Sounds like you have it down pretty well, lol. Watch for little green worms (caterpillars) on the undersides of the leaves too. You will need larger pot sizes after they get root bound but you have a while to go yet. You could have flowers on many by this fall if they were taken above the Y on the mother plant and some fast growing ones and grow and make a Y in that time as well. If you feed them well and often you will be pleasantly surprised. Epsom salt is good to give a tablespoon per gallon of water to help green them up if they start looking pale as well. Yes the bud drop we refer to is when they fall off before they open. Skirt drop is what we look for especially in doubles refering to if it drops down fully or stays stuffed up inside. Some of us refer to curls on the edges of the bottom of skirt twangers, lol. Welcome to the madness.

Great, thanks for clearing all that up!

Why do the buds fall off before opening? Too warm?

Skirt dropping.. I will be sure not to yell that in the front yard :) ha ha ha

Skirt twangers: that should be on a T-Shirt!

Thank you!

Keriann~

You could have blooms within weeks. It just depends where on the original plant the cuttings were taken from. They can drop buds from a multitude of reasons, not a good root system, temp, uneven watering, etc. I have a couple that have been dropping buds for a couple weeks now but they are still fairly small and it's been miserably hot here.

Honestly I think MG products are crap but they are easy to find and cheap. I won't use them but that's me. Some people swear by them.

Did you just sink the pots for your inground plants? If not you might consider doing that next year because it's much easier to lift them in the fall.

You can aclimate your plants to whatever exposure you want providing you have at least a half day of full sun, preferably in the earlier part of the day.

Sounds like your plants are off to a good start. Good luck.

I agree with MG when it comes to soil or other products, but I am pleased with their 'general' fertilizer. I so stich it up a bit and feed according to individual plant needs ie; blooms, foliage, minerals ect.

Wow.. weeks! how fun! I am not sure where they were cut from, I am just very thanful I received some to say the least. Cindy sent me one that was rooted and it already had a 'Y' but I am not sure if it has to make another one to bloom or that is considered the true 'Y'.

Yes, I sunk 1 gallon nursery pots into the ground, I may need to pot them up one or two larger in mid summer but I think it may work for this season.

Thank you for the good luck wishes!

Keriann~

Oh thats good if you have one with a Y already it can flower soon! I misunderstood about the pot size. If you sunk the pot they don't require that large a pot the roots will travel out the holes. You will be surprised how fast they grow in the ground even in sunken pots. To make it easier do dig in the fall use pots with holes in the side near the bottom and plug the bottom hole then you can sever them with a shovel to take in for the winter more easily. Someone had a good idea to make a collar above the root ball and fill with soil then you can just cut the plant at ground level and have a rooted plant and the main rootball will send up new shoots as well depending on your zone.

That is a great idea, thank you! I will have to modify some smaller pots for next year.

I am super nervous about the fall, I have worked so hard to get these guys to root and be happy.. I am so worried I will lose some over winter. I will have to do more research so I find the best way. I think I am going to take cuttings and keep them in moss and saran wrap as well incase the main plants do not make it.

Oh- I see in most pictures the legs of the plants have no leaves. Do they fall off naturally or do you pull them off in order to see the blooms better?

Keriann~

You can sink very small pots and there's no need to put them in larger pots once sunk as the roots will grow out of the pot. Before sinking you should close up the bottom drainage holes and cut new holes in the sides of the pot. This facilitates digging them up in the fall as all that you need to do is take a sharp spade and cut the roots around the sides then just lift the pot. You can't leave the plants outside over the winter in your zone.

Thanks!

Yep, I am going to bring them in. I will force most into dormancy and keep a few in the greenhouse depending on the bug situation.

So what about those naked legs?

Keriann~

As for the bare stems it's both. Some naturally just have foliage towards the top and other times people strip the lower stem. Some brugs will grow more like a bush no matter how much you try and strip them. I bet that helped a whole lot. LOL

That makes perfect sense.

Thank you!

Keriann~

Yes, some just lend themselves better to either a bushy form or a tree form. The ones that grow multiple root stalks and branch a lot will not make a good standard but ones with just one or up to 3 main stalks look nice just leaving the umbrella sort of look at the top. You can just run your hands down the trunk to remove the tiny leaves that form there so they won't branch in wierd places, lol. They tend to lose the older leaves anyway and a lot of people just pluck them off to make them look neater.

Keriann, just wanted to welcome you to the brug site! Congrats on your rooted brug cuttings.