Brugmansia grown in a pot

Ok.......here are a couple pictures, of my non flowering brug

 

Penny - thats a lovely healthy looking plant. I am sure it will flower in its own time. Most of mine have got badly eaten leaves - your's looks so good.

I think the fact that it looked sick at the end of the winter is fairly normal. If kept in the warm with good light, they will retain all their leaves over the winter and even continue to flower. But if they are cold (albeit above freezing) and in poor light they become deciduous and can lose all their leaves, but like any other deciduous tree the leaves regrow again in the spring.



I took this picture of a Datura today, as I was fascinated by its structure. I said that Brugs grow their flowers on apical tips (ie on the tip of the main stems). This means that when the first flower comes it forces the stem to branch. Technically, all Brug flowers are on apical tips, but you would never believe it. Later flowers are so close together they just appear to be hanging from the branches.

However this Datura clearly shows the flower buds on the apical tips. The big bud is the first flower and has forced the stem to fork in three directions. Two of the forks have buds that have forced the stems to fork again three ways, and you can also see some very small buds and further three way forks.

 

Plant looks fine to me Penny maybe it just needs a strong talking to ...
I have found Brugs vary so much and some years they are the perfect plant and the next that plant give a very poor show ,My variagated one's seem the most reliable overall.

Dave

 

Peter the pic of the Datura describes the growth habit very well.

Other plants of the same family appear to grow in the same way, bush tomatoes are similar although slightly different, but Physalis
and Solanum along with Capsicum all grow flowers in exactly the same way.

 

Thanks Pete - I hadn't thought of looking at any other members of the family. But tomorrow I will have a look at the rest of my Solanaceae.

On the subject of other members, I grew Solanum laciniatum last year which was very good. I trimed two back and overwintered them in pots, frost free, hoping that they would get even bigger this year. But they have done nothing - just a few odd flowers and a bit of fruit. The roots do not appear to have made any new growth. By contrast, I am growing Solanum mamosum this year from seed and its very healthy, with the roots completely filling a very big pot. Its already way bigger than last year's laciniatum Do these things not do well in a second year, or is there something wrong with mine. By contrast my second year Brugs and Iochroma are growing really strongly.

 

Good morning Peter

We had a S lacinatum on the IoW (Bonchurch) and it had been there for many years. They grow in the Ventnor Botanic Gardens and seed themselves everywhere ... but then again, that part of the IoW has its own micro-climate including colonies of Geckos ...

I did bring one here but I suspect it didn't like the heavy red clay we have as it died within two years. I believe they prefer a more fertile soil. They are a lovely shrub with their unique leaves.

 

Cant say Peter as such, I took cutting of lacinatum to overwinter rather than saving the old plant.
I think they are very hungry plants and need a free root run to do well.

If it formed fruit early that could make it stop growing.

 

Thanks Victoria and Pete.

I hadn't thought of cuttings - that would certainly save space overwinter.

 

Bought this a couple of weeks ago, some kind of Datura.

 

Thats a beauty Pete...I am waiting on a couple of new Brugs I aquired last year to open ..Very exciting when you get that first flowering ..

Dave

 

Amazing pete .. that is really like an upside-down double Bruggie ... love it ... is it scented?

 

Yes it has a scent Victoria.
As usual best at night.

 

Thats beautiful!!

 

Pete - thats beautiful. Also you have answered a question that I was going to raise - are Dats any colour other than white or purple. The answer is obviously yes.

 

Just had this new one open ,will see how it proforms over the summer.



Dave