Short flower stems

12 years ago

Hi Guys,

I have been watching this forum for quite some time now (a few years) and thought I would finally share.

I have a lot of hippies growing at the moment. They are all unidentified as I have either lost their names or they are crosses I have created.

Usually my hippies grow happily but over the last year they have had poor conditions and not nearly as much care as I would have liked to give them. Also, the weather has been unusual for the last year as well.

Would this be the reason that nearly all the flower stalks that they have put up this year are very short?

This is an example of the short stems, they are around 100mm.
{{gwi:427877}}

Some are even having trouble getting the stems that far out:
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(excuse the washed out picture, camera wouldn't adjust for sun brightness)

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The above two are my own crosses and this is their first bloom. They are approximately 18months old.

I'm hoping next year they are happier and flower on long stems again. Do you have any recommendations for this?

Thanks,
Rhiannon

This post was edited by nann0n on Mon, Sep 23, 13 at 21:43

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Comments (3)

kaboehm (zone 9a, TX USA)
12 years ago
Hi Rhiannon! Welcome to the posting world... Glad we lured you out of the shadows!! Here in TX I had a problem with short scapes a couple springs ago on many of my bulbs. We had a really hot, dry summer of 2011, which made spring of 2012 blooms and some spring 2013 problematic.

If you search this forum for the word "short", I think you'll see many postings on short scapes. Best I can tell for my bulbs is that stress really hit them hard, especially my H. Papilio bulbs. Some buds barely got out of the necks before they bloomed.

Was your weather too hot... Too dry? Can you provide some shade cloths for them? I improved the shade situation and my bulbs are doing well. We didn't have as hot a summer and the watering system was improved this year. I don't think you can help the current crop of scapes, since they are formed 1-2 years ago, but you can always work on next year's blooms with adequate water and a bit of protection from the hottest sun. Those are just my thoughts.

K
nann0n
Original Author
12 years ago
I am pretty sure it was both too hot and too dry. We have been having odd weather for the last two years. It also didn't help that these poor little fellers were in pots at the time.

I have been able to plant them in the ground for now, and plan on installing drip line to keep them happier. I can't provide them with any shade but hopefully a combination of better watering and mulch will be enough.

I'm hoping they can establish and flourish in their new bed, and they haven't been set back too much by this.
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kaboehm (zone 9a, TX USA)
12 years ago
While they do great in the ground, I have between 500-600 in pots and they do fine, so being in pots may not be the reason. Bulbs in pots are easier to move around for the winter.
K