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Hardy Osteospermum not growing
Hazey~Blue
Posts: 4
Hello
I purchased some Cape Daisy giant plug plants from Thompson and Morgan. I planted them up into pots, and hardened them off over the course of a few weeks then planted them up in the garden.
They are in a sunny spot with well drained soil, but they are not growing at all. They are barely any bigger than the plug plant they were then they arrived.
Im desperate to get the ground covered to keep off the local cats! Im in North East England and we haven't had much in the way of any warm weather yet.
What am I doing wrong? Any tips?
0
Posts
Keep plugs in flower pots and pot on until you have a big plant, tiny ones will be no good planted direct.
This is reason most peoples plugs fail whether it be from T & M or J. parkers.
I did put them into pots but they didn't seem to grow much there either. What do you suggest, should I take them back out of the garden? I don't expect the roots would of spread much.
Thanks
Where did you keep the pots? A greenhouse or cold frame would have encouraged growth, especially during a cold Spring like this one. These plug plants are tiny babies. I don't think the sellers make it clear enough that they need a lot of care and won't make big plants for some time. Cape Daisies are from South Africa originally, so the North East in April isn't exactly home from home!
How warm is it up there, now? You could repot them if you have somewhere bright and warm.
I kept them indoors when it was cold and through the evenings and I used to put them out when it was a bit warmer or it was sunny, eventually they were out all the time by the start of the month. I planted them in the garden probably about 2 or 3 weeks ago.
The weather is very changeable up here, anywhere between 10 and 18 degrees these past 3 weeks.
So, I could put them back into pots, but the position they are in now is the brightest and warmest part of the garden. The plants certainly don't look as tho they are failing, they are just not thriving, maybe they have transplant shock, thats all I can think of.
Thanks for the replies, appreciate it.
Just a thought, they weren't in that tea bag type netting were they, if so, they won't grow, perhaps you can look and peel all that off, if they were indeed grown in those. A lot of plugs are.
No they are not in any kind of netting. Just those little flippy open thingies. Well the weather has suddenly got warmer today and its 20 degrees here and its set to continue for the rest of this week. We havnt had much in the way of sunshine these last couple of weeks, so hopefully some warm sunny weather will make a difference. But I feel reassured that its not just my daisies that are not growing.
But thank you, I'll let you know how things are going.