Hey, welcome to the brug forum. It sounds like you have done a good job thus far! Yes I agree brugs can be very expressive and its one of the things that I like best about them. Some people let them go dormant for the winter but it seems like you are keeping them in a growing stage.
Sounds like you've done a little homework on what might be wrong with them so far. It could be enviornmental, too much water, not enough sun etc.
You could try giving them a little more light and let them dry out a little more between waterings and see if that changes anything. Also if you are keeping them growing you might want to give them a little fertilizer with some micronutrients in it and see if that makes a difference.

Now as far as mites go, there are red spider mites and two spotted mites that you can see even if they are small. Then there are the broad mites which you cannot see. The broad mite damage is usually seen via leaves curling under and sort of hanging down. In severe infestations they can damage the growth tips and the new leaves will look curly and distorted. If just your older leaves are affected so far you might want to strip them off. Many people treat the plants with hot water but they need to soak in it for around 10 min. so it is hard with larger plants. There are a few miticides specifically for broadmites like Avid. Not sure what is available in your country?

Hey Sara!!!! Very Pleased to have you here!!!!
I have to agree with SJN....
Probably just the Winter Blues.. I have several that put out the curled leaves off and on during the Winter.. I just pluck them off and the new leaves usually come back normal.. A healthy dose fresh air and sunshine works wonders...There are a few trace minerals that most commercial fertilizers don't provide but can be gotten thru organic products...I look forward to seeing you around!!!
Kylie

Hi Sara, Welcome! If they have been in the same pots for a few months, they probably want a taste of fertilizer. Brugs are heavy feeders & what's in the bag of soil won't last forever. Don't overwater, they should dry out between waterings & will droop to tell you it's time for a drink.

Linda

Can you post an image? That might be useful if we can see the leaves affected...

oxmyx has a great point, one needs to see them to better understand what is going on. Welcome to the group!

Yep, a pic would sure be nice. If it's not bugs (which is pretty common in the lower humidity inside a house), then it's probably not enough light & too much water.
Brugs are such vigorous plants that most problems like this can be generically fixed by just outgrowing the problem. An $8 flourescent light fixture from Home Depot (together with your North window), placed a couple inches away, and a porous mix will likely kick them into high gear no matter what is wrong. :^)

Welcome, Sara. Nice to have you aboard. Can't add anything to the above expertise. Good luck with your Brugs. Sounds as if they have a wonderful home and I 'm sure they will respond to all your attentions. Gloria

Hello all,

Many thanks for your quick responses, welcomes and suggestions. It's taken a bit of messing around to get some pictures, but here they are - I hope they're useful.

An overview:

{{gwi:464607}}

A closeup of the worst affected leaf:

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A closeup of another semi-affected leaf:

{{gwi:464611}}

Dormancy: the seedlings are less than 6 months old, haven't completed a first season, and are growing so rapidly it's visible on a daily basis so I don't think they'd go into dormancy even if I asked them to.

Fertiliser: They haven't been in those pots for months - they were potted on (because of their rapid growth) into nutrient-enriched potting compost around 3 weeks ago.

Broad Mites: I've done some investigating on this - my only reservation about it is that I've never heard of them, and I've been gardening and raising plants indoors for years. We have a radio institution on the BBC called Gardeners' Question Time which I've listened to religiously every Sunday for longer than I can remember, and I've never heard Broad Mites mentioned, which suggests that it's not a particularly common problem in the UK. That said, I of course wouldn't rule it out. The hot water option would be awkward at this stage, but not impossible. I'm investigating Avid - as you point out, it may be that it's sold under a different name here.

Sunshine and general outdoors treatment: Oh, I don't think so ;-) In few weeks, but for now London has just emerged from a period of gale force winds and the temperatures are around 12-13 degrees C.

I hope the pictures aren't too big and cumbersome, or small and hard to make out.

Again, many thanks for your advice.

Sara

Hi and welcome Sara,
To me it just looks like they need more light and maybe some fertilizer. The stems are pretty thin but they don't appear diseased. They aren't an easy plant to grow indoors. Will you be able to put them outside when it warms up, even if you all never get any sunny days across the pond. lol
Karyn

Yes it sure does look like low light. When that happens you get soft weak growth that can be suceptible to any little thing that may come along. For instance as the plants grow they could be filling the pot with roots and sucking it up faster; so you could possibly be reaching the point where between watering times causes a little stress. With low-light, unhardend leaves just the tiniest little bit of stress like that can have a lot bigger effect on the leaf.
Try the shoplights if you can. :^)
- Tom

Hi all,

Well, the leaf curling started to happen when they were in a south facing kitchen window which gets really good sun for most of the day. The other advantage of that window is the humidity of the kitchen, which keeps off red spider mite. I certainly do know how hard it is to look after them indoors, which is why I started them off in my south facing bathroom window, which also gets great light and humidity. I moved them because I thought the leaf curling might be an objection to the fluctuating heat you get in both locations, and also because they were doing so well that they outgrew the window sills. Now the bathroom window is full of courgette and green bean seedlings and the kitchen is loaded up with tomatoes:-) In case you're wondering, sadly a greenhouse is not an option - but I do have some south facing patio doors, so I think I'll move them there.

As for putting them outside, they will of course go out there as soon as possible. Karyn, we get plenty of sunny days here in London (although not this last week) but in March it's often only warm in the middle of the day so there's a lot of shifting in and out of doors to do. I've got to do that anyway, though, and it occurs to me that moving them to the patio doors would make that hardening off much easier, so I'll definitely go for that.

As for outgrowing their pots, Tom, I mentioned before that I potted them on only a few weeks ago and I check their roots and water levels every day. They're certainly not drying out between waterings, but it's possible that the compost I potted them into is not free draining enough. I know they don't like to have waterlogged roots. I'm also a bit suspicious of that compost because the leaves started curling around the same time that they went into it. I don't think there's much I can do about that right now that wouldn't be even more stressful, though. If that's the problem then they're just going to have to tough it out for the moment - at least until it's time to pot them on again.

I certainly hope you're both right, not least because if you are then they'll grow out of it and also because the alternative is looking like broad mite. I'm not entirely convinced of that though, because although the leaves are curling they're not discoloured or dropping off wood> - yet! Oops! I may have just jinxed myself.

Thanks so much for your help, I'll let you know how things go.

Sara

Sara even a south facing window that appears to have great exposure isn't really enough light. Once they go outside you'll see a dramatic improvement. I was just teasing about your lack of sunlight. I have a few friends over there and every time I speak with them they are having rain or drizzle.
Karyn