lovetogrowflowers, IF you have the space to keep them as they are...WHY cut them back??? Most of us have so many, that we have to cut them back to be able to store them.
If I have the space and a tree shaped brug...I WANT A BIG TREE one day :-)

I guess I should have read the whole posting lol

The above is what I would do to mine that go into the shed and go dormant.

1. They will have a new shape of course.

2. Brugs grow very fast....they will just not bloom as fast or earlier, as if they did not get cut back.

3. Yes you have to stip, otherwise the plant is trying to feed the leaves instead of going dormant.

4. I hope you have stopped fertilizing about a month before you let them go dormant.

5. Listen to the advise of the pros here...they have done this many many winters.

It is just what will work for you that is important. I killed em all last winter. My 1st year. Well I let my big plants freeze back almost to the ground. Most of em. So I regretted not cutting them back at that time.

Most important...do not let anything drive you so crazy about taking care of the brugs...that it takes away the pleasure and fun you should have with them.

As for storing them in you crawlspace, there are members here that do that and I have no idea what is best. Read it all the time but it does not stick because I know I do not need it lol

Good luck and don't sweat it

Lucy

Hi lovetogrowflowers. I don't think you are bothering anyone. Lucy is right, try not to stress yourself out. Take deep breaths. LOL.

I think your plan for the two potted ones are perfect. I read in one of your earlier post asking about if the crawl space was ok and someone I believe said yes. For me, I WOULD strip the leaves first. The brug will be trying to take care of the leaves instead of useing its energy to go dormant. Plus you wouldn't want bugs to sneak in on a leaf and spend the winter eating your brug. :(

As for the one in ground...well people cut back or don't cut back for different reasons. One of the biggest I think is for safety and the health of the plant. During the winter the brug branches will freeze so they cut them back so there is less of a chance this will happen. Who wants a mushy rotting brug in spring? How tall is the brug you still have in the ground? How close to the ground is the Y?

The experts can chime in if this is a bad idea, but how about if you...1.Stip the leaves. 2.Cut off only the top green tips. (Save them) 3.Mulch as high as you can get it, at least to the Y if it's close to the ground. 4.Cover the brug with a REALY big rubber trash can or tub. 5.Maybe even cover that with an old blanket. Or would that be over kill? The cuttings you could take in and root them.

Hopefully none of that was bad advice. Me and Lonny are newbies too. This will be our 2nt winter. We killed one of the two brugs we had last winter. But that was because we brought them in and tried to keep them growing. This year we brought all in again. This winter we have many more, plus young ones. We made a Brug room and have been learning lots. So we are going to give it a try. If they had been bigger, we would have left them out in ground to go dormant.

Now that I have writen a novel.(sorry, long winded) Try not to worry, you brought them back to health and they are doing well enough to be around to overwinter, so I think you are doing well.

Kim

This is really and interesting thread since I thought I knew what I was going to do with my brugs this first year. Now I see there are so many more questions. So I will await some expert answers.

Gardeners in my area recommend letting plants in the ground die back and not cutting the stems until spring because bugs and diseases can enter cut stems more easily.

I used to cut them back to 6" stumps because I had 50 to fit in a 10'X10' room, as well as other tropicals to make room for. I live near Toronto, Canada. I put mine back out the first week in June and bring them in usually the second week in October and still get them to grow enough to bloom, maybe only one flush but they do bloom so the answer is YES.

{{gwi:439752}}

I would hesitate sealing a grown plant in a plastic bag IF you are not keeping it growing, it will likely rot. The reason you can safely do it when the plant IS growing is because of the O2 and the CO2 exchanged in the growth process while the plant breathes.

givelittle_getlots - Thanks so much for you post. I see now why I need to strip the leaves. Glad I posted because I hadn't planned on doing that. Also, I have already quit fertilizing. I'm trying my best :)

lon2250 - Thank you also for explaining to me why the stripping of the leaves is important. That is also the main reason I didn't want to keep them growing inside. I hear bugs get to them bad.

The two in pots, one is about 5ft tall, and the Y on that one is about 4 ft from the ground. The other one in a pot is smaller, about 3 ft tall, with the Y at about 2.5 from the ground. The inground one is about the same, 3 ft tall with the Y at 2.5 ft.

Is it okay when I cut back the inground one, to leave about 6 inches and add mulch all up around the trunk? Or is the mulch touching the trunk not a good idea? What type of mulch do you folks advise?

ruth_ann - Thank you for chiming in as well. I figured since I was in zone 8 I wouldn't have to cut back the one in ground. However, my plan now I guess is to cut it back and mulch well. I'm also going to watch and see what some of my neighbors do. I may even go talk to them. They have brugs and thus far none have been cut back. I've been watching.

Thanks again to everyone. As always, if anyone new wants to add to this thread I'll be checking it.

lovetogrowflowers I think talking to the neighbors is the best idea :-) If anybody knows how to get them through the winter...it is a neighbor who has been doing it successfully.

Even though I do not quite have the nerves with the Plumeria's that my neighbor has. He has left his huge trees out way past the temps that they say they can tolerate. Last winter he only took them in twice for the night.

So it is still what makes YOU feel comfortable and relaxed what is best for your brugs, I guess :-)

Lucy