New to Brugs - a question

I was given some brugmansia seeds last year. Due to my neglect, only one seedling survived the summer. Its a survivor though, and as I keep transplanting it into a bigger pot, it grows and grows and grows. It's now about 2 feet tall with huge leaves about 8" long and 4" wide. I have no idea which cultivar this is since tags (like my sanity) were lost long ago.
As a general rule, when do brugs start blooming? How does one get them to branch? This baby is just one long stem with leaves on top. The stem is green, not woody. It is next to a grow light table in my south facing basement. I had to take it off the windowsill because it was getting too big.
Thank you for you advice!
Deb

It will eventually get side leaves and as long as you do not pick them off it will get bushy.
Glad it is growing so good for you. Your Brug will not bloom untill it has Y (when two branches make the Y) depending on how fast your brug grows it can be early, or take awhile, after the Y watch for a leaf to grow longer on one side of the stem, it is the best indication that it is forming buds.
Good luck.


Doris

Thank you! This is the big mystery! I keep wondering what color it will be....

Deb, It will grow faster if you plant it outdoors after all danger of frost is gone. Feed it regularly — about twice a week with a complete fertilizer. Don't be surprised if it gets 6' tall or more before it "Y"s, but it can also be shorter. How tall it gets depends on what cultivar it is.

Scroll down to "Leaves" on this link. This is what Doris is talking about. Brugs have two types of growth — vegetative (Before the "Y") and flowering (After the plant "Y"s.
http://www.abads.org/members/anatomy.htm

Hmm... it looks like I have the smooth edge, pubescent leaves, vegatative region... so maybe we have a bit more growing to do. Is it common for the lower leaves to dry up and fall off? It does seem to require a lot of water compared to other plants in the jungle I call a basement....
We have quite a few months before we are at a frost free date here in Massachusetts (she says as the snow flies outside). If I can get this baby to make it through the winter and spring etc. - what do you do with them when winter comes 'round again? If it's going to be a 6 footer, it probably won't fit in my basement/greenhouse/jungle...... Can they be stored in an unheated garage?

well don't let it stay too wet there in the basement... more are lost to more moisture than drying up.. yes it will loose it's old leaves.. often they are overshadowed.. by new growth and fall off.. of are perhaps developed when the light conditions were orher than they now are .. they are dropped in favor of new growth..accustomed to the existing conditions.. so yes you'll loose them... assuming ou don't have an insect or mite condition.. which will also get them to be shed..
what light do they get in that basement.. if they are getting some sun.. or are beng given plant lighting.. you might feed them some along with the water.. more diluted than you might in the summer.. well if you've pot grown them.. bring the pot inside.. you can prune them.. to a more standard form.. [ which conserves space ] make new cuttings to be started through the winter..
post cutting give aways here.. if it's in thegroung you can dig it up anddo the same things with it.. after putting it in a pot.. pruning is a bit more necessary then.. to keep thetop growth in line with the ammount of roots left..
no it can't go int a garage unheated.. too cold where you are.. by far... do you know of the town Fayville,well as a resident there for two decades.. I can assure you you're too cold for anything but inside storage.. I bring mine inside thehouse with me here. now...as well as in an outside above freezing cool room..

Deb,
You can also take cuttings of almost any size, overwinter them in buckets of water, and start new plants in the spring. This would save you lots of space in the basement. The ones planted in the ground will die completely. Your area is too cold for the roots to survive the winter. If the garage stays above freezing, the potted plants might survive in an unheated garage. However, every time you open the garage door, the temperature in the garage wil plunge and get close to the outside temperatures.

I remember reading that Brugs will go dormant if the temperatures remain below 45ºF. Under those conditions, you can reduce the moisture in the soil until it is barely moist to keep the roots from drying out completely. The plants will lose all but the smallest leaves. Light requirements are reduced as well.
Unless the plants go dormant (Mine can't — daytime temperatures go above 50º most of the time. Some nighttime temps as wel.), I've found prolonged temperatures below 50ºF comes with its own set of problems. The biggest one is the plants still need some water, but care must be observed. Brugs don't take up as much water as they did in other seasons nor do they take it up as quickly. This can quickly lead to root rot, the biggest winter killer. Some pruned Brugs will suffer what is called die-back. The pruned area will shrivel up and turn brown. This may continue down the branch, sometimes down to a joint or sometimes all the way down the branch. I've lost a few because the die-back went all the way down to the roots. Usually applying fertilizer is not recommended during winter, but plants can suffer from nutrient deficiencies. This stresses the plants and they suffer more damage when attacked by pests.

Mine go into a heated greenhouse. In past winters, I couldn't get my DH to let me set the thermostat at 50ºF. One winter he reduced it to 40ºF. That winter, a number of my plants suffered die back, some all the way to soil level and that is with daytime temperatures often rising into the 70s and 80s. I lost quite a number, probably to root rot. Last year, I managed to get him to set the thermostat at 45ºF. Things weren't as bad, but I had to endure a lecture about how much propane I was using. I kept telling him I smelled gas, but since he couldn't smell it ...

This year, while we were testing the heater prior to our first freeze, he finally smelled the gas. He replaced the leaking valve and agreed to set the thermostat at 50ºF. Even though we seem to be having more freezing weather, he's only had to switch out the tanks twice and my plants are happier. I'm going against fertilizing recommendation and have applied it twice. So far, my Brugs are healthier.
http://davesgarden.com/
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/780863/

I was reading on another thread about watering with H202. Starting with 1tsp of 3% hydrogen peroxide to 1 gal of water and gradually work your way up to 2 1/2 tsp per gal over a month's time. It was on the brug forum I think, somewhere, and recently. I can't remember the gentleman's name but he had experimented and found that there would be no root rot with the H202. The H202 provides oxygen to the roots.

I'll see if I can find it. I think it was the recipes thread.

I found the thread. It is on the brugs forum and the thread title is "Home Recipes for Brugs/Dats. It was bumped up. The post starts on date March 29, 2004 by JLD_ll. He goes to great length in several posts to explain the chemical reaction and so forth. I found this whole thread to be very informative.

I'll have to go look at it. It would be something to try if a cutting is going downhill. With higher nighttime temperatures I haven't had a problem this winter.

Veronica, the H202 is for watering established potted plants also. To hear him explain it, root rot from overwatering is what kills the plants. If you water with a H202 solution then you don't have to worry about overwatering because the hydrogen peroxide is providing the oxygen the roots need that soggy soil can't provide. Does that make sense? He explains it so well.

There was some concern about the HP killing cells but he explains that, on down in more posts. He has had success with it. I have already watered my brug cuttings and big brug with it. They seem to be fine.

It would be nice not to have to obcess over whether I'm overwatering in the winter or not.

well.. best..most organic and geenway to prevent overwatering.. is to get more plants.. if they aren't ready for watering again..by the time you finished.. then you don't have enough of them.. OH...there's often parts of life that crop up in between cycleing.. but given these interuptions.. you should be able to water about contineously... when you are manageing pests and light..and this time of year it gets easier... with piles of new seedlings up and comming..