OverWintering Alstroemerias

Hi,

We got some large plug plants earlier this year and they have grown very well in pots outdoors and produced quiet large plants, approx 3ft x3ft ; being able to pull out the whole spent flowering stems from the roots as they say we should.

As they are in pots seems it best to keep them in a frost free place overwinter but wondered how do you deal with the foliage when bringing inside before the frost particularly as they still have lots of flowers?

Do we just let it die back, cut it off at soil level or pull them out like the flowering stems ?

 

Hello Ricky, I'd let them die back naturally if you can. Pulling live, flowering stems is likely to bring the tuber with it, and cutting the leaves off will deprive the plants of energy for next year.

 

I have always left mine in the ground, the new growth in Spring can get cut back by late frosts but always recover quickly. I do pull out dead flowering stems.

 

Thanks all, they seem very good and colourful plants, not sure why we have not grown them before.

Saw a film clip of a uk commercial grower of these plants and he had a grid of wire or similar over the beds to hold the stems up.
When in pots they can sag over the side a bit too much, was thinking of making some form of elevated hoop to help hold them in place next year.

Do you use any support methods ?

 

The really dwarf alstros are fine without, but I like the ones about a metre tall - and they are floppy. I use link stakes so that I can adjust the shape of the corral to the clump. Wilko do their own version of link stakes that seem reasonably solid

 

I keep mine in pots ,,, they go in the greenhouse over winter...

A lot of the varieties were grown for the floristry trade so yes some are very tall .. and need staking ... do you know the trick once a stem is finished flowering dont cut but pull the stem out the soil ...

 

I grow Rock n Roll its a stunner and not too tall and I dont stake

 

Yes , thanks, our three as in the top picture are about 3ft tall and wide so do need a little support to keep then neat when in pots.