I pushed my luck. My brugs were so close to blooming that I left them alone and hoped for the best....but that's not what I got. The ones up by the house are fine, but the ones out in the open got kissed by the frost last night. Only the tops look to be affected, do you think they'll be OK or did I really blow it?
Frost Damage
Best to cut off bad leaves . The plant puts too much energy into trying to save them .
Brugs can freeze and come back the next year as long as roots don't freeze . I would trim the bad leaves and move plants closer to house . .
There are things like cloud cover , but just soapy water will help the leaves from freezing . Water them good - it takes a lot more cold to freeze a wet leaf than a dry / dehydrated one .
As the leaf freezes , ice crystals form and destroy / rupture the cells [ like freezing a can of coke - it can only stretch so far and then ruptures ] .
I fill 1 gallon plastic milk bottles with water and put by plants till I can move them all .
Lala_Jane, if it was just a little frost, leaves may be the only thing you have lost. However, zone 5b is too cold for the plants to survive even in the ground even those near the house. You can either dig them up and put them in the basement/in the house or take cuttings and overwinter the cuttings inside. I lived near Cincinnati for 4 years and the ground froze in winter. In most cases, I think even zone 7b is pushing it if one doesn't take cuttings as backup.
Hi Guys, thanks for taking the time to respond. I had intended to bring them inside for the winter (thanks also for the great thread on over-wintering.... I don't post a lot but I've sure learned a great deal from lurking) but since they were so close to blooming I wanted to wait until the show was over.
I guess I'll go ahead and bring the damaged ones into the house. Maybe I can get by just covering the ones by the house at night for a couple more weeks. I can't stand not to see it....they're about to.....
LOL.
Lala_Jane, I believe (I may be wrong>) Brugs are more reluctant to drop their buds than their leaves. If you can provide sufficient light, either natural or artificial, they may bloom indoors.
Depending on where they are and type of house - will determine when you need to move bring in . A plant by the fire place of a brick house will / can stay outside longer than a plant 5 feet from the south side of a wood frame .
Buy some frost tender plants when they look bad move the burgs .
It is better to move as soon as you can . Too many things can happen to put off . Everything from Diarrhea to a cold snap and from the weather reports a big low is headed your way this week .
By the way , I put Xmas lites [ the little ones ] on mine in green house / cold frame . They use very little electricity and help keep frost from forming .
Good luck
Couple leaves on mine got kissed too. When I pulled the brug out of its hole to put it in the garage, I saw the roots had grown right through the 15 gallon grow bag. I suppose I trim the roots? Put the brug in a new grow bag? 15 gallon is as big as I want to go. The brug is already 5 feet tall and almost that wide...putting it in a 30 gallon bag (the next size up) and overwintering it next year is impratical.
I would wait until spring to pot up. If you didn't do it right after pulling the Brug out, I suggest you do a little top pruning to compensate for the loss of roots.
bettydee....thanks. Any suggestions on pruning the roots? They are sticking out of the holes in the bottom of the grow bag. Just cut the roots flush with the bag?
I'm thinking of setting the grow bag (which is 14" wide and 24" tall) and brug on top on a couple inches of potting mix inside a much larger Rubbermaid box. Idea is keep the roots off the floor of the basement and provide a little cushion if they grow a little. Sound right to you?
Does the Rubbermaid box, have drain holes? You may have to give the Brug a little water now and then and it is best not to have it stand around or it may become a growing ground for fungus. I like your second idea better than the first one. Cutting all those roots necessitates pruning the top and I'm leery of that because I hate to see the pruned stems die back. Although, spraying the cut with an anti-fungal agent should help avoid that. I prefer a method that stresses the plant the least.
I was going to start a new thread, but I see the cold has hit in some areas already.
Here's my question.....I have some Brugs that I grew from cuttings this year. One has about 10 flower buds on it. I've never grown these before, and when I looked it up, most sites say the nights have to be above 50 degrees. I would really like these flowers to bloom, and the weather forecast says maybe 51 degrees tonight....maybe some wind.
Should I roll them inside for the evening....or under a porch cover....or what?
Thanks.
Pam
Pam, they should be OK, but if you can easily roll them under a porch, go for it. That way if you have a frost, they will be protected.
I have several in the ground that are so-o-o loaded with buds and huge and I'm just keeping my fingers crossed for a few more days! PLEASE don't frost yet, Mother Nature. My unprotected ones in small pots have been brought into a covered are just in case.
Barbara, no frost yet. Night time temperatures tonight in the low 50s after the front the front that went through our area a few hours ago. Lows in the mid 40s tomorrow night then back up again.
Pam, I've had Brugs develop buds and bloom in the greenhouse with the thermostat set at 45ºF. As long as the daytime temperatures pop up into at least the 50s, a few nights in the mid 40s isn't going to stop them from blooming. Might slow them down, but not stop them. Where do you plan to overwinter them? The porch won't provide enough protection here in central Texas.
We have a Greenhouse for the tropicals. Just such a bother to haul them to the greenhouse at night then back up to the patio for day time. They are in big heavy pots, and the greenhouse is not close. Do I sound lazy? Oh well. :-)
We have so much in bloom right now on the patio I'm hoping the cold holds off.
These are just some of them...........
Pam
Wow does this forum move fast!
I can't tell you how much I appreciate the willingness of you experienced folk to help the rest of us out. David has already covered my next question so I guess I'm set for the winter. I had burried the entire brug pots this spring and when I dug them up some of the roots had really outgrown them. I did repot the ones in back (the ones that had been frosted....after cutting off the worst of the damage,) but haven't done anything with the others. If I'm reading correctly it's OK to wait and repot them this spring. (Which certainly works out better as I'm completey swamped trying to take care of everything else!)
Yes, it's best to wait until spring to repot.
The biggest reason I repot now is I have black beetle larva / grubs . I mix Granex with supersoil to repot .
So far I have done about 12 and have 19 more to go .
Sounds like a lot but the ones in pots have not flowered yet . When you have visiting kids help you - the names get mixed up .
Gave away 2 rosemonts and a DR Seuss [ I think - flower , trunk color and leaves were the same as one in ground on Wednesday to parents of some of the kids .