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Questions about caring for a new brug cutting.

17 years ago

At our Canada Day event near Vancouver, BC, there was a lady selling what she called 'tree datura' cuttings for $5. I think it's a brugmansia --- here's what it looked like right after I bought it:

"http://members.shaw.ca/cyberhun/brug_new.jpg";

It has grown very quickly, doubling, almost tripling in length already. I re-potted it once into a larger, 12 inch diameter pot. Is it a brug? Also, I don't know what to make of some apparantly contradictory advice on caring for brugs -- some say water it well and then wait till it's almost completely dry before watering again to avoid root-rot (in other words wait a week between waterings), but other's say water it daily or even more to fertilize the heck out of it. I tried cutting back on the photoperiod to induce blooming but maybe that only works with non-tropicals which see reduced days as the beginning of the end of the season, but maybe tropicals don't work that way. Maybe tropicals bloom when they see increasing amounts of daylight because in the tropics the seasons are different? Or maybe it's just plain too small right now to bloom at all? I don't have my camera now or I'd show you a pic, but it's pretty big and growing at a fantastic rate --- any chance I might get a bloom this season?

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Comments (2)

karyn1
17 years ago
That's a brug. You should plant it in a 5 gallon container. During the growing season I water mine everyday and fertilize 2x/wk. You might not need that much water, it's very hot here. You need to allow it to go dormant during the winter. Stop fertilizing the end of this month and when it gets cool bring it into an unheated basement or garage, somewhere that's cold but above freezing. Don't water it much at all during it's dormant cycle. The leaves will all drop and you'll have a big stick. You can take cuttings and root them indoors. When it starts getting warm next spring take it back outside, start watering and fertilizing and you should get blooms. If you've taken any cuttings and rooted them over the winter pot them up and water and fertilize them also.
Karyn
trigger_m
17 years ago
The apparently contradictory watering advice is correct!When the plant is just a cutting,and is just forming roots,overwatering will cause root rot,and it will die.However,when the plant has grown larger,(sounds like your has gotten this big),you can water as often as the soil starts to dry.The plant has to fork before it will bloom.I've had some fork at 1 foot tall-but most don't fork ontil a few feet tall.I use the blue fertilizer-they like it every week.
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i am interested in trading for a few of your brugs. especially the charles grimaldi. if you are interested, please check out the photo gallery summer beauty section. you can see the pink, yellow and white . i have huge clippings. let me know . email me through gardenweb. plantlover49.
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It won't hurt anything if they do scorch. They will just look ugly and fall off anyway, lol. Put it in shade for a day or two then slowly move under a tree in dappled shade for a few days then you can try a little more sun. Some of them can't handle full sun but the deep green fuzzy large leaved ones love it and grow like crazy. The thinner leaved ones need some afternoon protection in our heat at least. I would give them some superthrive and a little epsom salt mixed with water. I need to do the same to mine. Some are looking pale. I use miracle grow potting soil and it works fine. I add perlite if I have it. If not make sure you have good drain holes. You can bury it if you like or leave it as is. You may have to water more if its exposed. Good luck. Don't move them up to too large a pot at a time. Let the roots fill in first then move up a size or two. I jumped one up by too many sizes and its still the same size it was last year, lol.
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Are you sure they are alive? If there's no foliage I wouldn't water them that much. It might cause rot. I wouldn't feed them again until you see some growth. Maybe a dose of B1 or Superthrive to get them started would be a good idea. It sounds a bit unussual but I have plenty of brugs that are quite alive that take their sweet time putting out foliage.
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You can root green ones easiest if you do them like a small tip cutting and make a little humidity dome for them. I use the tall take out chinese soup clear container. Put perlite in the bottom few inches with holes in the lid and the bottom and water it well then put the lid on and watch for roots. When you start seeing them crack the lid open a little more each day until its off then you can transfer it to a little pot. You can use the little mini greenhouse things too but you might want to do it in a bright window if its really hot outside or at least in the shade. If they are pretty firm and not wimpy green you won't need to lid but use rooting hormone on the green ones. Its not too late to start seeds as long as you can keep them growing over the winter the first year.
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