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Overwintering brugs in Canada ?????

14 years ago

Have brought my 6 ft brug into my living room and a bright window for the winter but after reading some of your answers to posts and info I'm not sure if I should have put it in the basement? It was just getting ready to bloom and didn't want to miss it!!! Of course after it started to drop leaves ( but continued to bloom !!!) I started a web search and found the plants to be Noxious ?? So I've made sure everyone coming into the house knows and now wash my hands after handling the plant!!Started this plant from a fingerling I bought from Wallmart and my daughters highschool Horticulture class has a green house so it went there for a great start!! I don't want to lose it so any advice would be helpful !!! Lori

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Comments (9)

wickedwickedwitch
14 years ago
I grew my plants in Buffalo NY by a big, bright window and never had a problem. The first I heard about overwintering was on this group. I had problems with cold air leaking in but that was it basically.
ruth_ann
14 years ago
Lori, where in Canada ( Zone or city) do you live? ( it will help me with what instructions to give you)
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Have you started feeding it yet? I think they recommend giving it a half strenght dose of fertilizer to help it start waking up.
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Last1earth, The neat thing about gardeners is that they are willing to take a calculated chance and try to "push the zone". I know that I do. In response to your question, I honestly have my doubts if it will survive in your zone 6. However, even in your zone at your property there may be some area that does not feel the cold so much. Why not try it with one that you are prepared to sacrifice, in the name of experimentation? However, I would be certain that I had taken cuttings of it in the fall before any sign of frost, .... just in case. I think that the probability of success is directly proportional to the size of the winter housing you create. There is a chap in Western Canada who has successfully overwintered his pampas grass which is hardly only to zone 7 on good winters. He builds a cocoon around it using straw bales, and then back fills that with leaves, and then covers that with a waterproof tarp. That is a lot of work in my mind, but pampas grass does not overwinter indoors. However brugmansia do. I bring all of mine indoors and place them in my cold cellar. Any cuttings I do, I place under lights all winter. To me that is simpler. If you do decide to go ahead with the experiment, we would all be appreciative of knowing the size of your protective device, and its success. I hope that helps.
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Hey fellow Californians! Like Iris said, there are more of us than I had though! That's great! I am also in the Central Valley (sunset zone 9, USDA zone 9b) near the foothills of the Sierra Nevada (yes, those mountains are covered in snow in the wintertime!). I leave my brugs outdoors in the ground. Even if frost gets the leaves, they are completely fine, they might look ugly, but I simply think of them as decidious trees. They grow their leaves back as soon as the weather warms up. My brugs are over 10 feet tall each with zero protection in the winter and minimal summer water. I can only immagine the proportions they would reach if protected in the winter and given plenty of water in the summer. I've even had several seedlings come up where some of my brugs have produced seed pods and they all have grown all on their own for over a year. I think I will probably pot them up this coming spring and give them away.
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origami_master
14 years ago
Where in Ontario are you? I'm about an hour north of Toronto, and I just cuttings every year.

Some people cut off all the leaves, and keep them barely dry so they don't go completely dormant.

These plants are about as dangerous as tomato plants (in terms of the chemical compounds and alkaloids they make). I wouldn't recommend you keep it growing if you have pets, because every now and then, the older leaves fall off, and if a pet happens to eat it, it can do damage.
lcp042
Original Author
14 years ago
Hey I'm approximately 2 hours north west of Toronto? My town is called Palmerston approx. 1 hour north of the Kitchener/ Waterloo region. My plant is still blooming and losing leaves Daily It's looking kinda silly at the moment? I do have to small dogs but they haven't bothered with it or the leaves. Maybe when its done flowering and dropping leaves I should move it to the dark part of my basement for the rest of winter?
diane_v_44
14 years ago
Good luck with your Brugmansia

It isn't so difficult to keep them. I think the simplest is to put them in the basement. Watering perhaps a little, just a little during winter . take off the leaves is good

You are going to love this forum
Very interesting people and when you see some of what is grown, you will, I think, become a bit daffy with growing more

Diane
ruth_ann
14 years ago
Here ( I am in Burlington, south of you) I find it best to have them dormant for the winter where it is cool and dark, a basement works well. If height is an issue for you, cut it back to about 6 inches above the first Y, then it will flower earlier next year. Remove all the leaves, stop watering it and only give it about one cup of water ( slowly or it will run through the dry soil) once a month.
Bring it back up to the warmth and sunlight in March, water well once and then not again until you see new growth starting. Then you can water as needed, even a dose of Transplant fertilizer will wake your roots up to be ready for planting out in June and yes, planting it in the ground will give you better results, then dig it back up in the fall.
lcp042
Original Author
14 years ago
Wow thanks for the advice about 5 leaves left and two blooms and then I'll move it to the basement I think, it will probably be better managed there as well rather than in the living room. ( Hubby seems to get stuffed up by the fragrant smell of the bloooms !!) I told him maybe it would keep H1N1 away!!! LOL Thanks again Lori
sandysseeds007
14 years ago
Hi Lori - Most plants do loose all the outdoor grown leaves when moved indoors, then the new leaves will adapt to the indoor environment. RuthAnne is one of the best we have here for our climate, so listen to her. Do remember she mentioned 6" above your first Y. That Y is your first main branch/trunk splitting into 2 where your first flower would be nestled in and growing (or has grown). Hopefully you have 6" of two strong branches (1/2" wide? or more) above that first flower to cut down to, otherwise I'd try growing it until it is. That's how important that Y is - but if not, it'll be way better next year anyway as it now has a nice big root ball.

Enjoy your brug - Sandy
diggy500
14 years ago
hi lori

i used to live in brantford...now i'm just north of montreal...i have grown brugs for a few years now..
different kinds..different colours...love the scent..

i have a few that get about 10-14 ft...very nice...

what i do in the fall,just before first frost..is cut down almost all of them to about 4-6 inches above the soil line..
.the ones that are in or near bloom i place infront of a window until things begin to fall then trim them back aswell..
.all leaves are stripped and i trim some of the green tips to prevent bug infestation....
then the cuttings go into pails of water about 2-4 inches deep...
they root rather easily...i change the water or add more weekly...
they stay there all winter until around april the are potted up and placed in front of window or given to friends...
the original plants get placed in a dark corner in the basement and i water a cup a month...

they are an easy plant to grow and share...
hope this helps and good luck

diggy

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