Most of us have brugs in different stages of development - either from cuttings or seeds. Pretty soon it will be time to put them away for the winter.

My question(s): Can all rooted/potted cuttings be put in the basement/garage for the winter? What is the criteria>
How much of a root mass does it need to survive, intact, till next spring? I assume only those with serious hardwood should be shut down for the winter? Is there a temperature criteria for overwintering hardwood v. semi-hardwood plants?

I'm looking ahead to see which brugs can go in the basement (50-60 degrees/low light) and which will have to be nurtured throughout the winter.





Kathy
USDA Zone 5
Connecticut

I don't let my variegated brugs or any seedlings that have not yet developed a woody trunk go dormant. I keep them under HID lights.
Karyn

Karyn,
What type of HID lighting do you use? Are they Fluorescent or Incandescent bulbs? Or am I confused on the type of grow light system you use? Any ideas on the subject would be great for over-wintering potted cuttings & a couple of two year olds.

Mike

Mike I can't really explain what they are so I copied something online.
**Many gardeners recommend metal halide grow lights above all others. The reason being it's excellent spectral distribution. Metal halide bulbs emulate bright summer sunlight and contain all the energy peaks at wavelengths of the visible spectrum. To plants this means quality simulated sunlight and photosynthesis at a level much higher than that which fluorescent lamps can achieve.**

I have 2 1000 watt metal halide bulbs in reflectors. They are definitely energy hogs and they do generate quite a bit of heat. They need to be kept a minimum of 4' away from the plants whereas fluorescent lights can almost be touching the plants. I do have some fluoresent grow lights but they aren't nearly as good as the HID bulbs. There is a type of fluorescent lighting called T-5 high output that is supposed to be much better then the regular flourescent tubes.
Karyn

Kathy, I have to agree with Karyn. The smaller the plant and rootball the harder to bring the plant through the winter in a dormant state. You should be able to get by with over-wintering them in a semi-dormant state though. Semi-dormant would be equal to: the stems staying green and plump, but no growth of leaves.

And, from a lesson hard learned over the past few years (since my mother passed away in the fall of 2004), don't let the root ball dry out excessively. Even for large mature plants. I have lost many plants over the past few years due to dessication. I let the root ball get too dry during the winter and several died back all the way, even below the soil line. I was lucky that some recovered after being soaked and kept very moist. They came back from the roots, but they surely are not going to bloom this year. But at least I was able to save some of them.

What I do...
My 'winter' house for my Brugs is fully insulated ( walls, floor and roof) except for the south wall that has an uninsulated area of about 2 feet long and 18 inches wide the sun can shine in through.
I keep the temperature about 45-50F. I have remote digital thermometers at 3 different levels in there that read up here 100 feet away in the house.
I keep the plants pretty dry and when I do water, I add it around the trunks only. The only lights I have on in there are little 2 nightlights ( 5 watts each) that run 24/7 so I can see from the house that the power is on.

From my perspective...seedlings and yearlings survive the 50F but sit in front of that 'open' area and get some sun over the day at some point and grow marginally over the winter.. I do NOT cut those back if they are under 3 feet tall.
All the others get cut back to about 8-10 inch stumps and sit farther back in the room and get no direct sun.
If they start pushing new shoots, I break those off until March, otherwise they are too weak and whispy with the dirth of light in there.

In the 6 years or so I have been doing them this way, the most I lost over that storage time ( Oct-March) is 3 plants one season and one or 2 each of the other seasons.( out of 40).
The key is to not keep them too wet and not to allow the soil to dry out so much that is starts pulling in form the pot edges.

I do leave my doubles and variegated Brugs taller,, 3 leaf nodes above their first Y on their trunks but that is because they are so much slower growing, not because they can not take the dormancy. Other than that height, they too are treated in my dormant manner.
I will however say that a pure Versicolor Brug will not do well in this low of a temperature, they need it 60F+ to be
happy whether you place it dormant or keep it growing on.
When I dig them up in the fall, I dig the root ball the size of the pot I wish to put it in, the largest pot being 5 gallons.














Forum Editing Tech
Zone 5b

Ruth Ann, David and Karyn. Thanks so much for your advice. I guess many of my brugs will have to stay upstairs this year. No problem, I just wanted to know for sure what to do.

Thanks again,

Kathy
USDA Zone 5
Connecticut

Thanks Karyn! And after doing a Google search - there are so many grow lights available (which one to choose) & some are extemely expensive! We gotta do, what we gotta do. Ruth Ann - thank you also for ideas on storing Brugs for the winter - very informative. Hope all have a good day! Off to do a little Brug fertilizing...

Mike

Mike I paid about $330 for each of the HID set ups. I thought it was well worth the money considering the amount of time I invest in my plants. I had a large space to cover and a lot of plants. Most people don't need a 1000 bulb and the lower wattages are much less expensive. I bought mine from AFC Greenhouses http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/
Karyn