I have noticed that The flowers on my Brug that Bloomed two-three weeks ago have turned Brown. The started Turning brown On the edges and a few are really brown. It look like water sat on them too long. My question is ...Can and should I remove them to give way for the new blooms? I want to take more pictures and with them there it looks terrible! thanks ..wayne
Wayne Thompson
North Tonawanda,NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39
Been experiencing those problems all summer here in the Valley, Wayne. The blooms just DON'T look normal. I'm to the point that I just leave them and figure when the weather settles and things cool down, they will look much better.
I hear ya about the picture taking. It hasn't been the most pleasant task this summer so most of the ones I've posted have been pretty pathetic. I love seeing the postings from the rest of you who have had more vibrant brugs this summer.
Wayne, my brug blooms usually look good for 5-6 days, then the do the same as yours...turn brown on the edges and start to go brownish all over. About that time they start to go limp as well. That's the signal they're spent, but they usually stay on the plant quite awhile longer before they fall off. I groom them by pulling off the limp flowers. I hold the flower stem (pedicle) up near the plant stem with one hand while I tug on the corolla with the other. If they come loose easily, I just toss them. If they resist coming free, I leave them another day or two. I take most of my pics as the flush begins, before any flowers get old. As in many things, timing is important! If I want to take pics later, I groom first & focus on the best blooms.
Patrick
Brug Moderator
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place
Wayne and Patrick, you're fortunate to get 5 -6 days and an unblievable 2 weeks!! Blooms here only last a few days before turning brown! Then as Patrick explained, I remove the bloom but leave the calyx to drop or become a seed pod. I guess its the heat and humidity, since Jarie seems to get a few more days out of hers and she has more heat than we do.
I do plan to return to my tomato fertilizer, I'm going to continue adding milorganite also but I miss having the succession of buds which means a succession of blooms. I don't like having to wait for a flush of blooms and then having them all gone in a week.
Michele
Jacksonville, Fl
Zone 9a
Nature, in order to be commanded must be obeyed. Sir Francis Bacon
All of you are more fortunate than I - mine last only one day in this heat if I am fortunate enough to get a bud to stay on long enough to open. Just enjoy them for whatever amount of time you have - and keep in mind that there will be more.
One day Carrie..wow! Only my Datura last one day. I was so suprised to find out Brug blooms last longer...Maybe not 2 weeks but I bet I got all of 8-9 days out of mine!
Wayne Thompson
North Tonawanda,NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39
Wayne & I probably have to wait longer for the plants to get their growth & develop their buds...so it's only fair we should get flowers that last longer! lol
Patrick
Brug Moderator
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place
Patrick, I'll go along with that (you and Wayne having blooms last longer). Michele, you mentioned tomato fertilizer. Is that what you use on your brugs?
We had some blooms that stuck around for longer than a week... over winter.
Currently, when there are blooms, it's 2 to 3 days tops, and only if they're in mostly shade. The ones that are getting more sun... ummm... what blooms?
Lynne
USDA Zone 9b
Heat Zone 10
Bradenton, Florida
Jarie,
I swear by Schultz Tomato Fertilizer to produce buds continuously. Last year I was faithful in applying it every couple of months and had blooms on all my brugs that were in different stages. After a big flush, I would have a smaller flush and then another larger flush because they would always have different size buds.
This year I decided to try the bone meal, blood meal, epsom salt fertilizer and with my sandy soil have not seen good results for the brugs, everything else loves it and I will continue to use it on my roses and other plants, herbs love it also. I'm not sure why its not enough for my brugs.
The rest of the year, I'm going to apply milorganite, epsom salt and the Schultz Tomato Fertilizer and see if I can't get them all blooming again and the nice dark color to their leaves. Tomato fertilizer didn't do much for leaf color or leaf production, the milorganite is really helping with that, mine have all greened up since applying that a few weeks ago.
Michele
Jacksonville, Fl
Zone 9a
Nature, in order to be commanded must be obeyed. Sir Francis Bacon
Will have to give that a try, Michele. I've been using regular Miracle Gro and they're perking up a bit but a far cry from the normal look for brugs. I know temperatures are causing the biggest troubles right now. for the tip.
Shirley, I'm hoping that they make it open in time for you and give lots of blooms before it starts getting too cold.
In a different post you said "growing brugs is a lot of work and when they don't bloom, it isn't much fun," and that you're going through the 'Not Much Fun' stage right now... My husband said that too, yesterday afternoon, just with different words. We're right there with you right now. Between mites and other bugs, the sun, and now figuring out that all the Brugs we've put in the ground have to come out and go back in to pots... well...
Lynne
USDA Zone 9b
Heat Zone 10
Bradenton, Florida
No truer words have been spoken, Lynne & Shirley. This has been quite a summer with all the pests and weather difficulties. My hubby raises an eyebrow or two when I mention more brugs coming.
The two side shoots that I took from my Sunset and were doing so nicely for the past month are now dying, almost overnight. This is what I found yesterday and a couple of days ago they had been fine, getting ready to bloom again.
I've kept them watered and I did add some liquid fertilizer about 4 days ago. I was really looking forward to those two making nice plants. Now I'm not so sure it will happen. There don't seem to be any bugs on them and even the whiteflies have subsided.
It certainly takes dedication and perserverance to grow anything this year. I agree it hasn't been a great deal of fun - I just keep trying to remember that things will get better ----(won't they?). Lynne, why not leave your brugs in the ground and just take cuttings? I did that last year and did not lose a one in the yard. I just mulched them heavily.
Jarie, curious, how much sun are those two getting?
Could I reccomend putting them in full shade for a bit to see if it helps?
Moving them into shade saved several of ours that would have been baked Brugie had we not.
Carrie, yes, I do believe things will get better. Pink Floyd's proving that, it's gone from dying sticks to plenty of leaves and getting ready to flower. Unfortunately, the two that I mulched... I think it made it worse, kept them even more wet and helped the rot right along.
Lynne
USDA Zone 9b
Heat Zone 10
Bradenton, Florida
Lynne, when I suggested leaving them inground, I had no idea of your drainage problem. I noticed on another thread that someone had suggested raised beds, and that may solve your problem. Most of the time I don't get enough rain for drainage to be a problem for me. I can see how mulching an already WET brug could do a lot of damage. I mulch heavily to protect the roots in the winter.
I hope you can get this resolved, because I can tell you that moving those big containers is a very big job. I always have to have help doing so.
Both of those containers have either been on my covered patio or in semi-shade. The fact that they seemed to be doing so well for more than a month and then almost overnight changed courses is puzzling me. I'm hoping they'll both recover and , Lynne, will make sure they are kept in shade.
