Hey everyone,
The Milk & Honey cutting Lynne sent me in May now has an 1.5" long bud and a few little ones developing above it. I didn't notice them at first because they are much more pubescent then the Brugmansia suaveolens NOIDs I have experience with. They blended right in with the fuzzy leaves. When I got cuttings I just stuck everything in standard 6" plastic pots with Miracle Grow potting soil to root. I know that they're going to need more room once they start getting some height on them , but just wanted to know if I could get away with re-potting those with buds without them blasting off? They can totally wait until I've seen at least one bloom before getting moved up anyway, I'm just getting tired of having to water tiny pots every other day (and I'm sure it would be multi-daily once it starts getting really hot).
I'm a little hypersensitive about buds blasting off my plants...earlier this week a flower spur that I had watched all winter develop on my Hoya carnosa yellow and drop clean off in less then a day. I hadn't even moved the plant, it just felt like being spiteful I guess . Minor setbacks aside, my beds and pots are cranking out all sorts of new growth. I was out of town for three days this weekend and came home to find a blooming Bougainvillea, a picture perfect stand of double-red poppies in full bloom, and about five buds developing on my SuperNova (its only 18" tall, I'm worried about them dragging the ground!)
Peace,
Nate
Nathan, can empathize with you on this one. The heat here in the Valley now (nearly 100° daily) causes my brug blooms to wilt just as they are opening. Early morning seems to be the best but by mid day, they're limp.
Also, have waited for a tall, healthy looking Unknown pink brug with about 20 buds to bloom only to find 15-16 buds on the ground yesterday morning. Have no idea (unless it's the heat) what happened but am the rest bloom without dropping.
Jarie
Mission, TX
Rio Grande Valley
Zone 9
This message has been edited by jas4141 on Jun 11, 2007 11:56 PM
Oh, Jarie, I am so sorry, that hurts. WE are right now in 60 degree weather, and intermittant rain (hence the jackets in Tom's get together pic), so the thought of blooms is a ways off.
Wish I could send you some angels, Selma. I have several that are ready to bloom...a few each day. Adora is going crazy but wilts during the heat of the day. She is probably one of my most beautiful bushes right now. Nice green leaves, has lost very few and has bushed out just right.
Jarie, you have gotten hotter much sooner than we in North Texas. We have had low to mid 90's, but a lot of upper 80's. One of the things I do for my brugs is spray them with water after they are no longer in the sun. This seems to perk them up a lot. I, too, have a lot of buds on last fall's cuttings that should be opening this week. I am really excited to see all the new ones bloom. And my "ADORAS" (plural because I received cuttings from both Ruth and Dott) are such beautiful, strong plants, and are about to bloom.
Quote:but just wanted to know if I could get away with re-potting those with buds without them blasting off?
Nate, how long have your cuttings been in their current pots? If there are enough roots to hold the soil ball together, a gentle transplant that doesn't disturb the roots & a little TLC afterwards shouldn't impact the buds. If there aren't all that many roots yet & the soil ball falls apart, I think the risk of bud drop would go up...yet many brugs are so resilient, it's amazing what we sometimes get away with.
I know what you mean about the flowers dragging in the dirt. When my Cypress Gardens first bloomed, I had to put the pot up on a stool to keep the flowers off the ground.
Patrick
Brug Moderator
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place
Patrick,
The plants had roots when Lynne shipped them to me. With over a month of good care and growth, the pots a already fulled with roots. I may transplant some of the more generic cuttings and wait until the ones with blooms open for a flush, then transplant. I've potted up plently of "delicate" root systems in the past so I have a pretty good idea of what to do. Thanks for the vote of confidence Patrick!
Carrie,
So maybe I over personify my plants, but from what I've heard from Hoya growers, the entire genus can be a pretty annoying bunch when it comes to blooming (dropping buds, forming spurs that never develop). I just wanted to see one bloom on my H. carnosa, the thing is at least ten years ago and putting out all kinds of vegetative growth, but felt like dropping its only flower spur after 6 months of development! Grr...
BTW, my Datura wrightii is finally going to open its first bloom either tonight or tomorrow night. After three failed starts, I'm kinda edge of my seat about the status of this bud.
And yeah, I desperately need to get a working digital camera.lol
Nate as long as you are just changing the pot and not the environment it should do fine. I doubt that you will lose any buds. You might want to give it a shot of B1 when you repot it.
At least we've finally had some rain. My soil is no longer rock hard and I can get some more plants in the ground. Has it been as dry on the Eastern Shore as it's been here?
Karyn
Nate, sounds like they're doing well, I'm happy.
I haven't had problems with MnH dropping buds with repotting, but if it wilts too often it will drop some, although even then some hang on and open.
By the way, if the bud's only 1.5 inches long, you may want to go ahead and move it up a pot size, it still has a little while to go before it's going to be near popping out of the calyx, let alone opening the flower.
Also, just incase I don't make it into my email today, thank you for the seeds and everything! I can hardly wait for fall!
. Minor setbacks aside, my beds and pots are cranking out all sorts of new growth. I was out of town for three days this weekend and came home to find a blooming Bougainvillea, a picture perfect stand of double-red poppies in full bloom, and about five buds developing on my SuperNova (its only 18" tall, I'm worried about them dragging the ground!) 
the rest bloom without dropping.
