kimjo2006,

You can indeed plant your brugs in planters. The size of them is dependent upon the size of the root ball upon your receipt of them. Thinking ahead, I have found that it is easier to store in pot / pails that are about 12-14 inches in diameter, and about the same depth. They are not too heavy to carry at this size. I dig a hole in the ground, and then drop the plant, pot and all, into the hole. In the fall, I will trim the roots that have escaped from the pot, and haul it inside for the winter. You will discover, I am sure, that it is easier to bring in, if the drainage holes are in the side.

What kind of growth can you expect? A big question indeed. That depends upon the size of the plant you receive, and also the amount you feed it. I have seen plants grow from about a foot tall in the spring, to well over 6 feet in the fall. Others don't grow so high. Brugs do like to be fertilized so you will have to give it some regular feeding. I use miracle grow every week or two, but any other balanced food is good. Also you will need to be aware, as I am sure you are after reading so many postings here, that it will not bloom until it "Y"'s. Some people get cuttings from plants above the "Y", and they can bloom the first year. Others give cuttings from below the "Y", and it can take several years before they produce their "Y" and bloom.

When is it time to move to a protected area? Being tropical in nature, the brug will not tolerate frost, and it will "give up the ghost" with the slightest frost. I have seen a large healthy plant become mush after one night's frost. Personally, I dig up my brugs before a heavy frost is forecast. With a light one, I throw over an old sheet. As I said, when a heavy frost is forecast, I dig up the plant ( in a pot already in the ground), and take it to my garage. I do not have the luxury of a greenhouse, so in the winter, my MATURE brugs go dormant in the cold cellar except for my variegated ones which do not take well to that environment. They stay in the main living area ( and sometimes bloom for me). I really feel strongly that they do need a rest period though. If your garage freezes, I don't think that is the place unless you can rig up some sort of area which will not freeze. There are several ideas in the forum about that. If you have a greenhouse which does not freeze, then that may be the best place for them. Bringing them indoors in an option, unless you have too many ( which I do). Sometimes they will continue to grow slowly and make a nice houseplant. Sometimes, they will go dormant. Once I had two identical cuttings which had grown over the summer, and when fall came they were placed indoors side by side. One continued to grow , and the other went dormant. The next spring, they both were alive and well, and gave a good show. I think the one that went dormant had the better show though.

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask in the forum for more...

Hi kimjo2006,

Jroot has given you some excellent advice, but I would like to give you a little more information.

As jroot said you can plant your brugs in the planters or in the ground. I use a combination of both methods. I use drilled buckets placed inside large planters. I just dig the bucket out of the big pot in the fall. I am including a link to a picture so you can see what I am talking about.

Some other things that can affect the amount of growth you might get this year are; how much sun they get (# of hours of full sun and the amount of shade), the quality of the potting mix or soil and what kind of weather you get this summer.

Out of curiousity, what two Angels trumpets did you get from Park's? I bought the Cherub earlier this year. The plant I received was not real big, but it was very well rooted and healthy. You really can't ask for more than that.

And as jroot said too, don't hesitate to ask questions. We all had to ask questions to learn and I still ask questions too. Even after growing and hybridizing them for about ten years now.

Hope you have very good luck and see blooms this summer.

David

Here is a link that might be useful: Drilled Bucket in Pot Method

I ordered a few of the sale brugs from Parks too. I'm assuming that they will be small but hopefully healthy. Two months ago I potted up some 6" cuttings that I rooted (a number of different varieties). They are about 18-25" tall now but no buds yet. Most were put into 10-12" clay pots. They are in a well draining potting mix and get fed about every 10 days. I also use Superthrive. With the heat that we've been having I sometimes need to water 2x/day.

Park Landscapes has a sale right now of Equador White; 3" pot and Cherub; 2 1/2" pot for $1.95 each. I ordered 920 of each. BTW begin checking Big Lots and the other discounters as they are beginning to clear out the garden stuff. Last week got 16" terracotta for $6 and a 16" glazed pot for $10.

This weekend I moved all my datura seedings into 2 gallon pots. They range from 4 - 8" tall, but are growing fast.

920?????????? What you gonna do with all those???

If rain1950 did indeed order 920, they wont have time to answer your question. they will be too busy planting LOL.

I hope they have enough left to send my 4!lol

I can fumblefinger with the best of them LOL

No, 2 of each. Anyway, swung by Big Dipper Farms up here and picked up 'Snowbank' yesterday, 4" pot 6" tall. Roots already coming out the bottom. Nice looking plant @$14.95.

Label says cold hardy to 10 degrees. What did they do to accomplish this?

Ok, I've begun my new obsessions with Daturas this Spring, having grown a few huge ones from seed and now that I've stumbled upon this forum I'm afraid I am about to take on a new affliction for Brugs. I don't even have any yet but I've got to see some for myself. I just ordered the ecuador white from Park's. Did anyone receive their's yet? I didn't get a confirmation email from them or anything.

I've also been looking on ebay. I saw some for a reasonable price that were over 30in. tall with buds...

Does Parks have a web site?

http://parkslandscapes.chainreactionweb.com/index.php

Hi Tastefullyjulie - I also ordered a Brug from Parks and received confirmation e-mail the next day. If you still haven't heard from them I think it might be a good idea to contact them in case your order was not received. Best wishes and good luck, Jenny

I ordered some of the brugs, along with some other plants from Parks on 6/26. I called yesterday and was told that they would be mailed out on 7/3. We'll see. I kind of hope that whomever answered was incorrect and that they will be mailed after the holiday. I don't like the thought of live plants being held at the postal storage facility any longer than necessary.
Karyn

Being a holiday doesn't mean the mail stops moving. The only thing that doesn't happen to a package 365 days a year is there is no delivery on holiday. Trucks always have to keep moving, they don't just pull off the road and park on a holiday. They have to stay distributed around the country. Besides almost all postal employees work on the 4th, it is called a working holday just no window service or delivery. On working holidays (all the minor ones) if you drop mail in the slot at a major PO, not a small town it is processed and sent that day. There is plenty of room on the airplanes too. What is bad is when a package is sent UPS or FEDEX and scheduled for delivery on Friday and misses the delivery date then is sits till Monday becausethey don't deliver on Saturday. They use the holday to catch up on 3rd class because after the holiday the mail is heavy so the worst time to mail is the day after the holiday.

I received my order today and everything is in good condition.

Well, let me know how you guys make out. I just called because they never answered the email I sent on Tuesday and they said my order won't ship until the week of July 10th. She said the shipping department is closed for the entire week of the 3rd.