Andrew, I'm am newbie to Brugs this summer too. I understood that the
cutting had to be above the Y to bloom same year. Not that the cutting
had to actually be a Y. Your plans sound really nice. Are you going
to dig your tropical plants back up before it gets cold? I hope someone
with experience will respond to your post.

Hello Andrew and Roper

the brugs in the picture look fine..just be patient..
And do not put them in the ground at this time...Next spring after they've had they're "sleep" and after the last frost,go ahead and plant them...but i find they bloom faster in pots..although i am just north of Montreal..
I have about 30 in the ground and another 30 in pots..

Also change the fertilizer you're using to one with a high middle number..but don't fertilize after mid august..
give them time to ready themselves for the winter..

Cheers and good luck..
diggy

Hi. You are confusing branching/forking with a Y. You'll know when a brug has formed a Y by looking at the foliage above the split. The base of the leaf will be uneven where it attaches to the petiole. Cuttings that are taken above a Y will usually bloom sooner then those taken from below because once a brug has Y'd subsequent Y's are faster to develop. I have a few brugs that are just beginning to form a Y. I'll post pics later today so you can see the difference. It's easier to see it then to try to describe it.

I fertliize 1x/wk. In the beginning of the season I'll use a balanced fertilizer but switch to something with more phosphorus and potassium to promote blooms. The high nitrogen promotes vegetative growth. I also give my brugs micronutrients a couple times a month and discontinue feeding about 4 weeks before the end of the growing season.
Your foliage looks healthy but they look a bit lanky. Are they getting enough sun? You want at least full am sun. Some brugs can take sun all day and others need protection from direct afternoon sun.

I agree with the previous post that it's too late in the season to put them inground. Alow them to go dormant this winter and sink the pots next spring.

P&C is one of the more common variegated brugs and shouldn't be too hard to find. You are best off looking for cuttings in the fall when most of us trim our plants back for winter storage.

You'll probably get blooms this season. Just give it a bit more time. Some years it feels like I'm waiting forever for blooms.

Here's pics of a Y. The first are where it's just beginning. The last is an older Y with new Y's developing above.

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These are just where the plant has branched and have nothing to do with a Y. Eventually Y's will form on all the branches.

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Uneven foliage base above where a Y has formed compared to foliage below a Y.

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I hope this helps.

Hi Karyn,
My tallest cutting does have the "Y" in your third picture. I have all my brugs in full sun. The morning sun is the stronget though. The smallest of the three is the most compact. I should have taken individual pictures of all of them so you could see them better.

How do you know when to prune them? I wanted to prune all of them so they would have branched out better but I didn't know if they were going to bloom or not so I just let them grow. Now I know what fertilizers to use.

I keep my tropicals outdoors until about the end of November, even my tropical fruits. Some years I have to bring them in earlier but it is normally anywhere between the second week of November to the end of November. last year we didn't even have a hard freeze until December but with most of my tropicals being in large tubs, I got tired of dragging them in and out. I live about 10 miles away from Lake Erie so I do have the advantage of living in a microclimate.
I will keep reading posts here throughout the fall anmd winter to be more prepared for next spring. I didn't even know this forum existed!
Thanks everyone!
Andrew

The only type of pruning you do to a brug is cutting it back to one main stem and removing all the lower foliage to make it look like a standard. They aren't pruned to make them look bushy. You do cut them back when you get them ready for dormancy. If yours has formed a Y and you have unequal leaf bases then you should have buds developing. Is the Y hidden by the upper foliage in your pic? I have some that are dropping buds almost as soon as they develop so the plants have Y'd several times but have yet to flower. It might well have to do with the unusually high temps we've been having. They bloom better when it starts to cool off.

You are lucky to be able to keep your tender plants out that late. Mine usually have to be in the greenhouse by late Oct and we occasionally get an early frost. I'm terrible and often leave everything until the last minute when I hear that a frost is predicted then it's the mad rush to move everything. lol A brug isn't going to suffer if it gets hit with a frost. It will just kill the foliage and maybe the newer soft growth that gets trimmed off when you put them away anyway. They are actually hardy in zone 7b with a good mulch and come back from the roots. I'm in 7a and they won't survive here, even in a protected area with a heavy mulching.

Thanks, Karyn, for posting the photos of ys. I have several of them on my in ground plants so expect to see buds forming soon.

I am happy to say that one of my brugs is going to bloom. I noticed yesterday that I had a bud forming on one of the 3 plants. I think our summer here wasso hot that it may have effected them blooming.
Andrew

Andrew, congrats on your new bud! That is so exciting. And wait til you smell them at night!

~Brenda