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Alstroemerias

cvhcvh Posts: 18
I have dead headed my alstroemerias by pulling the stems out from the ground but the non flowering stalks are very floppy and laying on the ground.  Is it ok to cut them back and if so by how much? 

Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    No point in cutting them back, they only flower on the ends. Are you sure the floppy ones are actually budding stems and not just older ones that haven’t flowered. 
    Have you taken a photo? 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • cvhcvh Posts: 18
    They are definitely non flowering stems.  Just wanted to cut back to tidy them up so I can put in a few bedding plants to fill up spaces now the alstroemerias have finished their main flowering.  
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Pull out pull those stems as well then. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • cvhcvh Posts: 18
    Many thanks.
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    I wouldn't pull them out if they are green and healthy. They are sending food down to the roots for next year, aren't they?
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    No, the OP says they’re floppy and laying on the ground, they don’t work like that, those stems do no good to the plant.  In fact in reverse, pulling them off triggers the new growth.
     They are not like daffodil or tulip bulbs which do need the green left to feed the bulb for next year. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    So do you just pull off all the non-flowering stems, Lynn? Do they have no function?
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    If you’re sure they are not getting buds on the top you may as well pull them. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

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