A couple of years ago someone from here on DG sent me some several brug seeds. I planted them and one brug actually has grown; the only brug I've ever had. Last year it just kind of floundered along and never really got more than 18" tall. This year it's about 4' tall, but I have never gotten blooms. Should I cut it back for winter and try again next year to see if it blooms, or is it possibly a dud?
Will I ever get blooms?
If you cant take the entire plant indoors, you are more likely to get blooms next year. Cutting the Brug back means it has to start growing from scratch. Brugs have to form a "Y" before it blooms. Some cultivars will grow up to 7' or so before they form a "Y". Your Brug probably needs to get much taller before it forms the "Y". How much fertilizer did you give it and how often?
NO...your pant is more likely to bloom first... especially if you bring the whole thing in.. or at least a pruned version of it.. then feed it heavily.. come spring... that's at least once or twice a week .. or more often...
there's some great info on over wintering in the last days of posts..find out if you can more easily keep it alive and growing .. or if you have a cool spot.. into a simi dormant state for the time inside...
have you ever bloomed before...
Gordon
I'll put it in the basement and keep a light on it during the day. I probably didn't fertilize it enough; I'm just using worm casting tea. Since I'll be putting it in the basement, should I go ahead and fertilize it now?
Thanks for the help!
Don't fertilize it if you are not going to keep it growing during the winter. In a cold basement, the Brug will go dormant or almost dormant. In that case, it doesn't need fertilizer until spring.
right.. cut it back.. bring it in... the basement sounds perfect...then as I said before..
then feed it heavily.. come spring..
has it been in the full sun..all day long... in WI that will slow it down if it isn't...
Yes, it has been in full sun. Our basement is warm, so I will be letting it grow all winter.
Jasmerr, this is how I trim my brugs..(saving the big ones till last).. I keep them alive in winter in the basement. Some bloom off and on and then it's time to go back outside. I would have cleaned the trunks more, but I'm experimenting with the tiny little starts.. I want them to age a bit more.. They were trimmed, showered with water, bottoms and tops of remaining leaves and stems, limb tips and buds, allowed to dry, then sprayed in the same fashion with Neem, top of soil, too. Then allowed to dry again and I bring inside. Some will lose a few buds and/or blooms. Most of these smaller ones are spending their first winter with me. (I have more big ones, not in the pic) Watch for creepy critters.. this year I will offer 1/4 - 1/2 strength fertilizer every other watering. And watch for critters. I think you need to feed more in Spring/Summer and then lay back on it in winter.. Right now, if you're wanting to feed it, WAIT until it adjusts to being indoors and then ease it in to a light schedule and watch for reaction.. but when it's outside next spring, I'd do what Gordon suggested ease it to 2X a week or more. I've used castings before but more for white fly and mite deterant.. Brugs have big appetites.. I feed 20-20-20.
Thanks, AuntB.
No problem, I suffer zone denial..
Finally! Last month she decided to bloom!
You can't really tell in the photos, but the blooms were white with a slight pink tint on the edges.
I'm glad you finally got a bloom. Brugs tend to produce paler flowers during winter. Having said that, a small NOID in my greenhouse has one flower right now, golden yellow with pink undertones. When I bought it through e-Bay, she was supposed to have been Mountain Magic. She started blooming as a small cutting, but she looked more like a pale version of Lemon Twist. All her blooms have been a pale yellow.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lemon-Twist--Brugmansia-Angel-Trumpet--Live-Cutting-_W0QQitemZ350148421298QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090103?IMSfp=TL090103128009r9998
(This photo was taken from Park Seed. Also I didn't buy my cutting from this seller.) Her winter color appears to be much darker. To get a better idea of what her color really is, you need to see her flushes throughout the year, possibly two.
I'm keeping this noid, even though she is definitely NOT Mountain Magic, because she has such frequent flushes even as a small plant.
I can't wait to see this one bloom in summer. The ones that bloomed later seemed more pink than the first few.
I grew this from seed that was given to me by someone here at DG.