Why won't my Zinnia grow straight/upright?
daleyc
6 years ago
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Comments (20)
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Why won't my phlox bloom?
Comments (4)Ahhh... could be! I bought them at a flea market flower show and they were only labeled "phlox". (This is my first try at growing phlox so I don't know much about them.) Judging from the looks of them in the containers it appeared as if the seller had dug the plants straight out of the ground and put them into pots. They were just a mass of flowers when I bought them... I'm hopeful that they ARE a spring-flowering variety. (More to look forward to next year!) Thanks for the reply, Carol!...See MoreVariegated lemon won't grow leaves
Comments (7)Shivadiva..Wo! When you took your lemon tree outside last June, did you have it in the same area it was in previous years? I'm curious if by chance it received less light than the past? You mentioned medium light..not full sun? Citrus need direct sun, especially variegated.. Why did you trim roots? Trim roots than transplant in, 'possibly' a larger container? How much space is between rootball and inside container? The reason I'm asking is, in many cases, some ppl have a tendency to overwater. Large pots = more soil, more soil = more water, and chances are if overwatered, soils remain continuosly wet, plant will die: Overwatering is #1 killer. Symptoms include yellowing and/or 'leaf drop,' white fuzzy mold around trunk or atop soil. Mushrooms. You said, 'I did not flush the pot since I didn't know about that. I used Cactus soil for that.' What does that mean? lol.. Did you use other mediums with cactus soil. Cactus soil is well-draining, but I don't know how it does without adding other mediums. People use soil, soil-less and combined mixes. Although I use Perlite, sand and sphagnum peat, (soil-less) IMO, citrus need 'fresh soil' for nutrients. Some will disagree, it's a matter of choice. Cactus soil differs depending on brand..some are well-draining, others hold water. Why did you choose Cactus soil? What size is its new container? Measure diameter, from one side straight across to the other. As long as stems are alive, let them be..live branches are flexible. They bend without snapping. To check whether or not a stem is alive, scrape a little outer bark. If the inside is green, it's alive, if brown/tan and breaks, it's a goner. Clip off dead branches, and remove any damanged leaves. You did the right thing withholding fertilizer. Since winter's approaching there's no need to add any now. If it were my tree this is what I'd do. Place in the brightest south or west window. As soon as sun sets, on would go artificial light. Allow soil to dry between waterings. To check, I'd insert finger or probe deep in soil. If finger or probe is wet/moist, I'd wait a few days and retest. Once a week I'd carry to sink/shower and hose foliage, plus daily misting. Keep away from heating sorce, especially vents. Preferable temps above 50, below 68F. Once a month I'd add Superthive. If air is dry amd stuffy, I'd invest in a humdifer, and turn on a rotating fan a few hours a day. Air from fan should't be aimed on plant. Dead branches and leaves removed. Come longer days, a well-dilluted dose of Citrus/Azalea fertlizer would be given. Or Miracle Grow. Repotting can cause shock, too. Insect inpsection should be done once a week, especially in winter. Good luck, Toni...See MoreThings that won't grow in Florida
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Comments (32)I am looking for another one with similar heat level as habs, but to be early and fast growing. Scotch Bonnet ? Red Fatalii ? &&&&&& How have I never grown scotch bonnets? I will have to correct that if I am able to grow a garden next year. Anyway, getting an early harvest is why I grow a lot of peppers in containers. Having them in containers makes it easy to bring them inside and overwinter them without having to dig them out of the ground. Doing that gives me a harvest a couple of months early. And I'm a bit prejudiced by my habanero love, I guess, but it have not found them to be slow growing. They are incredibly slow starting, so you have to start them very early. But that's not the same as slow growing. Once they get going, they grow really fast if conditions are good. And for an even earlier supply of habaneros . . . Well, that's why I am learning to preserve this year. Having a ton of dried and pickled, canned habaneros should do the trick. I hope. :) Angie...See Moredaleyc
6 years agozen_man
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agodaleyc
6 years agodaleyc
6 years agozen_man
6 years ago
nchomegarden
6 years agodaleyc
6 years agozen_man
6 years agoHello Dale,
" Nope, I didn't pinch them and as far as I know...no bites. "
Well, I see definite evidence of pinches or bites or something. For example, in this crop from your photo, I have put a white arrow pointing at what looks like just the stub of the main stem, and the plant has responded with side branches. Click on this photo for a larger version, and hit your F11 key to hide your browser's headings for the best view of this detail.
Both of those side branches seem to be turning upward, as they should. What I see there is a zinnia plant that has responded properly to an early violent removal of its main stem. This actually looks like someone went over your young zinnia bed with a lawn mower. That will tend to keep them from growing straight/upright.
ZM
zen_man
6 years agoHi nchomegarden,
" ...which variety is that in the 2nd photo with lots of orange-red flowers? I
haven't seen so many flowers at once on a single zinnia plant. "At the end of the season, it had well over 50 blooms on the plant, which had become, in effect, a shrub. This photo was taken while the plant was still relatively "young".
It was not a commercial variety, but an experimental triploid cactus zinnia. Triploids don't set seeds (bananas are triploids), so the full energy of the plant is available to produce more branches and flowers. Incidentally, in my Fall cleanup, I discovered that its many branches had struck roots where they were in contact with the ground, and it was well on its way toward becoming a ground cover plant. It had an amazing mass of roots.
ZM
daleyc
6 years agozen_man
6 years agosusanzone5 (NY)
6 years agodaleyc
6 years agozen_man
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoHello Dale,
I am not sure why this message string got flagged as updated, since your August 2, 2017 message is the last one, but since your message is the last one in the string, you are "due" for an answering comment. This comment from you and my response are copied from a message above.
" And there's still the problem with the other plants. I only posted the photo of the one. "
Well, there were three plants in your photo, but we could get a good view of only the one. And the photo was on its side somehow.
Obviously you can't take or post any more pictures from your 2017 zinnia patch, but I copied this excerpt from your original picture, which did show this additional zinnia in the background. Click on this small inline photo to see the larger version.
This zinnia also had its main stem terminated at the arrow, forcing side branches from that node. All side branches have to start out rather horizontally, and they naturally curve upward as they grow. Your zinnias may not have been mowed over by a lawn mower, but something terminated their main stems, and they responded normally to that damaging event. The curved stems you see in your picture above are normal growth in response to removal of the main growing point. We may never know what removed those growing points.
ZM
Stacy Gabor
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoHi ,
I have been searching online trying to find out what is causing my sunflowers to curve. Can anyone help. i am attaching a pic. Thanks for any help.
Tiana Hartmann-Doney
4 years agozen_man
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
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