Hello,
I am brand new to this forum and would love to get some help from you all....
A little over 3 weeks ago, I received three cuttings with some roots that one of my Texas' friend from ATP grew in the water, I put them in 3 different pots with compost mixed, watered them and put them outside in the shade...
So far the biggest one look great, few of the leaves that were there when I got it got bigger & healthy looking...
The other two smaller cuttings don't look too bad but has not change much, not new growth or leaves....
What do you think I should do the them and when should I move them either to the flower bed or change to much bigger pot...
I don't know much about Brugs, got a couple few years back from Michigan Bulb and they did not make it...
Any help is appreciate ...
Thank you,
Nan

Hi there are proably growing roots once the roots get going you should see growth then. Have you gave them any miracle grow yet? Half strength would help sounds like your on your way.

Thank you @mkb136,
What kind of miracle grow ? I think I may have Miracle Grow Quick Start (for planting/new transplant etc) but I do not have the regular water soluble one....

Hi i use the regular it works great these plants are heavy feeders. If you feed them well they will reward you. If you don't they might bloom and then again its nothing compared to feeding them twice a week. Look at the buds on this one! Well feed!!

Don't rush them at this point.Keep doing what you are doing and give them about a month or six weeks to get established.Basically,when they are rooted in water they have to start all over in soil. Do not move them up too quickly as they like to be a little root bound when starting. We leave our cuttings in quart pots for 2 or three months.

I check the smaller two today, and had to throw away one of them that does not look like it grow, there are no roots or the ones that was there earlier rotten...the bottom part of the cutting is slimy too... Do you also know what will eat the Brug's leave?, my bigger one that has quite a few of leaves when I checked today were full of small holes...

Thank you,

Caterpillars and slugs at this point when theres not much root hold back on water must be fast draining soil wet soil rots roots. If the top part of cutting was still good i would cut off the bad start again i never give up lol

Thanks mkb136, it's a very short cutting...

I think the other small cutting gone too...so come to my last one, hopefully this one don't die on me...I'm having no luck with Brugs and I wanted so bad to have one.... On this last one I notice something have been eating on its leaves...it fulls with small holes...Friends, do you know what may cause this ?

Miracle Gro used to make Tomato fertilizer that has now changed to all purpose fertilizer.That is what you want at half strength...I've also been using a dose of superthrive with the mixture..I've had great results so far...I'm learning as I go along !!

The holes in your Brug leaves are probably from little green caterpillars. If you can look at it with a flashlight after dark, you'll be able to see them pretty well and just pick them off with your fingers, or a pair of tweezers. If you want to spray something to kill them off, Bt is the stuff. It's sold as a concentrate at any nursery or garden center.

The SuperThrive does have a rooting hormone in it, so might help with your cuttings, but other than that it really doesn't help anything. It's an expensive "magic potion" with a lot of stuff in it that plants can't use, and even the rooting hormone they used to use is banned in something like 18 states. I haven't bought any for years, so maybe they've changed their formulation. I know they had to change their label because it used to make extravagant claims that were widely disproven by research. None of the research I read had anything good to say except it "may help with rooting" and there were even some adverse effects observed by people who sprayed it on their orchids.

Use the MiracleGro at half strength until your brug starts showing strong growth then go to full strength. They are thirsty, heavy feeders.

One thing I surely have noticed is that there are so many different ideas out there...I went to Google for most information as I'm new to the Fla growing area...Transplant from Michigan where I grew tons of Peonies....Anyway I went to Trumpetflowers .com...For the info on the Superthrive...I found the site very interesting....I now have 7 Brugmansia and 1 Datura that I started from cuttings this early spring...Hoping for great results !! The plants are very easy to grow as of yet ...

I was amazed how much damage1 caterpillar could do in a very short time..Thankfully I caught him with a mouth full..

I shall take a picture today and shows you the holes are smaller and more uniform but surprisingly few new leaves are intact...I just repot the cutting to the bigger pot and would like your opinion how that look when I posted the photo (thank's God it's not raining again this morning)...I have to plant the cutting diagonally....

Thank you everyone !!!

Here it is, the new leaves look very tiny...





I put the pot in the shade under a small tree, should I move it to Sunny side ?

Mine look and bloom best in partial sun. You could gradually move it out so that it gets maybe some morning sun, but I wouldn't park it in the full sun all day.

They like lots of water, never let it dry out! (all that rain you've had is great for it) Also they are heavy feeders, so I'd start with half strength Miracle-Gro or something similar, every week for a month or so then gradually increase to full strength.

Why did you plant it in the pot on a slant like that? If you let it keep growing that way it will be tough to keep the pot standing up.

Hi Elaine, Thank you for your help... I think when I got the cutting it was in the same position, roots coming out one side, so that how it end up in the pot like that, now I'm afraid if I change it, it may break its' roots.... I don't know what to do...

I would just slide it from the pot once it's well rooted in there, (another week or two, maybe) shift it to standing up straight, keeping the soil and root ball together with your hands as best you can, and put it back in the pot, putting potting soil around it to keep it standing up. You might even be able to do this without removing it from the pot. Just slide your hands down the insides and rotate it upright.

Don't worry. These are very lusty, resilient plants once they get going. You don't need to fret about breaking a few roots doing this. It will look funny for a few days, then correct its posture and start growing evenly. I would keep it in the shade and well watered until you see it start to grow again.

It will certainly break branches if the pot keeps falling over! Still not the end of the world because you can always root whatever breaks off.

It's going to be a nice little tree-like shrub by the end of the summer, probably 5ft. tall. You can't afford to let it grow like it is. Both you and it will be unhappy.

Thanks Elaine...
I tried to move it from the Pot, I kind of break some roots and they are so fragile and with rains continuously I think I will just leave it as it is for now...