Daturas/Brugmansia...
need a lot of water. Plants in pots are best stood in a saucer where it can be easily seen if sufficient water is given. Feed with a fertilizer like Phosphogen, Miracle Grow or similar every week during the growing/flowering season. Pot on regularly as the plant grows.
In one Season a plant can grow from seed/cutting and flower. Some species grow up to 6/8 ft in one Season.
If you plant out a Datura/Brugmansia in the garden and I can only recommend this in Southern England in the mildest climate, put in a sheltered position. It must be protected in Winter from frost.
I have grown very large Daturas in Large Pots successfully leaving them out all Winter in Cornwall. I cut them down in October to a bare stem approx 5/6’ high and cover the whole of the surface of the pot with straw. In the Spring they come to life and shoot up to 8-10’.
The most common parasites are greenfly, white fly, red spider mite, capsid bugs, scale insects. Watering and using a systemic insecticide is the best way of protecting the plants from insect attack. Slugs and snails are a constant nuisance and a product for repelling them is a must. They are also prone to earwig attack but this is usually not a problem if the systemic insecticide is used. Another useful way of protecting the plants is to crush up garlic and add to water, infuse for one or two days and strain into a spray bottle and use this.
If left to its own devices in the garden a plant will be devastated within a few days. I think they must be particularly tasty to so many insects. |