall with high nitrogen fertilizer until they get to a good size & then switch to bloom booster. I think it's easier to keep them watered if they're in the ground & I'm planning on planting them all in this year.
Linda
