Thank you. All of my plants are in the ground except the cuttings that I brought inside for winter. The original one has been in place since 2016, from a cutting received in trade. I put a pic of the base of it here a few days ago, it's about 6" across:

The thread "An oldie...Monster" in Brugmansias forum

This big fella is leafing out quickly.

Hello all,

It's about that time of the year. Not quite ready to bring out the Brugs here in Chicago, but definitely ready for some indoor spring maintenance. I'm transferring this cutting, which I had in water all winter, to a pot until it goes in the ground in May. I'm thinking it may be an easier transition? Any thoughts?

I've never bothered doing that. Best luck with it. It looks good today. Let us know how it goes if you do that. Must have had much warmer and brighter conditions than mine. My bet is that yours will bloom first. LOL!

Hi Tiffany,

This was a large cutting that I removed from a brug in the ground. I did not have the room to dig it up and overwinter it.

It sat in my porch with plenty of north facing windows but no direct sunlight. It's usually about 60 degrees during the day and about 55 at night.

I decided to leave it in the water until it's ready to be planted outside. It'll be easier to carry.

I am hoping for an early bloom. Fingers crossed.

It looks like your plan is working well.

.

Here are the two cuttings from last year's in ground brug. Wasn't sure how such large cuttings in water would turn out. Looks like it worked out. There was very little maintenance other than giving them a good misting and some light when I replenished the water. I was very fortunate to avoid spider mites. I was concerned since I didn't remove the leaves. Now the real test is going to be the transition to a pot and move outdoors in May. Fingers crossed.

Those look fantastic!

Most of mine lost all of the leaves but they are growing a lot of new ones after getting back outside. Most of the leaves that were still on burned off when they were taken outside, but I kind of expected that and after a few weeks, they are definitely not naked sticks anymore. Over winter, they did make tons of roots and I was able to plant them deeply.

Do yours have a lot of roots? Do you think you'll need to cut off the tops of those jugs to get them out? A stem will stay more upright with the smaller opening, it does have that benefit. I used some laundry soap jugs with the pour spout pulled out, which have an opening almost 3" across. Those were a lot easier to remove than the juice jug plants because of the bigger opening.

If you already said, I don't remember, are your props destined to be container or ground plants this summer?

Thanks Tiffany, glad to hear your Brugs are doing well.

I suspect mine will lose most of the leaves as well when they go outside. These two will go in pots and the two that I currently have in pots will go in the ground.

Both jugs are filled with roots. So yes, I will need to cut open the jugs to remove them. They were big cuttings with a thick stem and top heavy. The smaller opening jugs kept them upright so they didn't tip over.

This spring is going to be a challenge. I'm having back surgery April 10th so I will be out of commission April and part of May. No bending, lifting or twisting for 6 weeks. ☹️ my family will we helping me out with the garden during this period. And I appreciate it, but this is therapy for me. This is when I shut everything out and enjoy gardening. It's the time when I take my plants outside and move them around so they can get shade or sun. Or repot some. Or move some to the garage in the evening. I've gone on too long…sorry.

There's no limit, feel free to babble. Sounds like you're seeing the same basic stuff & having the same fun with your attempts. Good stuff!

Plastic does have the advantage of being able to cut it later if needed. Glass has the advantage of being heavier and providing more ballast.

Hope your surgery goes well! And your family's attempts to help.

Good luck with the surgery and being patient with recovery. There will be lots to watch growing in spring from your stationary upright position

@JoeBrug,
Wishing you the absolute best on your surgery and your recovery. I totally understand the issues you will encounter.

I too am looking at both knees and back surgery and the reason I'm leaving the forums. I'm going to be doing a lot of sitting in the gardens and less online. I'll
mainly be on my blog.

So my cuttings that I kept in water all winter are now potted in soil. After 8-10 days of gradually exposing them to sun and outdoor conditions, they are ready for their summer locations. The one with the fewer leaves, ran into spider mites so I had to trim off the leaves but it's bouncing back nicely.

The third one, the taller one, is adjusting just fine. Decided to leave it in the pot. Coming off back surgery, I'm trying to keep it light and simple. I'm into my 5th week of recovery and feeling better now that I'm playing in the dirt again. (With the help of my wife of course).

Hoping for some summer blooms this year. 🙏

Wonderful, Joe! Hope your recovery continues to go well.

Wow Joe they are miles ahead of my pitiful ones.

I'm sure that won't be the case for long, Sally.

Sally, Tiffany

Thank you! I didn't store them in my craw space this year. I kept them in my porch in about 55-60 degree temp so they didn't go into full dormancy. So they sort of had a head start.

Really hoping for some summer blooms.

Good for you for trying something different, even though the previous treatment did well too. You didn't settle for the complacency of "well, one thing worked so I'll never do anything else." I'm sure you'll get some blooms.

Update/progress shots of a few plants that were started by cuttings that were kept in water over winter.

This one was put in this pot last spring and is the first one to bloom this year.


These were planted this spring.