New to gardening - caring for plug plants
Hi folks,
I have bought a bunch of plug plants. Some from online (72 pack of mixed bedding plants) and a few packs from supermarkets (begnoia semperflorens, petunia mix & marigolds.
The supermarket ones are much bigger, the online ones arrived yesterday and are tiny. I have a few questions:
- the supermarket ones are already producing flowers. I have read about pinching out the flowers to promote root growth. Should I pinch out the flowers that are already blooming like the marigold, or just be pinching out the small flowers buds? The internet pack have got lots of little flowers buds, should I pinch them all out with scissors?
- I am keeping them all in the conservatory for now, due to the sun we have had over the last week it does get really hot, up to mid/late 30's at the peak of day. Are they ok to stay in that heat? Should I just put them under a chair to give them more shade but would the heat be ok? I do check on them twice a day to ensure they are not looking scorched and them seem fine.
- I think I need to pot them all on now. Are they all ok to go into approx 9cm pots, even the tiny online ones?
- Eventually I wanted to put some of them in my porch for the summer. Would I be ok to put the bigger supermarket ones into 15cm pots now? And how many should be going into a pot of this size, just 1? Can bedding even be kept inside in pots?
- I am going to be putting most of them into pots to go in the garden. The pots are around 25/30cm wide. Am I right in thinking around 4 per pot is ok?
- I have been watering them when the soil feels dryish, this is every other day at the moment. Is that about right? Also, is it better to stand them in water for about 1 minute and then lift out or spray them instead?
Any other tips and advice would be great, I am hoping to get these thriving!
Posts
Supermarket ones
Internet ones
Last edited: 05 May 2017 10:04:35
Pot them all on now into small pots - too big may lead to roots rotting so it's best to pot on in stages as they grow.
Pinch out all flowers and flower buds so they concentrate on root and leaf growth for a while as this will make stronger plants that flower better. They'll soon catch up and produce more flowers. An occasional liquid feed of tomato food will help.
Keep them watered, but not drowning, and keep them sheltered from winds and late frosts and cold nights.
Thankyou Obelixx I have potted them into 9cm pots today, and I used some scissors to trim off all the buds and flowers.
The internet ones that arrived didnt have a note to say what they are, can anyone tell me please, is it all one variety?
The bottom tray look like Impatiens (busy lizzies)