Hey Thanks. Haven't seen me around any gardening forums, but I read them all the time. This is my first year to grow Brugs. I mostly enjoy other peoples Brugs but most here in Galveston were wiped out by Ike last year. So I am starting over in my yard with Brugs. This one that I bought looked healthy so I bought it.($3.99) There were about 20 or so and they all looked exactly alike in 4 inch pots, so I guess they were seedlings. The rest I have bought have been from cuttings. The post following this one was really helpfull about Brug vs Datura. Thanks Steve

Prairiemoon2, What a lovely name! I believe you just read the postings that I recently contributed to. I am sorry if you got alarmed or overly anxious. I've been working with datura and brugs for quite some time now, and this recent incident was the first ever for me. To be honest, I know that I should wash after touching them, but I don't always do so, but I do exercise caution with them. Keeping the sap away from sensitive areas is a good rule to follow. NEVER eat it. Learn from my experience and keep it from touching your eyes. By all means smell it though. I love to gently lift the flower and inhale its perfume. I also encourage my guests to do so too, but I also warn them about being careful with it for a couple of reasons, one being the obvious fact that it is poisonous ( although NOT like poison ivy), and another that I don't want it to be snapped off by an insensitive person, but rather handled gently. This is me touching the flower.....and I am still alive longing to touch more. To answer your questions, No, I do not believe they will poison the soil. Even poison ivy does not poison the soil. Neither do tomatoe plants poison the soil, and I believe these plants are in the same family. Daturas will usually self seed in one year. I note that you are in zonew 6. I am in zone 5, and have found that the simple white datura often seeds itself, and propogates itself the next year. The more complex ones seem to be more frost sensitive. I had good luck collecting seeds from my double purple swirl datura. Brugmansia, on the other hand, as a rule, will not produce seeds the first year. In fact, I have never had one go to seed for me here at my place, but friends down the road have had some seed. I have found that the plant takes about 3-4 years from the seed propogation to flowering. It is much easier, and faster to take a cutting and root it. Also you tend to get a truer genetic plant to the mother plant. With pollination, one usually has to be concerned about where the male genetic contribution comes from, as flowers are usually pollinated by bees, birds, or moths. The more sun you can give it, the better. I have some that get the morning sun similar to yours, and some that get the evening sun similar to yours. Either one is good. The best comes from getting even more sun. I suggest you enjoy your plants. I LOVE mine, and get very excited when they flower. However, do respect them, and definitely TEACH any young folks around to respect them as well.

That sounds like the tiny flea beetles that always attack my eggplants. I was told to try a mixture of flour and water and spray it on them. I honestly don't remember if it worked. I finally decided that I was better off not trying to fight them in the yard. I only grow eggplant in the greenhouse now. For some reason they don't bother them in there. Karyn Here is a link that might be useful: bug ID site

In my experience with daturas, I have found that the ones that grow the best for me are the ones that come up on their own in between the patio stones. It was pointed out to me that they are getting lots of heat...from the heat absorbed by the patio stones during the day, and they are also growing in sand.....our yard is very sandy and although it is well amended in the garden areas, lots of sand was put down when the patio stones were laid. Hope that answers your question regarding heat and sand.....:)They also take a long time to germinate.....I almost gave up the first time I tried! I have no experience with brugs. I got my first one (a small potted up cutting)in June this year. It is growing well and is in a larger pot already.