Brug Update!

Hello Brug friends! I know its been awhile since i have wroten anything here. This is the time of year that I work on my other Hobbies and I have been staying busy with the wife and kids.
I just thought it was time for my Brug update and I have some questions for you! Ok I recieved Brugs from three wonderful ladies...Michelle, Shirley and Lynne...Thank you! First off I must tell you Lynne I lost two Brugs they just didn't root and they dried up from the top down...no matter what I tried. Michelle it seems all the ones you sent have done well...and Shirley I think I also lost two. Even worse... Shirley that wonderful paperwork you sent me on the plants ..well somehow my kids made it appear in the trash. I will be naming them by the markings you wrote on them so I my need some help....I know one says..FM.

Ok now all the plants that are potted have done well but I did run into a problem. I moved all the brugs from on top of my dish washer in the kitchen to a table in the dining room. Now the problem I believe that I ran into is this. I have a wall forced air furnace Located not too far from where I moved the plants. I Believe they started to dry out to fast. all the small cuttings shed thier leafs ...the bigger one seemed to hold on OK though. Needless to say ...thier all back in the kitchen! My question here is ...will they bounce back and grow new leafs??...I would think they should. Now some of the bigger ones have done real well and have many leafs...a couple of them even have Flower Buds growing on them....Is this good? They are starting to look like trees on top of my dishwasher!

Ok now to (MY) Brug!I only had one. First off back in October..when we had that freak snow storm. My Brug that was out back planted in the ground got squished from the heavy snow. Well I wait til the snow melted ...went out there and hacked it up. I took cuttings Two feet long ...big thick cuttings. These cutting have done so well in just water they actually have Buds growing on them...They are doing so good ...I am afraid to even pot them up! Thier root system is great!

Ok a few Questions!
Is there anyway to force side shoots on Brugs?
Is it bad for these brugs to start blooming now?
Do I have to Pot (MY) brugs anytime soon?
How dry should I let my potted ones get?...I have been keeping them pretty moist!
And what are my chances with the ones that sheded their leafs?


I am enclosing Pictures....

Here is My Brug ...I have 3 Large cuttings stuffed in this Glass vase....with just water in it!


These are the smaller cutting that lost their leafs!


This FM from Shirley is doing great.. as is This Peach from Lynne!
You can see the tall stalk from a CG looka like on the Right from Lynne ....Its tall and Budding!


Another shot of the top of my Dishwasher...Notice my Broomlids and My Orchid! The Orchids has grown a whole new stalk and is budding!


Wayne Thompson
North Tonawanda,NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Wayne the leaves will grow back on your cuttings now that you have them away from the hot air.
I don't know of any way to force side shoots. Come spring and summer when they are in grow mode they will grow shoots.
I find that they root faster and better if the energy isn't going into the buds but I've also been known to let a cutting flower just because I could'nt wait till summer. LOL
You can keep "your" Brugs in water all winter as long as you change the water every few days which keeps them from rotting. I find they will do well in a cooler area of the house and not near any direct heat.
You may want to put them in another container with a wider bottom so the roots won't be so intertwined come spring.
I would keep your cuttings moist but now wet. It's better to be a little on the dry side than too wet. Their root system is still small and they won't be in grow mode till spring when there are more daylight hours so they don't need as much water. Too wet = rot.
Hope this helps a little.



Terry
Woodsville,NH
zone 4a

Wayne,
Its good to hear from you, I started a very large cutting of Ecuador Pink for you a week ago. It should be very nicely rooted by Spring. I can't help you with growing brugs indoors but others are very expert at it.

Michele
Jacksonville, Fl
Zone 9a
Nature, in order to be commanded must be obeyed. Sir Francis Bacon

Hi Wayne, I'm a newbie at this but am learning alot with the hands on training. I potted up 21 cuttings off of the one brug I had and still do have it, it's just chopped off at the ground. One thing that I have learned is that when you think a potted up cutting is dead, it may not really be dead. I had 4 that I potted up when they had the little white nubbies. The whole stalk turned brown and dried up. Was going to toss one out one day and dug into the soil and it was starting to grow beneath the soil. All the other ones did the same thing. So give them a fair chance. They are tough little bruggers. LOL. I have kept my soil just a little moist. I have two big trunk cuttings that I planted in some really cheap potting soil, looks like just plain dirt with nothing added to it and they seem to be doing better than the ones in the miracle grow mix. It just drains quick and I have to water them more often.

Jatananczone 7b Broadway NC

Jatana, I think that's key - good drainage. I tried some cuttings in Miracle Grow last year, and they didn't do very well. I think they stayed too wet. This year I'm using a mix with better drainage and my cuttings are doing much better.


Kathy
USDA Zone 5
Connecticut

Wayne, just email me when you need help with the names. Through Christmas, I'm not going to be able to spend much time here. Hope you all don't have too much fun without me. I'll try to slip in when I can and keep up with reading. Happy Holidays!

ChSam (Shirley Morr)
Chariton, Iowa
Zone 5

Wayne, which two didn't make it? I see Insignis Gold, the NOID yellow CG look-alike, and the NOID peach, the only other one I remember was a NOID pink with yellow. I can root some more for you and send them in spring, when I send the Plumeria cutting, if you want.
I'm happy to hear the others are doing well!
By the way, the FM from Shirley is going to be Forevermorr.

On side shoots, if you clip the tops, they will branch out at the nodes below, but I can't say I'd recommend doing that right now. Also, as they get bigger, if you don't pinch off the little leaves that sprout at the nodes along the stems there's a decent chance that they'll develop into more branches. On the same subject, the unknown peach is a basal shoot, if you pinch off any tiny leaves along the main stem, it should make a nice small tree form.

Lynne
USDA Zone 9b
Heat Zone 10
Bradenton, Florida