Please don't spray echinaceas with fungicides or insecticides - they are so attractive to bees and other pollinating insects and you will run the risk of doing real harm to them, now and in the future - as others have said, this year has given us challenging conditions for a lot of our plants - a drier year will suit many of them much more - however the ones that like damp feet will be causing us problems then - that's gardening
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I sowed some echinacea seeds last spring (2011) and haven't had so much as a flower from any of them. I repotted them this spring with fresh compost and they are still tiny. I know some of this will be weather related, there hasn't been much of a summer in Glasgow this year. Should I chuck them on the compost bin and buy a fully grown plant next year?
I sowed some echinacea seeds last spring (2011) and haven't had so much as a flower from any of them. I repotted them this spring with fresh compost and they are still tiny. I know some of this will be weather related, there hasn't been much of a summer in Glasgow this year. Should I chuck them on the compost bin and buy a fully grown plant next year?
Where are they now-still in pots or in the garden?
Don't give up just yet-keep them in pots and in the greenhouse over winter-plant them out next spring-anything from seed can take up to a couple of years to get to flowering size-they die down to the ground in the winter anyway-so don't despair about those in pots looking dead-the root is probably still ok-they are sold as roots early in the year- and yours will just be like that
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Please don't spray echinaceas with fungicides or insecticides - they are so attractive to bees and other pollinating insects and you will run the risk of doing real harm to them, now and in the future - as others have said, this year has given us challenging conditions for a lot of our plants - a drier year will suit many of them much more - however the ones that like damp feet will be causing us problems then - that's gardening
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Well said Dovefromabove!
I sowed some echinacea seeds last spring (2011) and haven't had so much as a flower from any of them. I repotted them this spring with fresh compost and they are still tiny. I know some of this will be weather related, there hasn't been much of a summer in Glasgow this year. Should I chuck them on the compost bin and buy a fully grown plant next year?
Where are they now-still in pots or in the garden?
Most are still in pots. I planted a couple of them out earlier in the year but forgot how big the fennel would grow so are a bit swamped by that.
When I repotted them they were still tiny so I didn't put them into particularly big pots which won't have helped them grow I reallise now.
Don't give up just yet-keep them in pots and in the greenhouse over winter-plant them out next spring-anything from seed can take up to a couple of years to get to flowering size-they die down to the ground in the winter anyway-so don't despair about those in pots looking dead-the root is probably still ok-they are sold as roots early in the year- and yours will just be like that
You should see growth in March or so
They grew back this spring, just not as much as I'd hoped. I'll stick them in the greenhouse and hope for the best next year. Thanks!
Now, I really must go and plant some bulbs.