New Brugmansia owner question. I started a brug this summer in a pot and it grew quite well this summer. No flowers but nice leaves and it's about 3 feet tall. I'm bringing it inside for the winter. I'm seeing leaves turn yellow and fall off. Also it seems to want soooo much water. Should I expect it to go dormant this winter or should i feed it all winter. And why the yellowing leaves?




Thanks for any advise.

Hi Glenn,

The plants will lose a lot of leaves when they're brought inside, but don't go fully dormant. I keep mine by a sunny window all winter, and give a small amount of water but no fertilizer. Don't over water, or you'll get rotted roots.

Watch out for spider mites and mealy bugs, you may have to spray for those.

Best of luck with your new plant, they're addictive😁

Thanks Annette. I wanted to make sure i wasn't killing it.

When spring comes I'm going to repot it in a container twice the size of the one it is in now and get it to bloom.

You're welcome they're beautiful when they do bloom.

They're also fertilizer hogs, be sure to fertilize regularly when your plant starts actively growing next spring. If possible, plant it outside when there's no danger of frost next year, they really do much better in the ground, and grow and bloom much faster.

Best of luck with your new brug!

Annette

vbprog said:Thanks Annette. I wanted to make sure i wasn't killing it.

When spring comes I'm going to repot it in a container twice the size of the one it is in now and get it to bloom.

Just wait until the first time you have to cut them back. I thought I was going to pass out!! Good luck over wintering!

Rhapsody

Starting to get a little worried about this plant. It was so nice outside. Annette said it would lose a lot of leaves and it sure is. It looks so sad lately.

I guess my job is to just get it through winter and then get it back outside again. I'm thinking it might have no leaves by then. I'm pretty good with outside growing but i have a bit of a black thumb with houseplants.

It's normal for the plants to lose most of their leaves once they're brought inside. They will put out smaller leaves during the winter, but not much growth.

Make sure the soil doesn't completely dry out, but be sure not to over water your plant. I only give small amounts of water during the winter to pre nt the stems and leaves from drooping.

It surely does need a bigger pot, Glenn. Maybe about Feb or March would be a good time to do that, then pull up that window shade and give it as much light and warmth as you can to jump-start it for summer.

Also take a magnifying glass and look really closely at the backs of the leaves, and in the leaf axils. If you see tiny webs and little red mites, spray that puppy down thoroughly with soapy water. Put it in your shower or bathtub, use a spray bottle with 1/2tsp. dish soap to a quart of water, spray the whole plant, stems, soil, undersides of leaves, everywhere! Let it sit for a day, or overnight, then rinse it off with the shower head.

Mine always, ALWAYS, (pardon the shout) got spider mites when I brought them indoors. The mites just love warm, dry weather. If you can, put it in the shower, or the kitchen sink and spray it with plain water all over, once a week to prevent them.

But, don't worry, really Brugs are hard to kill. IF it does lose all its leaves, put it in a cool-ish place and just keep the soil barely moist until the weather improves. But still keep an eye on it for mites.

I have raised many through the winter in my garage, they lost every leaf but they made it, I kept a long shop light over them when it got pretty cold, it gave them a little warmth.

Glenn--

You can overwinter brugs in a cool, dark basement as well. No watering needed (well--a smidge towards spring).
I always keep my Brugs this way throughout the winter. In my cool (58*) Shop--mostly dark.
They will keep some tip leaves on them- the rest will fall off. Not to worry!
Bring them out in early summer, water well, but keep them in shade for a week or two. Then move to
a brighter spot--and, finally, in full sun.
You can also do a root-pruning at this time and re-pot in the bigger pot. I add some Osmacote
to the fresh soil I am potting them in. They thrive on this...

Also--as your brug grows--it will not bloom until it "Y"'s. That means--the stem(s) splits in a "Y".
Once it "Y"'s--all subsequent growth on that stem will "Y".
Right after that--you should see bloom buds....and you are on your way.

Good luck! Gita




See the "Y"'s on the stems?

Thanks Gita. So we can have great brugs up here in the Northeast!



Your advice - and the others on this thread - give me great hope for this plant. My new year's resolution is to get this thing to thrive!

You guys are great. Thanks for the help.

Happy New Year!