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Annuals still very small

jaffacakesjaffacakes Posts: 434
in Plants
Hi all, I have several tall annuals (sunflower vanilla ice, cosmos purity, cosmos cupcakes) but they are all still very small and i'm not sure why. This time last year they would have been about 4 to 5 foot and ready to flower but at the moment they are only 1 foot max. Is there anything i can do to give them a growth spurt? It certainly cannot be the weather as it's been very warm. I haven't fed them, would some nitrogen help? Thanks

Posts

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    My cosmos cupcakes were sown in March and are about a foot tall. That is what I would expect at this time of year.  When I plant them in their final position , over the next couple of weeks, they will get a handful of Blood, Fish and bone, per square yard or so. Too much nitrogen and you will have all leaf and no flowers.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I have never known cosmos to be 4/5’ tall at the beginning of June, but maybe you sowed them early? 
    Mine are the same as FB about 1’ tall and ready to plant out. I don’t feed them either and I keep picking the buds out until about the begining of July, then let them go, they will flower until October if frost doesn’t get them.  ( or a gale force wind in my case😀) 
    A useful addition to the late flowering garden. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • jaffacakesjaffacakes Posts: 434
    Thanks both, yeah i think last year i might have sown the cosmos much earlier. This year was around the middle/ end of March. Maybe i will try some blood fish and bone. I don't see any buds yet but i guess they are too small so if i see any i'll pinch them off. It's my first time growing sunflower vanilla ice. They all look healthy but are sooooo small. Most are only about half a foot. Will give them a feed of blood fish and bone and hope for the best :smile:
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I sow mine late in pots outside so that they can fill gaps in the summer. If they mature too soon,i have nowhere to put them. Mine are less than a foot at the moment and that's good for me. They often last til early November
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Ah, I thought cosmos thrived in poor, low nutrient soil - you give me hope.
  • jaffacakesjaffacakes Posts: 434
    I have about 10 that i haven't planted out yet so i'll repot these into 2 litre pots for another few weeks. They are much bigger than those that i planted out 2 weeks ago so will be good replacements if others don't do too well. Thanks :smile:
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