Howdy! I am logging on to this site for the first time. I received 4 brugs at a plant swap I hosted in September and I'm looking for a support network. The fella who brought them to the swap gave me a lot of info that day (maybe too much - I might be mixing it up).
I live in Minnesota so I am going to have to treat them very tenderly. Each was potted in an 8" pot and are about a foot tall. One of them has a Y and one other appears to be forming one. I understand that blooming takes place only above the Y.
One thing I don't remember is whether or not I am supposed to cut them off and re-root them in the spring (I seem to remember him saying something like that). Do you plant yours right in the ground or do you put them into pots when you put them outside?
I can't believe I had never heard of these plants before. They are so dramatic visually, and I LOVE highly scented blossoms. I feel like I have taken on a hugh responsiblity with these brugs and I welcome any "trial and error" experiences that any of you had when you were newbies. Thanks. Carmen
Carmen to the friendliest, most informative group on the internet. So glad you found your way here! Being from Florida, I will leave the advice to the capable northern gardeners who are more familiar with your climate. Enjoy the forum!
Welcome, Carmen!!!! Like Linda, I am from a different part of the country. I do, however, have brugs planted in the ground - these are the ones I have to cut to the ground and mulch the roots heavily so they can survive the winter. The ones I have in containers, however, just need to be protected from the freezing weather. I will leave the details of this method to those who share a similar climate to you.
You will find this to be the friendliest and most knowledgeably group on any forum ---- enjoy--- and, again .
Hi Carmen. First I have to say that your name is one of my favorites. My youngest granddaughter's name is Carmen.
This year, just grow your brugs through the winter and through to next fall. Before the frost, you can do one of several things. You can cut the brug into pieces, saving a piece of the trunk or two for yourself to root and they will make a plants for the next year. Or, you can save the whole plant if you have a place, like a basement, to let it go semi dormant by giving it little light and water, or you can keep it growing under high light, warmth, and water and fertilizer. However, give it a break from the fertilizer between now and the first of Feb. Another thing you can do it cut it off and keep the root that will grow a new plant for you. I find that I get more bloom flushes by keeping the plants in tact when possible, but even then, some of them can lose their tops due to drying off. Generally, something new grows from the bottom, but there can be complete loss as well. Many people who keep the whole plant will also keep a cutting from someplace on the plant so that in case it does die, they still have another start. Remember that cuttings from above the Y will make shrubby type plants and those cuttings from below the Y will make taller plants, tho they can also be shrubby.
I suggest that you grow your plants as planned, and then ask questions as they come to mind. I know you will enjoy your new plants. The bad thing is..there are so many of them to choose from. LOL! Holding myself down isn't easy. I'm betting you will soon have the same problem. Good Luck.
Am I right in thinking that brugs will flower only above a Y junction? If this is true, how long does it normally take a cutting to make a Y? 2 of mine show no indication yet of wanting to grow that way.
I took a trip through some of the photo gallery and the brugs grown as trees are soooo gorgeous. I may try to do that with one of mine, and get myself a really big dolly to wheel it in and out of the house.
If all goes well, I will have some nice photos to put in the gallery next summer. Thanks again for the warm welcome!
Hi Carmen...let me join the others in offering a warm It's our members who make our forum really special. The forum is just over a year old and we have a broad range of experience levels. I think you'll quickly feel comfortable amongst this group. Going into winter, maybe you'll find time to go back thru most of the threads & see what all has been covered...lots of gems to pick up on.
You'll want to know that there two primary brugmansia societies in the U.S. and they're loaded with wonderful pictures and great info. You can browse around thru them for free and ultimately join either/both if you're interested. Here are links to their sites:
If you think you're really attracted to the brugs you have now, wait until you have been exposed to all the great cultivars that are out there...and to the enthusiastic testimonials of our members. In no time, you'll be very happily addicted like the rest of us! lol
Patrick
Brug Moderator
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place
Carmen, it all depends on where the cutting is from. If it is from the very bottom of a tall trunk, it will take some time before making a Y. If the growth is from a cutting from the top part of a trunk, but from below the Y, your new Y could come fairly quickly, but the quickest will come from the cutting material taken from above the original Y on a plant. You know your cutting is getting close to making a Y when the leaf nodes become close together. Sometimes right in that first Y you can get a bloom, but most times, the two sides of the Y will Y again and buds will then form. Generally when I take cuttings in the fall, they won't bloom for me until July of the next summer. However, I'm in Iowa and the light and heat isn't as intense as it is in the warmer areas of the states. Everything really is determined by environment. Lots of times it is just a try it an see thing.
I've always heard minnisota was absolutely georgious. My mother was born there. I love the cold weather . I think it would be an ideal place to live, but hard on the ol plants in the winter time, and heating a greenhouse would probably kill ones pocket book.
Carmen, so nice to have you join us in a wonderful forum related to our favorite topics...BRUGS & DATURAS. You'll learn so much from the very talented and knowledgeable people here. If you have any questions/concerns just let us know and someone will have an answer for you....or at least a suggestion that worked for them.
I'm pretty much a newbie like yourself and this forum has been great for gathering information about brugs - but be warned - brugs are addicting! Now that you have a few, you'll want MORE and MORE and MORE...
I'm from the Northeast (the COLD zone 5) and I usually take some cuttings above the Y cuttings to root. The rest of the plant, I let go dormant, in the basement, until late winter/early spring. Here in the Northeast we have a very short growing season and if I cut the plant totally down, I won't see a bloom until July, as Shirley said. So on some I just trim the tops to get some cuttings. Your plants are small enough that I don't think you should do too much to them this winter. I'm sure you'll want them to flower as early as possible next year so you can REALLY enjoy them.
Hi Carmen and welcome to the forum.
You may want to let your plants grow this winter without any trimming if they are only about a foot high to be sure of getting some blooms next summer.
If a plant grows very tall in the summer many cut it off in the fall and root the top in a bucket of water but it usually isn't done in the spring as that is the time you want the energy to go into the plant and bud growth and not using it's energy to make new roots.
Hope this helps.
Another newbie here --ME Too!! I've just started on brugs myself and I'm already addicted!! Your right they so have such visual blooms I my self can't believe I hadn't had any up to now. This is a great group of people here.. I've already recieved starts from two members here. the Fist group of starts is what got me coming here in the first place and the othere group of starts I just got in the mail today and are in water YIPEEEE.. Your going to love it here!!!
Carve quiet spaces in your life , and in the silence you will hear Angels
Belated welcome Carmen. You have come to a great place to learn share and grow. The old post here are just as good to read and learn from as the new ones. Happy reading and growing. Cj
Carmen to the friendliest, most informative group on the internet. So glad you found your way here! Being from Florida, I will leave the advice to the capable northern gardeners who are more familiar with your climate. Enjoy the forum! 
