And by Fall, I pretty much mean winter, our fall up here in Calgary Canada dips below 0 degrees C (32 F). We've had unusual weather for September here, meaning it's been much warmer than it should have been. This is my first year with my Brugmansias and I didn't expect them to bloom their first year because of our short season here. Well, now my Brugmansia sanguinea has buds on it (about an inch long already) and they still have a long ways to go (I'm not really sure how long, I'm just assuming it's long). I haven't been fertilizing them for about a month now because I was expecting them to go dormant about now. So what should I do?
Option A: don't fertilize it and it outside till it goes below zero, then bring it inside. Maybe cut off the buds?
Option B: fertililize it, bring it indoors, put in front of a window that gets 2 hours direct sun and another 2-3 hours of indirect sunlight, and that's all it will basically get (besides a little that you would expect from the sun being on the other side of the house). This window faces west. (my brightest window already has most of my plants in front of it, I don't want to put this brugmansia among them because it had spider mites recently and I don't want to risk the others getting infested). Will it bloom
What should I do?
Help! My Brugmansia is gonna bloom and Fall is here!
I would go with Option B. If it works, you get blooms most of us only dream of. If the buds drop off, you can still overwinter the plant elsewhere.
Me too, option 2 sounds good
OPTION 2 for sure!!! Cant hurt to try.. you may be pleaseantly surprised!
Tammie
You could get really crazy with some foil and lights but I think option #2 would do just fine lol! If you do get some blooms I would love to see them!
Good Luck!
Caren
Option 2. Spraying for mites when you bring it in & adding a few fluorescent lights will make it even happier. Don't overwater it.
Linda
i tend to disagree with everyone. plant only absorb fertilizer during warmer months! it will be total waste to fertilize during colder month, plants can never absorb the fertilizer applied. normally all the fertilizing, we do on warmer months should be enough to sustain the plant during winter. i learned this technique from Monika and Kyle, from way back then. do not forget, winter time, brugs should be dormant so they can recoup and get ready for the next growing season.
to jog some of ur memory, during winter months, Monika sometimes, take off the soil from the root level, wrap them with newspaper, then plastic. accdg to Monika, so she will have enough space to store all her brugs in the winter. each spring time, she supplies her plants with fresh soil and fertilizer to prepare for the blooming season in warmer months.
since plants can not absorb the fertilizer in colder months, there will be tendency to create more salt on the soil level. another thing, brugs can not tolerate wet or cold feet which will cause their demise during winter months. if u fertilize, u need to water. water and cold soil level is the worst enemy of brugs in the winter. jmo.
edited to add - buds and leaves will naturally drop off whenever there is sudden change of temperature. it is the plant's natural defense against changes of temperature.
This message was edited Sep 27, 2008 4:44 AM
This is a photo of Audrey Hepburn in the forefront with a bloom and a bunch of buds. Also green and growing in the background are a pink noid, Georgia Peach and insignis Gold. I don't fertilize during winter, but my Brugs don't go dormant. Our winters here can fluctuate between low 20 into low 80s. Greenhouse temperature don't go below 45ºF, but can get up into the mid 80s+. I have to water. Up north it would be possible to force Brugs to go dormant, but not down here. Growth is very slow. Most leaves stay on. As some fall off, others replace them. You can see some yellowing of a few leaves and a few dead brown ones in the photo, but for the most part, the leaves are green. I took this photo winter before last. This past winter my greenhouse looked very different as I lost most of my Brugs last August. AH survived because it's roots grew out the drain holes and into the sand between the pavers in the greenhouse. I didn't have the heart to yank her out so she spent all of last year in the greenhouse blooming her heart away. She's in the ground to stay this year. I'm going to try wrapping her trunks & "Y"s with bubble wrap and see if it keeps her from freezing to the ground.
Ah, well I already watered and fertilized. But the buds dropped off anyway. It seems to be doing well, no dropping off of leaves yet. My other brugmansia on the other hand, the arborea, had all of its lower leaves fall off so far (the lower 3/4 of the plant). No browning or yellowing, they just fell off over the course of about 3 days. Is this normal? I have them in front of the window I mentioned in option 2. Also, my thermostat is set to about 22 C (72 F) in the evenings and 17 C (63 F) at night and during the day? Is this all ok? Should I be changing anything?
Janina, most plants will react to having a sudden change of environment by dropping their leaves, buds, or both. They will acclimate to the change and put out new growth. The ideal would be to let them go dormant, but for that to happen you would have to have a cold basement or cool greenhouse. If you don't, then allow them to rest by keeping as cool as possible indoors. Do you have a cooler room with a window? Or a way to provide artificial light? Keep the soil barely moist. The biggest killer of Brugs is overwatering resulting in root rot. Be on the lookout for spidermites which appear to come out of nowhere to attack your plants.