I'm in zone 9 and never sink the pots in the ground. They stay in their pots until winter and then bring them inside.

Jeremeyi, some online gardening friends that live where it's cold, drill the holes on the side of the pot, not the bottom. This makes it easier for them to slice the roots on the sides to bring their brugs in for winter. It's hard to tell how big your plant is, but if it's not too big, you don't need a large pot. In my experience, brugs always grow faster in ground, so assume sinking the pot will give them that sort of environment where their roots can travel out further. I've seen some photos of a guy that does the holes on the side and they looked about the size of a dime or a bit larger, but then his plant was large to begin with. Hope the experts here will provide you with better info.

I was thinking the same thing on drilling the holes in the pot that it would give it almost the same effect as being right in the ground. So far this brug is about 8-9 inches tall, but seems to be growing fast. Thanks to both of you for the help and input. As for the holes in the pot, I probably would have drilled into the sides and bottom and had a big duh moment come fall! ; )

It is okay to have them in the sides and the bottom. I sink my plumerias in pots with holes in sides and bottoms. They do okay. I have grown brugs that way in the past as well. I now plant them out and if they are ones that I want to keep the seedpods on, come winter, I dig them up and shove them in the gh since we freeze a few times hard enough here to kill off the top growth and seedpods etc.

Ok, she seems to be doing pretty well so far, next question is what size pot should I put her in? The picture I have hopefully linked to is the brug sitting next to a 1 gallon milk jug for scale. Thanks everyone for the responses so far!

http://imgur.com/nvMYs75

not in pots, just plant the bergs into the ground and dig up in fall. They are fast growers and pot bound just slows the growth.

I have had all my planted in 5 gal pots for years. Every year I give them fresh soil and put the old soil in my compost. Both my peach meringue and ecuador pink have already bloomed and should flush again in about a month.

I quit using pots as I think they do better in ground and roots are easy to cut with a spade if/when you have to dig in the fall. If you do use a bucket, definitely use side holes as the roots are sizeable and you might have difficulty prying your bucket out due to roots through the bottom holes.

here are cuttings from 2 months ago, pruned from the parent and shoved into the dirt. No extra prep. As you can see Berg's can take some heavy pruning and jump right back. I like in ground around may 15th and dig up for greenhouse around Oct. 15th.

Carrie,

I'm in DFW too, and want to know, how much sun does your brugs get? I have six potted cuttings right now, and want to plant some of them in the ground.

Thanks

None are in FULL sun, Kachana, most get only morning sun and some get only dappled sun. They require a lot of water at this time of year here in Texas, and I try to fertilize twice a week when I can. If you plant them in the ground now, just remember to cut them back before the first frost or freeze and mulch.

Thank you, Carrie. I have an area that gets morning sunlight, so they will go there.

i did not know they are heavy feeders! I've only given them Osmocote once since spring. It's supposed to feed up to 6 months. Should I give them general purpose MG to supplement?

They are very heavy feeders, and at least twice a week if you want blooms. I mix mine in a 30 gallon trash can and water from it since I have quite a few to feed. I mix all purpose MG, tomato fertilize and a little epsom salt and this seems to work well for me. If you ever go over to the Network 54 brug forum, the pic on there at the present time is one of mine.

Thank you, again, Carrie. I'll have to get the tomato fertilizer, and will check out that forum later.

Have a great day

You are very welcome, and good luck with your brugs...........they are such rewarding plants