I grow it and it blooms like crazy for me. Usually 60-100 blooms at one time. I treat it the same as all my other brugs. Morning/afternoon sun, fertilizer 1 x a week and lots of water.

I do keep mine in a pot though. Smaller than what other brugs need the same size, but maybe keeping it potted is the key?

Keriann~

I am leaning toward potted brugs for blooming for me also. I have over 20 in the ground that have no buds. Healthy, tall and green folage but no blooms. My Daturas and Iochromas also produce buds faster in pots. They all get foliar fed the same, same age but the potted ones have more blooms. Next year I am going back to potting these. Even last year I had more blooms in pots. The 1 exception is an Ecuador white that bloomed June 23. Only 1 flower and now there are no buds forming but it is early yet. We will see what happens this fall.
Jerrj

My culebra has always been in a container. I was actually considering sinking the pot to see if that would help. It's interesting that you are in a much cooler climate and having good results. I wonder if that has anything to do with it even though it's not in the Sphaerocarpium group. It's 6 of one, half dozen the other as to which bloom first for me, container or ground but the brugs that I sink get bigger with larger flushes towards the end of the growing season.

Karyn I don't have culebra, but I'm commenting on the pot issue. I have 7 brugs now, 6 in ground this year. The one in pot (Cherub) gave me a bloom a few weeks ago, 4 in ground have buds. I'm waiting for the other 2 to chime in. I know some other plants will bloom better if pot bound, but I've never heard this with brugmansia. My theory this year is that anyone who doesn't bloom, will be going to that great brugmansia heaven in the sky. I don't have room for what I have much less if they don't bloom for me.
Diane

Mine died this past winter, and I don't think I'll replace it. I had the same issue....had it for a few years and never got one bud.

I think in climates 6 and lower we benefit from Brugs in pots becuase the roots stay warmer and it speeds up growth and blooms.

In 87 and higher climates, they do better in the ground because it cools off the roots (to our temps up here in pots) thus promting the same result as above.

The Culebra needs less water for sure because it does not lose as much water out of its skinny leaves, but it still likes a drink every day.

I have about 1/3 in the ground and 2/3 in pots. I record how they do each year and then determine wher they will go next year. Some of mine love pots, some love the ground. They are like kids, picky and you need lots of patience!

Keriann~

Years ago I had all 30+ of mine in pots but they were just too much work. I then made a garden ( Lasagna Garden) for them and for the past 10 years all of mine have been planted in the ground in the spring and dug up in the fall and potted back up to be brought in. I can not tell you how much more success I have had with in ground Brugs rather than potted ones. They get much bigger, the flower much larger flushes and much earlier too. For me it is a no brainer,in my zone 5 In Ground rules.
Karyn, I have never grown Culebra, it wasn't one that overly interested me. My struggle was with Herrenh�user G�rten and it finally bloomed in a pot that sat on a ledge in my fish pond so I had to be very careful about how much I fertilized it.

I planted my brugs in the ground this year and they seem to be doing very well with no fertilizer or water. Kelly Ann is blooming for the second time (Small flush) and Emerald Frost is full of blossoms right now (18 or so). I have various size buds on 10 or 12 plants right now but they may not fare to well as the temps are near 100 deg. and we don't usually get that high here in Michigan. I think I vote for in the ground, also.
Bill

I wish I'd had enough space to sink all my brugs this season. It's been unseasonably hot since early May and we've had a number of days in the triple digits. I'm having to water some of the container brugs twice a day. It's too much work. I haven't found any benefit to having brugs become root bound. For me it's just the opposite. Once my plants outgrow a 25-30" pot they get a good root pruning. I can't see getting larger and larger pots. I can sink them in an 8" pot and they do great.

Hey growers, just trying to get the best results,(flushes)for my zone.
To start with, I am totally organic,(good or bad) and only use fish pond water.
I foliar feed my brugs, daturas and iochromas with Bill's Perfect Fertilizer, Spray-N-Grow micro nutrients and Liquid Earth Organic Activator (All natural humic deposits from ancient decomposed forests (Leonardite) and cold pressed seaweed (Asophyllum Nododum) once a week.
I have a hard time composting any plant, just me. What do you think tommysmommy? I have to make it grow. Anal, huh?
Ruth Ann, I have seen your Lasagna Garden Method but I have my in ground brugs in very rich organic soil already. I am after FLUSHES not foliage. Can you have one without the other????????
One other note, I had 8 brugs in 8" pots above ground and they all bloomed for me last year but they where blown over alot until I tied them to the ground.
Just trying to learn from the more experienced and add my 2 cents worth.
We have have had 100 degree days the last 3 days with 85 % humidity and all my plants are growing unstopable. Unreal!!!!!!!!!
I water all my container plants twice a day and use Beastie Bloom (0-50-30) once a week on all my bud forming plants. Maybe I'm impatient with the results on my inground plants?
Sorry Karyn from taking awawy from your post. Caught up in the moment. By the way, your Emerald Frost x Daydreams seeds that you sent are 24" tall now. All 6 of them.
Jerry

Karyn, I have a small Culebra sent to me last year by Brenda. I just found it to be very slow growing for me. I've kept it indoors and it's now outdoors and still not much change. Guess it will be many years for me to get a bloom, if at all, lol! Good luck.

These pics are taken of Brugs that were NOT in my Lasagna garden, rather are in red clay soil very well amended over the years with mushroom compost and thick layers of grass clippings and tree leaves in the fall. I *may* in the year these photos were taken have fertilized them once with a balanced fertilizer of 20:20:20, I just can't recall, I am an old fart LOL.
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Same plants prior to flushing. They are 12+ feet tall
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I need the good foliage to produce the food to the roots to provide the big flushes.

Ruth Ann I just know you have some magic brug dust that you sprinkle in your garden ; ) I'm always blown away by your pics. Your plants are amazing and your growing season is quite a bit shorter then mine!!!!

This year is a flop LOL, I get them once every 10 years or so LOL. I have given up heating the winter house and brought my 6 darlings into the basement this winter and it was a flop. I need to re-learn 'basement' dormancy methods LOL.
Thank you Karyn, no magic, just good amended soil and I am shrinking LOL ;-).

Ruth Ann,
You have more pics to share of your beautiful brugs? I'm jonsing for some beautiful brugs! Haha! South Dakota has pretty things to see, but nothing like your brugs. :)

I seriously need to find a brug for myself, this is crazy! Haha! Pitiful of me really LOL
Tina

You can find a few more of my images in the Gallery section
from over the years, you will have to look back a couple of years posts though.
The funny part is that this year I will have very few blooms LOL.
Click on the link at the bottom of this post to get to the Gallery pages.
I really shouldn't have entered any here in Karyn's thread.

I apologize Karyn.

Here is a link that might be useful: Brugmansia Forum gallery pages

That's silly. What does it matter. If I haven't had any good tips about getting my culebra to bloom by now I don't think I'm going to. lol I love the pics so it's all good.

I truly appreciate the link and I am sorry too Karyn. I just love the brugs she's got. I'm further south, In South Dakota but not sure I could grow these wonders here. It's brutal with the winds and cold. Sometimes -20 -25 here and worse, with windchill. So I'm debating on trying these lovelies.
Maybe one, that I can drag in and out of the split foyer home I'm living in. Haha!

I'm off to drool over Ruth Ann's pictures...

Tina Marie

I have Culebra. It is doing exactly as they predicted, growing slowly, very leafy, and no flowers. But the plant is so unusual for a brug that I bought it really just to add some difference to the collection. A flower or two would be nice.
Have you thought about trying 'Wretched Mess' for strange, similar blooms Karyn? I swear the parentage must be culebra
somewhere-the plant is also a slow grower (for me) but sets blooms constantly. They fall off in heat, but I can expect a huge flush this fall. Maybe a trade in for W.M. would work out?

I've had Wretched Mess for years. Sometimes I like the flowers and other times they are too much of a mess. lol For as well as my culebra grows you'd think that I'd have blooms already. It's just so frustrating and it's not that I really even like the look of culebra blooms. I just want them already!!! I do like the culebra foliage because it's so different. If it had regular looking brug foliage it would have been composted long ago. I kept the sangs for years, even keeping them in a cooled greenhouse during late summer, but after at least 8 years finally sent them to the compost pile. I do have a tiny Inca Princess that will probably end up with the same fate but I'll give it a couple years.