Brugmansia and pots

[stephenprudence]

I have a Brugmansia sanguinea in a pot, it was originally in the ground, but my killjoy father thought it was getting too big in the ground (well to be fair it was getting destroyed by slugs etc.)

Is it realistic to grow Brugmansia in a pot, until it's fairly big, or do they not tolerate being potbound?

[DaveP]

Back in 'gawd-knows-when' I'd kept a sanguinea in a large (18" diameter) container for a good many years. It was top dressed with fresh compost every spring. Every third year, the Brug was de-potted, the root ball reduced by about a third using large carving knife and then repotted into the original container using fresh compost. For this I always used a mix of JI No3 & perlite (3:1), but everyone seems to have their own preferred cocktail. It was hard pruned after the main flowering and remained in good condition for at least 10 years.

[stephenprudence]

Excellent Dave, thanks for the response. In general how tall did it get, and also did you find root pruning also made it a more bushy plant? Sorry for questions...

[RozDevon]

I've grown two brugs in 60litre pots this year. They were brilliant, taller than the 6' fence and flowered really well.
They did soak up the water and food a huge amount though. Watering twice a day and feeding several times a week with tomato fertiliser alternating with seaweed feed. Then I gave them a handful of slow release granules as well.
I'm going to put them in smaller pots for the winter in the garage and hope for the best.

[miketropic]

you can grow a burg as big as you want in a pot..provided the pot is just as big

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnW9C2arikE

[Steph]

I thought everyone grew brugs in pots to minimise the risk of losing them over winter, my conservatory is well full at the moment, those that haven't finished flowering haven't been trimmed.

[stephenprudence]

Excellent video Mike, thanks for that, these Brugs really are tolerant of neglect. I will now cut the stems back on mine without any trepidation, when they have finished flowering.

Roz My Brug was surprisingly good this year, considering I didn't feed them a whole lot, but next year I may well give them massive amounts of fertilizer!

[miketropic]

I h both of mine back to about a 2 ft stem and nothing else and sat them in the basement for winter...some of the cuttings are even on there way to the UK! Don't fear cutting them just hack away they are more like a weed than a plant

[RozDevon]

I've trimmed off the long side shoots and left the long forked stems ready to put into smaller pots next week.
This is the first time I've over wintered them so watch this space in the spring!

[DaveP]

Stephen, how much you cut back depends upon the amount of space you have available for storing. I used to cut back all strong stems by about a half to just above a leaf joint. Thin stems were cut back to the 1st bud from their point of origin. My plant used to get to about 7ft (2m) at flowering. Root pruning was to regenerate the roots and rather than encourage bushy growth. Failing that, you get a massively congested root-ball resulting in a progressively weakening plant.

[Axel]

my sanguinea is still outside planted. It has a lot of buds at the moment so hopefully it will give one more flusf before i take it out for winter.

[Sanke]

Hi all
How fast do these grow from seed ?

[DaveP]

I used to have a lovely one planted permanently outside in the shelter of an evergreen tree. Most years it flowered from early September right through to early March. Unfortunately it was one of the 2009/10 casualties. At the moment, I have one of its hybrids - 'Mobisu' (pale salmon) that overwintered well outside here and is still flowering. It will stay out again and I plan to train it against a wall.

[miketropic]

ever heard of anyone growing from seed or seen seed offered. much much faster to just get a cutting from someone

[DaveP]

ever heard of anyone growing from seed or seen seed offered. much much faster to just get a cutting from someone

They aren't difficult from seed Mike and there's always the outside possibility of something rather special turning up. That's the way new hybrids are developed. None of the hybrids will be true to type, but their seedlings can give interesting results. I've raised a few this year - soak overnight and then carefully peel away the loose outer coating. Sow in a sterilised compost and maintain at around 23 - 25C. Germination is usually within 3 weeks and the seedlings can be transplanted when the first true leaf shows. It is possible to get flowering plants from a January sowing, but the plants need to be grown fast and well for any sign of colour in the 1st year. In the US you have longer, hotter, sunnier growing seasons, but here in the UK, it's more reasonable to expect flowers in the second year. That said, I have a couple of current year seedlings that have recently produced a few buds, but they are unlikely to develop much further.