I'm storing my Brugs in the garage again this winter. It's 39 degrees outside right now, damp, and very windy. Anyway, I have four that have good size buds growing on them, do I cut back on their water like the others or do I continue to water them normally till they bloom and they die back?
Help with Brugs in garage.
If you want to enjoy the flowers, keep them in the light & heat until they bloom then strip off all the leaves & put them in the dark. You will only need to give each of them about a cup of water about once a month.
Linda
I have a Cherub that just now Y'd a five feet. There are tiny liitle buds. I have decided to let them try to flower. I am in a warmer zone , but I will put in workshop on colder nights and bring out during the day when it is warmer. I will water as the soil demands. I shall see if she blooms. If not, there is always next year.
I keep my brugs in the light and it is still warm in my garage. I want to know only about the ones that are budding and still have lots of leaves on them. Do I continue to water them normally. I've already cut back on the others.
You will need to check the soil. All plants need less water in the winter with it's cooler temps and shorter days, flowering or not. Test the soil with your finger. If it's dry down to about 1- 2 in. then water. If not, don't. When you do water I would fertilize. I am still fertilizing mine and she likes it. Mine sits outside in the sun and gets water about every two days, maybe three. Her soil just stays moist because the sun is in the southern sky and isn't beating down on her to dry her out.
Others may do it differently. I just know this is working for me right now.
Thank you so much. I just didn't want to overwater and kill them.
Yep, that's always the risk in winter. I find the less I water them the better off they are. The finger test is the best indicator. If they go dormant or semi dormant it's even less water. My crape myrtles get very little water. In fact they ususally only get water when there is going to be a freeze to insulate the roots. Next spring they are going into the ground. They take better care of themselves in the ground.
Yes they do so much better in the ground. I put mine in two years ago and this year they are up to 9 feet tall and bloomed profusely all summer.
I had watered my brugs yesterday, all there leaves were drooping badly and today they look fine. I didn't drown them though. It had been a couple of weeks since I had watered them.
My first brug Cherub Pink, bought last spring, is five ft tall and just now Y'd. I didn't think that was ever going to happen. I also have a two foot yellow that hasn't y'd. Then I have 21 cuttings in my guest room/brug nursery. I will give some to family and keep some to put in the ground. They just get too big for me to keep in a pot. I can't wait for mine to bloom.
Yep, sagging leaves is a pretty good indicator they are thirsty. That one we all recognize. :)
The one brug I am most anxious about is a seedling that has 2 buds on it. It has not Y'd at all. I started it from seed back in April this year. I lost the tag and not sure what it is going to be. The other that have buds are all noids and have been blooming all summer, so no big deal if they lose their buds, but this one is a must to bloom.
wow, I didn't know they'd bud without Ying first. Learn something new everyday. I'm looking forward to growing one from a seed, whenever mine produce seeds.
I have tiny little buds in my Cherub that I'd hate to lose, they would be my first, so I am going to try to get her to bloom even though it's winter. I'm not going to let her go dormant, if I can help it.
I'll cross my fingers for her. Good luck. Someone told me that is happens once in a while that they can bloom without the Y, but never believed it could happen to mine.
Robynznest, Brugs must produce a "Y" before they form buds. Something might have damaged the other half of the "Y" as it was forming making it appear as if there was no "Y". Take a look at the leaves near the the bud stalks. If the leaf edge is asymmetrical at the petiole junction, the plant has "Y"ed, but lost the other half. Scroll down to Leaves in this link to see what the leaves look like after the "Y" forms:
http://www.abads.net/Anatomy/
Is your garage heated? Did your brugs stay live all last winter? I am especially curious about your methods since you are the only person I have found in this forum that has exactly the same weather as I have. Are your brugs in pots, did you dig them out of the ground and then bring them into the garage?
Betty her are several pictures of the brug. I sent 4 other seedlings to some friends and each one of them have buds too. It is a peach x white.
another
a couple of the leaves are asymetrical
it has two more buds coming out the very top
The stem is smooth all the way down to this, which I had assumed was a branch not a Y
Kathy, my garage is not heated and the door was opened quite a few times on those warmer (haha) days. I just put up a cloth around them to keep drafts from the door away from them, Gave them a couple of cup of water every 3 weeks or so. They are all in pots and they do get lots of light, there are windows all around the garage. They just didn't get direct sunlight. Everyone came back and bloomed except one pink noid. I don't know what her problem was because she got the same treatment as the rest and she is bigger than them.
That is awesome robyn. It is good news to me. I have an unheated building I might try next year to keep some brugs in. That is counting my chickens before they are hatched, I know, seeing as I only have some cuttings right now. I believe in having a plan so thanks for the info. Anything that works in your yard should work in mine.
That's great. Where is Eunice anyway?
I am 90 miles east of Springfield 60 miles south of Rolla in Texas County
You shouldn't be to far from me then. In the spring I will probably host another Roundup for our area, will try to remember and send you an invite.
Thanks I would like that.
Yes I am not far from you. I have seen Stoutland on the weather map on KY3 so I have a rough idea where it is. I live just outside of Houston. So next time Houston or Summersville are on the weather map think of me.
I sure will.