Hello BigBubbaCain,

Hmmm...brugs need lots and lots of fertilizer.

When I plant mine, granted they are 6 feet tall at the time, I can put in up to 1 1/2 to 2 lbs. of 14-14-14 Osmocote. Now, on the bottle it says to use 3 TBSP per 2 foot by 2 foot in the garden...so I image that I use 10 times that much or more.

Then, I heavily fertilize every two weeks at least, either a couple lbs. of dry fertilizer or lots of the hose application stuff.

They are fertilizer hogs.

Now if you had great nutrient soil, you may not have too, but with the results I get, it is worth it.

See my post, "Pictures of my white brug".

Wildcat

I fertilize generally with Fish Emulsion, through the entire garden for that matter since I'm not big on chemicals. It makes brugs foliage a nice deep green. I also get a large container of Osmocote once a season and scatter it around the garden like a madman. FE stinks but it also seems to keep pests away.

I have been hose fertilizing one a week for the last 3 weeks and will continue to do so. 2-3 minutes per plant and you get about 12-14 minutes per full container.

Wildcat

Of all the plants I have in the ground (containers is another story), my brugs are one of the ONLY plants that I fertilize! Everything else, even the roses, is perfectly happy with the compost and OM that I add a couple times a year to the soil. The brugs grow so much faster, though, when I fertilize them.

This is the first year I have had brugs in the ground. I planted in April, the tallest 5 are between 5 and 6 ft tall. I have used fish emulsion and Maxicrop (seeweed) as a foliar feeding which is absorbed by the plants much more quickly than when applied to the roots. Things have gotten very bushy. Now I have tons of of buds on about 6 plants.I'll take pics when they open up. In my opinion, I want these guys to grow as large as possible before winter so that I can cut them back to the ground and keep the stalks and overwinter them to grow roots to be set out next year. I dont have nutrient rich soil, so I do a lot of soil amendments. I think of them as pets, got to feed and water them regualrly! :) Butr I'll tell you, tose beautiful blooms are oh so worth it. I live out on some acreage and Iw ant to create a small brugmansia forest in one area, should be fun!

Because I dont have soil here in Florida my first move inplanting was to dig a hole 3 times bigger than needed and add cow manure (composted) and uncomposted chicken and goat manure, mix well then add Brug. If you were to ask my husband he would say I dont fertilize ( because I dont go out to buy chemical fertilizers) but I do top dress with goat manure monthly. I also do this to my cannas and bananas. The love rich soil, you cant go wrong with any kind of fertilizing program you choose.
Enid

So there is no specific formula, by that I mean no specific numbers (#-#-#) that is preferred by the brugs?

I have BR71, Miracle Grow, Rose Food etc...I am just not sure which one to use. Any suggestions?

Also mine has some yellow leaves....I started spraying with Neem oil to rule out pests, does anyone have any further suggestions? For refference I forgot to feed them for about 3 weeks, and it's in a pot (or was, until this weekend.)

Thanks for your help.

It appears we have a lot of fertilizer junkies here? Please follow the directions on the package for your brugmansia sake.

Hi All!

I have my brugs potted with the pots sunk in the ground....I drilled holes on the bottom and sides....I fertilized every day....I used Schultz Bloom Booster....With the middle number high, something like 34....Now I only have 3 brugs...(that will change...LOL) so I would make up a 2 gallon batch according to the directions. Use that over the sunken pot in the evening so they could suck up that fertilizer at night, but it might take 2-3 day to use that 2 gallon mix...I watered with the hose the rest of the time....Anyway, that's what I did, and they did great!!

Just thought I'd share what I did...:-)

"It appears we have a lot of fertilizer junkies here? Please follow the directions on the package for your brugmansia sake."

I use a dry organic mix that the best nursery in my area makes. I told them I wanted an earthworm-safe fertilizer (the reason I don't use Miracle Grow for plants in the ground) for my brugs and they said this was the good stuff to use, and that it's really difficult to over-feed with it (partly because it goes on top of the soil and works its way down slowly).

If I were using chemicals, I certainly would be worried about burning the roots/overfertilizing. I think it probably wouldn't be bad to fertilize brugs with chemicals more often than the package says to, as long as you don't give it too much fertilizer in one application?

Ok....so I am not supposed to fertilize them?

Very confusing answers here, but I've come to learn that people are gardenweb can be pretty judgemental and condescending when they want to.

Roxy,

I know what you mean about the "judgemental and condescending" types on GW. They are just a very small bunch people who make a lot of noise. Ignore them. (need to follow my own advice here)I think 99.9% of the people who hang out here in the brug forum are really nice.

I have switched to organic fertilzers (Bat guano, alfalfa pellets, compost tea, liquid seaweed) and I am more interested in improving my soil (compost). If your brugs are in pots or poor soil they need fertilizer. Better soil=less fertilizer. I was unable to fertilize my plants this summer do to a broken arm and my brugs in pots suffered for it. My only brug in the ground grew beautifully without fertilizer. The soil in that bed is fantastic because I've layered leaf compost on that bed for years.

Wicked Heart, thanks for sympathizing...I think I am just irritated after all the Hurricane hoopla so I appologize if I've offended anyone.

So I guess since I planted the brug in question in really good soil recently I will just let it go and see if it has any further problems. I've not entered the world of organic fertilizer yet as I am still trying to get a handle on organic pest control!!! One thing at a time I spose.

Thanks for your help.

Yes you can over fertilize these and it's been done, the picture isn't pretty! Those of you that mix over what is directed on the package, lets say twice to ten times are creating junkies out of your plants. Honestly, would you do this to your own children? Mix as directed on the package and if one must feed daily do cut the mixture so that it won't harm the plantor the roots. The goal is to keep these virused plants health and allow them to do what they do best. Abuse is abuse in my book.