brugmansia

Hi guys its been a very long time since I posted here. Went to South Africa for 2 months and have been really busy. Anyway Iwhile I was away the burg was infested with spider mite and I have just got rid of it last week. Have had it for 2 years allmost and not one single flower. I have given up on it flowering but it looks like a nice architectural plant and I love it. I now know Burgs are not beautiful just for their flowers.

Here it is below, sorry couldn't get a better picture, hope you all had a fantastic summer.

 

Hi waqas. I notice it's still in a pot with a bulge in it.:hehe: The plant doesn't look happy. :( It looks "leggy". Try cutting it down and then put it in dormancy for the winter and try again in Spring. Don't water it too much during the Winter and try and make sure it's got good drainage. They like a lot of water/feed when they're growing but they don't like their feet too wet.:wink: Hope you had a great time in S.A. but the "All Blacks" beat them every time.:lollol:

 

waqas - I am still a beginner with Brugmansia having just grown some from seed last year and this year, as well as buying a small plant in July. But I would agree with what Cajary has said. I have just ordered three packets of seed from Jungle Seeds, and the formulae I intend to follow is this:-

1) They are large plants, so I will put them into as large a container as I can as soon as I can. My current ones are in 35 litre pots.
2) They need fresh air and good light - so I will put them outside as soon as its warm enough.
3) They needs loads of water, so I will water at least once a day every day. If you let them go dry, the plant itself will recover when you water it again but you are in danger of losing the flower buds. Even if it rains their soil could remain dry because the leaves are so big they stop the water getting to it.
4) I will feed them huge amounts - double strength (ie twice what the packet says) every day or at least several times a week. I have a book on Brugmansias in which it says that if you feed huge amounts you can get five time as many flowers as if you only feed a small amount.
5) This is one I haven't done yet. My book says they suffer from almost every insect and disease that you can think of. So I am going to start regular preventative treatment.
6) The first flower may not appear until late in the first year and at a height of 4 or 5 feet where the plant first forks. So I am going to take a cutting from above the fork, and in the second year I hope to have a plant that will flower much earlier and at a much lower height.

I hope they will repay my effort:-

In the above picture I am preparing some plants to overwinter in my summerhouse. There are two Brugmansia arboreas which I grew from seed last year. They grew to about 5 or 6 feet in the first year and did flower, but late in the season. This year they were even better sized plants and I have just had to cut two feet off them so that they can fit in the shed. I have had flowers and fruit, but I never fed them much which I have now realised was a mistake


This was a small plant, 2 feet high, that I bought in July which had just two yellow flowers. As I really wanted coloured flowers I fed this one heavily and it rewarded me with 50 flower buds as I went away on holiday at the end of August. And when I returned it had about 30 flowers and has been continuously in flower to this day.

 

Victoria - I have been re-reading this thread and was reminded of your Iochroma and Cestrum

Iochroma australis is freely available as seed and I am currently growing some White and Blue ones, but the others are extremely difficult to find. However I think I have struck lucky and found (and ordered) I. cyaneum 'Plum Paradise', I. cyaneum 'Violet Churchu', I. cyaneum 'Trebah' and I. fuchsioides.

Any advice on how to look after them? There seems to be very little on the web about them.

You also have some Cestrum - I see there are a few varieties about. Are these worth growing ? I have currently got Cestrum parqui - from seed this year. But it hasn't flowered yet. Should I treat Cestrum and Iochrome like Brugmansia - ie gross feeding ?

 

First, may I ask a Mod to move this to Tropical Gardening as it has taken me a while searching to find this current thread on Brugmansias and Daturas .. thank you. As it seems to be the current thread on these plants, perhaps a new title of Brugmansias and Daturas?

Well, the sun decided not to come out today to play so I took some pics in case torrential rain hits and all the blooms fall off.

Here is my Brug with virtually no leaves because 1) removing them because of the diseased leaves and 2) something has decided to eat what new ones are coming ...



I just love the tutu effect of the blooms, seven open and one more to do so ...


And the Datura having completely recovered being stripped down is thriving but it's not a ruffled as previous years ...





PeterS, I think my I cyaneeum 'Plum Paradise' but I have never had any seed on any of the Solanum family except the above Datura metel 'Blackcurrent Swirl' .. and it's not very swirly this year! I think like Hibiscus doubles, they often rever back and then re-invent themselves again. I shall be interested over the coming days to see if this one, now in it's third year, will become ruffled again ..

I am struggling with Pete's I australis .. it was fine, didn't grow very big, then 'died' so I repotted it and it sent out a new shoot and this last week that has disappeared .. so I still live in hope ...

The Cestrum I do nothing with .. just let them get on with their life ... :yho:

 

Victoria - I love that pink one. I have just received three packets of Brug seed from Jungle Seeds as well as taking cuttings from my existing ones - so it will be Brugmansia year next year - I hope.

 

Nice plants Victoria, if you want more Iochroma I might be able to help, it self seeds like crazy.

 

The Pink is very attractive Peter and lightly scented. The common one here is the yellow one, grows wild, and is quite scented.

Pete, I'll see how the root goes on the Iochroma over the next couple of weeks .. if it does not look promising I'll shout ... thank you.

Meant to say in the first Brug photo, left to right in the immediate background is Tecoma stans, Tecomaria capensis and Shrub Bougainvillea. Pete, the trunk to the left of the Brug in the big pot is a Schinus Molle and just off the photo (I noticed as I posted it) is a branch hanging down which has a cluster of flowers on it .. the first fruits ... :yho:

In the first Datura picture, they are strawberry flowers to the left .... now how strange is that for November .... :cnfs:

 

I have two Schinus, from your seed Victoria, both flowered this year, and both male plants.
Oh well.

 

Oh dear Pete, being ignorant, how do you know if they are male plants ... ours could be a male ... I'm surprised yours flowered so young!

 

You know.
It dont have some bits but has others.:wink:

Take a close look

 

Okay, clever clogs .. we have been out there with a magnifying glass (heaven forbid if the neighbours saw us, thankfully we really don't have any ....) and t'other half hopes this is a female ...:hehe: Now you know the flowers are the size of a pinhead so my photos are much to be desired ... what do you think?






HELLO MODS, a second request, could this be moved to Tropical Gardening please and renamed? Thank you ... xx

 

Sorry wouldn't like to guess from those pictures.

Do the flowers contain pollen?
If so its probably male

 

:dh: So, where do we look for the bits and pieces ... :cnfs: .. t'other half wants his pink peppers .. :hehe: I have a financial interest in this .. I paid â?¬30 for this tree for him ....

 

desert rose


medinilla magnifica
lochromas