is there two plants in there ... look close ... if so.. i suppose you can do it ...

but i would expect them to collapse and look weak for weeks ...

if it were me.. i would leave the beauty alone.. and find something else for the pots ...

ken

This sounds silly, but I was actually wondering what actually constitutes more than one plant, from a scientific perspective. The appearance of what grows from one seed differs substantially between pant varieties, which is why I was unsure about splitting. I don't see two distinct clusters of stems coming up from the ground, however, so I guess I can't split it.

never really heard of dividing an annual ... unless there happens to be 2 plants in there ...

annuals are not like perennials... that propagate themselves thru a multitude of methods ... and then we can pull them apart ...

i think there is an annual.. and a perennial lobelia ... it might help to fully ID which you are talking about ...

ken

floral_uk:

That's very interesting. It makes a lot of sense, because I see how small lobelia seeds are, I didn't know how the grower could really ensure what was sold in each pot was the progeny from just one seed. I'll take a closer look at mine today.

1. divide it. I agree with floral. I HIGHLY doubt you have one Lobelia plant. I grow them from seed all the time, and transplant via groups of plants. don't worry about dividing it, it may look a little beat up right afterwards, but will quickly bounce back and thrive.

you can not DIVIDE an annual ... but you can SEPARATE multiple plants ...

dividing implies that there is some crown mechanism wherein the crown throws off viable shoots ...

may as well teach a newb the proper terms .. eh??

wonder whatever happened with OPs plant ...

ken