Brugmansia sanguinea

I promised myself no more Brugs, but have been hankering after a B.sanguinea.
Today I found one in the PatioPlants range at a GC. I've had mixed results from their plants, but as it was £4.99 I thought that it was worth a punt.

I have a a few questions.

It only stands about 15cm high, but there are a lot of roots coming through the base of the pot, some of them rather thick. As it will be living in the conservatory for a while, should I keep it in the same pot or pot it on? If so, how big a pot? And what potting mix is good?

I intend to sink it in the ground in its pot this year, so what size pot should it ultimately end up in?

 

Definitely pot it on, preventing them becoming root-bound is key to early flowering etc.

My approach is to pot on one-size-at-a-time. If you stick it straight into a large pot when you water it then the plant will take ages to "drink" all the water, and the compost will lack air during that time, and there is much greater risk that you over-water because the plant cannot drink enough to get the water level down. Also when you pot-on the compost is "fluffy" but becomes compressed over time with watering. More frequent potting on provides more opportunities for "fluffy" compost for the roots to grow into. Potting on provides some fresh nutrients too - but Brugs are gross feeders so ignore that and start them on a MacDonald's diet straight away. I put some of those hundreds-and-thousands all-season slow release fertilizers in the mix when I pot on, and put manure in the bottom, and feed regularly with a liquid feed

My Brugs are in pots 18" diameter by 14" tall. I think they probably ought to be in a pot a bit bigger than that (but I'm going to plant them in the ground this year, and then dig them up for the Winter)

 

Mine have usually finished in the biggest pot I can move with a sack barrow.
But I've never had great success in pots my last one had its final fling planted in the garden all summer with no flowers, come autumn it budded up really well and due to a mild November it flowered well.
Frost killed it in December that year.

Maybe if you have enough space you can overwinter it undercover.

 

Pot on, old chap!

Give it some nitrogen as a boost, as soon as it forks/" Y's", feed it Miracle grow and enjoy!!

Wayne

 

Thanks for your help chaps!

So pot on and feed then.

For overwintering, I'll have a greenhouse, large shed (no windows) or the cellar..........

 

Its Autumn/Winter or early spring flowering, I've never found it to flower in summer,but grows well if watered.
So overwintering in in a shed or cellar without lights is pointless.

 

Its not a difficult plant - I have only ever had it in a pot. The biggest drawback is its flowering season as Pete said. But the flowers are lovely.

 

Should have said dormant in shed or under lights in the cellar........
Is dormant an option with Brugs?

Is it late because of the amount of warm weather that it needs to initiate flower production, or is it triggered by cooler temps/shorter days?

 

Dormant in winter for a sanguinea means no flowers.

Not sure if its the cooler weather or the shorter days but they wont flower in summer.

One other thing, the flower colour is much deeper and better defined in cool conditions

 

Thanks! Greenhouse for the first year then I think............

It was a bit of an impulse purchase (as you may have gathered). It's one that I really fancied (and have discussed elsewhere the idea of growing under lights in the cellar), but when I was faced with these at this money I panicked and bought it! Got some funny looks from the staff though as I was removing them all from the packaging to have a good look (and sniff too).

Bought a really nice (healthy looking) Passiflora alata from the same range too for £5.99.

 

Alata is my no1 passion flower. nicely scented and really good flowers, not that abundant unless you have an acre of warm glass.:D
But well worth growing.

 

I'm pretty much prepared for that. I don't have the facilities for P.quadrangularis, and I think that P.alata is a good substitute.

As the garden is a kid free zone, I'm wondering whether a pane of glass angled towards the root area may be worth trying? Just thinking aloud really..............

 

Not sure what you mean Longk.

 

Just wondering about warming the root area up to see if that helps with blooming.
If I wasn't moving I would be growing it in the conservatory, but that will be a thing of the past now as the house I've bought is a listed building.

 

Oops - didn't read the "sanguinea" bit carefully enough, thanks for pointing that out Pete