What am I doing wrong?? (Brug)

[sunsoaker]

I have been trying to grow this thing for two years now. It did nothing the first year. I finally potted it up and brought it inside, put in front of a sunny window and it grew like crazy, but had those gnats in it. Finally got rid of the gnats. The trunk has branched and it got really full. But for the last couple of months it seems to be trying to die. The pics in the link below show the state its in today. Should I cut the trunks back and hope for the best? They've not been outside since I brought them in last spring.

Brug

[Tina]

Mine look like that in the winter and go completely leafless. But come back nicely as the weather warms. They are very close to dormant in winter and need little water.
Mine are outdoors, in the ground and very small tree sized. They are half buried by other evergreen shrubs that make a prettier winter showing.
I have found you can cut and trim about as much as you would like without much harm.

[sunsoaker]

Do they go dormant in the winter even indoors??

[Tina]

Yes. Most people around the country just toss them in the basement for winter. You and I are lucky in that we have a longer season for them. But most plants need a rest of some sort for part of the year. Most house plants even slow down their growing for a while even when they stay green. It is a good time to neglect them.

[Bonnie]

Yep, they look awfully punny in the winter.