Delphinium help

Hi guys,

i planted four delphiniums out a few months ago, they had been in pots for about 18 months and seem to be doing really well, but once planted out they started to grow really fast and then buckled under their own weight before they started to flower. So now they all look a bit of a mess and the stems are all snapped and twisted and they are spreading out accross the floor like ground cover plants mite
Does anyone else have this problem with delphiniums or have i made a mistake?? I think it mite be because i over fertilised them which can make the stems really weak as i used bonemeal when planted out but then used some miracle grow too at a later date as they didnt seem to be doing much at first. Do you normally need plant supports for delphinium?? the one on the front of my house looks fine and that had no fert....Not sure what to do with them now, dig them up, cut them back or trie to take cuttings or bin them or wait til next year see what happens then???

Any advice would great thanks everyone.

 

Hi Hydro

They need staking from 6 inches upwards middle of April would of been ideal , winds will knock them over as the stems are sappy and brittle and at that stage lack any strength in the stem as you/I and many others have found out

I have tried to grow them a couple of times all have failed as the winds by me can be bad in the summer coming in off the Atlantic snaps the flowering stems off and I hate to see all the canes holding them up , wrong time for cuttings should of been late March early april from the new shoots coming out of the soil , dont dig them up try and put some canes in they should re-grow not to the height you wanted though be a shame to bin them and we can advise what to do next time.

Sounds like you did overfeed with all that early fleshy growth, the one in the front will need support plus I would feed now as it will help with the growth and the colour of the bloom , I am still determind to get one to flower properley one of my gardening ambitions .

Spruce

 

Thanks Spruce, thats kind of a relief to know im not the only one this has happened too. I should have acted sooner and put canes in but i did not realise they needed them i thought that the soft sappy stems would toughen into hardwood before they collapsed.
Think i will just leave them where they are then and if need be get some sort of plant supports for next season although i feel my entire garden needs demolishing and starting again its a mess.

 

Hi Hydro.
I had similar issues a couple of years ago.
Initially I could never grow Delphiniums 0 as soon as the reached about 6" the slugs had a picnic.
Since surrounding the plants with pellets they have grown OK.
I have 5 canes around the plants and run strings around the canes up to 4'. Beyond that they seem to survive OK and the foliage hides the string.

 

Haha slugs are really annoying! Try planting iceberg lettice they seem to like that more than delphinium

I am looking at different plant supports and trying to decide which i like most...i seen some at a mates garden once he used for peonies a metal frame although it was very low profile but then your way sounds much more flexible

 

Eeeek, I must rush out tomorrow morning and stake my delphiniums which are currently free-standing! I quite like the sticks & string idea, although I would use tall twigs rather than bamboo canes - they merge into the background more.

 

I have just planted my seed grown Delphs . Thanks for the care points , I'll make sure I stake when they are big enough.
I always wonder how these and other finicky plants ever managed in the wild ! These seem to fall over at a puff of wind or are devoured by slugs. Other plants if you look at them twice curl up and die !

 

I use "link stakes"

Were your plants indoors (conservatory / greenhouse) whilst they were in pots? If so the growth may just have been too lush this year, and didn't really harden up properly. Its important to get plants like that outside before they get warm, cozy and SOFT! They'll be fine next year, now they are outside, but put Mid April in your diary for next year to remind you to stake them

 

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

They were all ordered from mail order year before last when they were little plugs, they went in pots then into the ground but they were dug up and repotted to soon be replanted again...a bad habbit of mine I wont forget to stake them next year!!