Hmmm, sorry, I've been absentee for a while so I'm just now seeing these. Becky, I'm totally organic, so for fertilizer I use my usual alfala/compost/and/or Buds & Blooms, whichever I happen to have on hand. They are heavy feeders, so you need to fertilize pretty often, like maybe every couple of weeks. Mine bloom well when they are big enough. I'm not a brug expert by any means, though. Ken (kenboy) who does raise them told me he uses Osmocote (slow release) once early in the season. MAYBE another application after three months. They also use "the recipe" and that's all they do. I use my own variation of the recipe too, and mine stay pretty green.
For those who have asked, I have not seen any more signs of nematodes. The cuttings I took from the infected brug have done very well. The one brug I had in the ground nearby (Dr Seuss) stayed healthy, had a flush of about 200 in the fall, and never showed any signs of being unhealthy either. Unfortunately our winter killed it off. That was my one big one, and yes, I'm sick about it.
High hopes for all my cuttings from Ken & Becky, though. Hopefully the nematodes are gone.
