First brugmansia in my life germinated :))

I'm sure that there will be many more Angelina!

 

I wouldn't give up hope on the other seed Angelina, I had one pop up about 2-3 weeks ago and that is now a healthy 3-4" seedling, but 2 days ago one of the remaining seeds popped up too

I sowed mine about 1/2" deep after soaking for 48hrs and they have come up leaving the seed case/husk in the compost..

 

I feel I have to add something to this thread.:WINK1:
At least, I started another set of 4 seeds late in March. I soaked them and removed the husk completely. It wasn't difficult. Only one seed resisted - the ugly one at the centre of the arrangement:


I have improved on their 'accommodation' by capping the pots with cut mineral water bottles. This way, if one germinates and starts growing (oh, how I wish and hope for that!!!), I won't have to remove the top cover on all four of them (like when they were in the food box).

This time, they are getting individual treatment. If they fail to respond properly, my only comfort will be that the attempt didn't get me poisoned.
(But there's always a second chance... )

 

Two of the newly planted brugmansia seeds are germinating!
Happy, happy, happy!
Hope they make it!
Thank you all for your support and advice!

 

Now what?
Is there anything to be aware of... before it's too late?

 

Other than that they will grow to 6' or 7' in the first season, before flowering? !!

Don't let them get pot-bound, and feed feed feed (well, not at the seedling stage) would be my advice.

 

I like the mineral water bottle tops - they make an ideal mini greenhouse.

I have found Brugmansias pretty easy to grow. They tend to get eaten by most things - aphids, capsid bugs etc. But the good news is that they can grow faster than the bugs can eat them.

When they get bigger they will like lots of water and, as Kristen said, will also appreciate being well fed.

 

I have 2 very healthy Brugs growing from Peter's seed ; the larger one of the two is about 1ft tall at the mo and requiring almost daily watering.

When should I start feeding them??

 

I am glad to hear that Bilbo. I have started feeding mine. I just use Miraclegrow at this point and then will change to a potassium based feed later when they approach flowering. I only feed once a week or less at the moment as they aren't using that much water.

 

Whilst young don't let them get pot bound, you don't want them to "stall" at all. I would keep them "in" too, so they don't catch cold etc. and just grow at maximum speed.

 

Here are my 2 babies, freshly potted on in to larger pots this morning; both have lovely healthy root systems..

 

Here's my Brugmansia now; still coming along nicely

 

Thats looking really healthy Bilbo. My cuttings are doing very well, but my sticks from last year haven't done much yet except show a few leaves to tell me that they are still alive.

 

I still wonder how you can maintain your plants so symmetrical, tidy and well behaved.

Just to report where I am at present.
This is the way the two brugs looked about 4 days ago:

I couldn't resist the temptation to plant one out directly. It has already beaten the hydrangea to its right:



The one in the pot was much much slower...



Until yesterday...



Actually, this is a picture of today. Yesterday the growing top was pointing downwards. I haven't let it dry, but the pot was placed in a very sunny location. It's quite hot here at the moment (last week I was interpreting for a group of Spanish magistrates and one of the ladies pointed out that Bulgaria felt hotter than Spain.)
Could it have become overheated? I shovelled round the roots and moved it into the shade. And it seems to be recovering.

The leaves of both plants are a bit battered with rainfall.

 

Angelina - I am so glad to see you have a couple of Brugs growing.

If it gets too sunny and too hot I suspect that they could wilt because they are losing too much moisture from the leaves. This would be confirmed if they recover when it gets cooler. So they might prefer somewhere more shady.

Brugs are split into two groups. The warm group grows lower down, but the cold group grows at high altitude and likes it cooler. The Brugs you are growing are of B. arborea, which comes from the cold group.

We don't really have this problem in the UK. The weather has been cold and wet virtually everywhere in the country recently. So my Brugs are looking healthy - but just not growing as fast as they should.