Ok...I had to look "Pro Cut" up to find out that they're sunflowers. I am working on a theory on sunflowers. I wintersowed and planted out/potted up almost 300 sunflowers this year, and am nearing the end of a string of experiments. The seeds were sown into 1.5" square, 3" deep bottomless plant bands. After germination, I planted out/potted up seedlings at 3-6-9-12" in height, comparing the rootballs. Plants that were potted up went into larger plant bands and recycled containers ranging from a scant half-gallon to 2.5 gallons. For the most part, each plant got either a half-gallon or a gallon of medium. The plants that spent the most time in the small plant bands, and were potted up, have already finished blooming. These are not dwarf sunflowers, but full-sized ones, like 'Henry Wilde' 'Red Sun' 'Velvet Queen' 'Jade' 'Vanilla Ice' and 'Royal Flush.' They bloomed on stems up between 2 and 4' long, and the blooms were smaller than normal on all except Jade and Vanilla Ice, which are small anyway. Plants with long times in the flats that went into the ground are just starting to bloom, on 3-5' stems with slightly smaller than normal blooms. Plants that came out of the flats at 3" and went into larger plant bands, are starting to bud, on 3-5' stems. Short seedlings that went into the ground are growing like normal direct-sown sunflowers. Other characteristics, like multi-head or multi-branching was reduced in most cases. I expect that's due to the earlier maturation of the plants. I had a Velvet Queen with 5 flowers, on a 4' stem. I've had as many as 13 heads on 8' stems on this variety in the past. Not scientific, by any means, and I have no idea why it's happening, but the results tell me that sunflowers that are cramped when young will grow miniature flowers on short stems. This can be intensified by keeping their roots cramped as they reach maturity. The shorter stems are just as sturdy as normal plants, in relation to the smaller flowers.

Read the following links in full Here is a link that might be useful: Figs4Fun growing tips

OK guys, let say a few things. I have tons of examples and other people do too. Angle-cuts only develop roots at the tip period. And that is not due to the lack of callus. Look at the nice callus around the perimeter that did not develop any roots except at the tip. Here is another example. Look at the size of that callus and still no roots. And the sad thing is, they will never develop roots to fill the cross section. Here is a 3-year old angle-cut plant. No more roots developed than the initial roots. Why does this happen? Because all the plant energy goes to the lowest point of the cut. Here is the evidence. Two long lowest points were cut. It develop roots only at the two lowest points. Two shorter equal points were cut. Again, it develop roots only at the two lowest points. A square step was cut. Most roots developed at the lowest flat. Given this, what is the best cut? A square cut, because the whole circumference is the lowest point and develops vigorous roots all around the perimeter. This means a healthier and stronger plant. Look at the roots on this 6-month old baby. Here is another young square-cut plant. Here is a bottom view. Look at how roots pop out of the callus at the cambium perimeter, on both sides of the callus (in and out). The evidence is overwhelming. If you want strong and vigorous plants cut your cuttings square. Why do people still cut cuttings at an angle. Because it was the reccomended practice before I came along and people are used to it and they do not know any better. A lot of foreign vendors (Thailand), vendors in Hawaii are not aware of this. It will take time for them to learn and come along. George

Thank you Shades! I now have hope my post-menopausal brain still has a bit of memory function! I could not remember when or where I read about asking the paint store to reduce the colorants by certain percentages, but I did remember - and I love the outcome. Something has actually worked as planned in this Little House of Horrors! Just last week I had the living room painted a lovely sage green. Parts of my hallway can be seen from the living room and kitchen. While not an "open concept" house, parts of all three areas can be seen from one another. The colors must play nicely together. The hallway had been painted "Rich Buttercream" as a "get some color on the walls" effort a couple years ago. Now it was out of tune with the new luscious living room. My hallway is short, narrow and dark. It has three doors, plus one open, arched doorway, and a double-doored linen closet all opening off of it. I knew the medium green paint would look too dark on those walls. I wanted the same Key Lime Pie color, but a lighter version. I couldn't decide if I should go 25 percent of the color, or 50 percent. The young lady offered to tint the gallon using 25 percent of the colorants. If that wasn't a good color, she said she would add 25 percent more making it 50 percent. She was actually helpful, and while she had never cut the colorant by percentages, she was interested in how it would turn out. Amazing! It was a hard call, but I chose to add the extra and brought home the 50 percent color. The difference between the living room and hall are subtle but the subtle difference really adds to the overall look. To hold me over until the some-day kitchen remodel, I have decided to get a quart of the Key Lime Pie in the 25 percent strength and paint the kitchen soffits and one small section of a wall with that. Now I need to pick another color to use with the green in the kitchen and living room. I want a "plum," the word I use to try to hide the fact I want to put some "purple" in these two rooms. Don't want the hubster freaking out.