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Old May 5, 2018   #541
BigVanVader
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I've been using flora nova bloom on my petunias at 3/4 strength and they look amazing. I used osmocote in a few (plus flora) and they were ready 1 week sooner than the others. I'm gonna just use Osmo+ from now on but the FNova was a gift. Really good stuff for flowers.
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Old May 6, 2018   #542
efisakov
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I am using Osmocote Smart-Release on my seedlings this year. They love it. Cole, thanks for sharing this info. The price is great too: less than $15 for 4.5 pounds.
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Old May 6, 2018   #543
clkeiper
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Petunias are fertilizer hogs. as a matter of fact this year I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong in the greenhouse. my begonias have languished all this year. I was mixing fertilizer just a couple days ago and happened to just glance at the injector. it was set over 300ppm for my whole house. whaaat????!!!! Kevin worked on the injector and forgot to set it afterwards. I have been killing my begonias overfertilizing them.but the petunias look fabulous.
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Old May 6, 2018   #544
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Yeah I've been treating my petunias like mums. Strong frets 2x a week. I was using full strength but noticed some white spots on the flowers. Since doing 3/4 strength 2x a week they look amazing.
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Old May 6, 2018   #545
Salsacharley
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Those do look amazing!
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Old May 6, 2018   #546
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Thanks for all the compliments. Those petunias look nice, Van. I made the mistake of growing mine from seed, and they are still too small to sell. I have been pinching off their first blooms to try to make them grow more.

Here's a pic of Saturday's colorful market table:
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Old May 6, 2018   #547
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Very colorful indeed! Nice work, Cole. I bet the customers are glad to see flowers in spring!
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Old May 6, 2018   #548
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Very nice. Just a suggestion. Pull off the dead lower leaves on those sunflowers. I go through and clean mine the day before market. People think something is wrong with them if I don't. Those Marigolds are really nice. How much do you get for them?
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Old May 7, 2018   #549
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I hear you. That is old freeze damage, not normally there. I thought about removing them, then got busy and forgot. They all sold, regardless. I had $4 or 2 for $7 on all my flowers, and still took quite a few home. They will hopefully last a few weeks at least in saleable condition. I have a landscaper who buys a truckload at a time for $2 each. He gets my overflow. He won't take sunflowers, though.
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Old May 7, 2018   #550
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Cole, looked for your growing info in back pages, and just not findding it. I started sunflowers to have more options for the local polinators. THey need repotting and on the stem are tiny white shoots like a tomato. How deep can I repot these??

Thanks.

( I started marigolds and the mice loved them so much, they ( or it) cleared the whole flat in one night. Hope they had gastric distress. lol)


FOUND IT !!

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Old May 7, 2018   #551
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Wow. Everyones flowering plants are delightful!!!!

The growing season is revving up. A few crocus survived the winter. Forsythia started blooming just a couple weeks ago, the peaches are a mass of pinks, neighbors magnolias are magnificent, and the lilacs are soon to bloom....
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Old May 7, 2018   #552
Black Krim
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie View Post
The trade size gallon I use is actually too small, I think. They are just cheap, and I bought a lot at once. I have to bottom-water the larger plants and let them soak in order to water them adequately.

They don't seem to mind being transplanted, honestly. Usually the root ball comes out as one big chunk, so the roots don't really get disturbed. Important tip for when you do transplant sunflowers - you know how tomato plants grow roots off of buried stem? Sunflowers do NOT do that. So legginess can't be corrected by burying the stem deeper at transplant, like I do with tomatoes.

FOUND !!
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Old May 9, 2018   #553
natural
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I have some dwarf sunflowers that are branching variety. This first set of flowers are spent. Is this the end of the plant or can you deadhead to create another set of flowers?

Bill
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Old May 10, 2018   #554
clkeiper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by natural View Post
I have some dwarf sunflowers that are branching variety. This first set of flowers are spent. Is this the end of the plant or can you deadhead to create another set of flowers?

Bill
I think it is the end of the life cycle of the plant. once the main flower has set seed the stem is far too hard to allow new growth to emerge, the center or main bud should be pinched out as soon as you can pop it off to make the other buds emerge. the tip of each stem and the main flower bud has a chemical called auxin that prohibits lateral growth from emerging but once you have pinched the end or center-main flower out... it allows the plant to make the lateral growth emerge or it allows the other flowers to make a bunch rather than a single flower ( think potted mums for a florist... they generally have to either be pinched to make a mound of even sized flowers or like the football mum you find in a florists shop... they have to be cleaned of the lateral flowerbuds to produce one spectacular flower).
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Old May 11, 2018   #555
natural
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Thanks Carolyn. I suspected as much. I think I will stick with the zinnias and marigolds from now on.

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