I have noticed that many of the tulips, daffodils, hyacinths are not
fully growing before the bloom starts. There seems to be no stem or
very little stem. Does anyone know why this is happening? I live in
N. Virginia (not sure this has anything to do with this).

Thanks.

L. R. wrote:
I have noticed that many of the tulips, daffodils, hyacinths are not
fully growing before the bloom starts. There seems to be no stem or
very little stem. Does anyone know why this is happening? I live in
N. Virginia (not sure this has anything to do with this).

Thanks.

Not enough cold during the winter.

-Bob

zxcvbob wrote:


Not enough cold during the winter.

Can't be. We've had a colder than normal winter. Not much by the way
of snow, but definitely cold. FWIW, my neighbor had that happen to some
of her daffodils last year. It was fine the year before, and looks like
it will be fine this year.

Suja

Suja wrote:

zxcvbob wrote:


Not enough cold during the winter.


Can't be. We've had a colder than normal winter. Not much by the way
of snow, but definitely cold. FWIW, my neighbor had that happen to some
of her daffodils last year. It was fine the year before, and looks like
it will be fine this year.

Suja


Maybe they froze solid too quickly and didn't have enough
cold-but-not-frozen time? Stems that don't elongate is a lack of dormancy
problem. *Something* went wrong this past winter.

Best regards,
Bob

Suja wrote:

zxcvbob wrote:


Not enough cold during the winter.


Can't be. We've had a colder than normal winter. Not much by the way
of snow, but definitely cold. FWIW, my neighbor had that happen to some
of her daffodils last year. It was fine the year before, and looks like
it will be fine this year.

Suja


Maybe they froze solid too quickly and didn't have enough
cold-but-not-frozen time? Stems that don't elongate is a lack of dormancy
problem. *Something* went wrong this past winter.

Best regards,
Bob

In article ,
(L. R.) wrote:

I have noticed that many of the tulips, daffodils, hyacinths are not
fully growing before the bloom starts. There seems to be no stem or
very little stem. Does anyone know why this is happening? I live in
N. Virginia (not sure this has anything to do with this).

Thanks.

Well the hyacinths naturally have stubby stems. For daffodils, if they're
first-year plantings from last autumn, they wanted a cold winter & a damp
spring, but if you planted them right up next to the house, they may get a
house-warmed winter then a dry spring (because of the eaves keeping them
from being rained on; tazettas are exceptions, they enjoy both the warmth
& the dryness). In such a case daffodils will often bloom very nicely even
so, but without sufficient energy in their bulbs to succeed at
everything. Or for daffodils' second or third year flowering, if their
previous year's post-bloom grass got cut back while still green, the bulb
will not be able to recharge for the following spring; the grass has to be
allowed to die back on its own. I dunno if it happens to tulips too, but
many tulips do wear out after a couple years & produce flowers of
decreasing size.

Miscellaneous causes of stuntiness: Books on diseases of bulbous
perennials mention bulbs being stunted by nematodes which feed on bulbs.
Sometimes called "narcissus eelworm" these nematodes will attack more than
just narcissus. If the leaves are merely stunted but not deformed, this
terrible problem is probably not to worry about. There may also be some
bulb viruses that will cause them to bloom in a stunted manner one last
time trying to reproduce itself before the disease kills it, but I
wouldn't think a single virus would get tree distinct genera of bulbs.
Somewhat more likely possibilities: If you did't plant bulbs in autumn,
but bought potted bulbs already in flower to set out one spring ago, those
were likely prematurely "forced" to look there best for in-flower sales.
Such bulbs are depleted when you plant them, so their next year will not
be as perfect. Daffodils often recover from being forced but it takes a
couple years & they'll look feeble in the meantmie; some things like
crocuses can't recover. And a last possible cause which is fairly common:
Some people dibble a narrow hole & drop a bulb in it, & the bulb is
surrounded by packed soil. This almost never serves the plants' needs.
Without the soil loosened all around including underneath the bulb it can
only grow in a stunty way.

But usually stunted stems & leaves is merely from insufficient chilling
followed by insufficient watering. Even in cold zones this can occur if
you're planting along the margin of the house which you'll keep heated up
through winter. Planting too late in the season sometimes means the chill
wasn't lengthy enough. The same stunting effect can happen on extremely
cold winters if there is a period of warmth between cold-snaps. Like, if
there's a prematurely really cold autumn followed by an "Indian summer"
followed by a winter coldsnap then spring seems to have arrived in January
then it gets bloody cold again -- this results in he same sort of stunting
one gets from insufficiently chilled bulbs, probably the result of the
bulb getting totally confused about what season its in & using some of its
growing energy at unseasonable intervals.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

In article ,
(L. R.) wrote:

I have noticed that many of the tulips, daffodils, hyacinths are not
fully growing before the bloom starts. There seems to be no stem or
very little stem. Does anyone know why this is happening? I live in
N. Virginia (not sure this has anything to do with this).

Thanks.

Well the hyacinths naturally have stubby stems. For daffodils, if they're
first-year plantings from last autumn, they wanted a cold winter & a damp
spring, but if you planted them right up next to the house, they may get a
house-warmed winter then a dry spring (because of the eaves keeping them
from being rained on; tazettas are exceptions, they enjoy both the warmth
& the dryness). In such a case daffodils will often bloom very nicely even
so, but without sufficient energy in their bulbs to succeed at
everything. Or for daffodils' second or third year flowering, if their
previous year's post-bloom grass got cut back while still green, the bulb
will not be able to recharge for the following spring; the grass has to be
allowed to die back on its own. I dunno if it happens to tulips too, but
many tulips do wear out after a couple years & produce flowers of
decreasing size.

Miscellaneous causes of stuntiness: Books on diseases of bulbous
perennials mention bulbs being stunted by nematodes which feed on bulbs.
Sometimes called "narcissus eelworm" these nematodes will attack more than
just narcissus. If the leaves are merely stunted but not deformed, this
terrible problem is probably not to worry about. There may also be some
bulb viruses that will cause them to bloom in a stunted manner one last
time trying to reproduce itself before the disease kills it, but I
wouldn't think a single virus would get tree distinct genera of bulbs.
Somewhat more likely possibilities: If you did't plant bulbs in autumn,
but bought potted bulbs already in flower to set out one spring ago, those
were likely prematurely "forced" to look there best for in-flower sales.
Such bulbs are depleted when you plant them, so their next year will not
be as perfect. Daffodils often recover from being forced but it takes a
couple years & they'll look feeble in the meantmie; some things like
crocuses can't recover. And a last possible cause which is fairly common:
Some people dibble a narrow hole & drop a bulb in it, & the bulb is
surrounded by packed soil. This almost never serves the plants' needs.
Without the soil loosened all around including underneath the bulb it can
only grow in a stunty way.

But usually stunted stems & leaves is merely from insufficient chilling
followed by insufficient watering. Even in cold zones this can occur if
you're planting along the margin of the house which you'll keep heated up
through winter. Planting too late in the season sometimes means the chill
wasn't lengthy enough. The same stunting effect can happen on extremely
cold winters if there is a period of warmth between cold-snaps. Like, if
there's a prematurely really cold autumn followed by an "Indian summer"
followed by a winter coldsnap then spring seems to have arrived in January
then it gets bloody cold again -- this results in he same sort of stunting
one gets from insufficiently chilled bulbs, probably the result of the
bulb getting totally confused about what season its in & using some of its
growing energy at unseasonable intervals.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 11:38:57 -0600, zxcvbob
wrote:

Suja wrote:

zxcvbob wrote:


Not enough cold during the winter.


Can't be. We've had a colder than normal winter. Not much by the way
of snow, but definitely cold. FWIW, my neighbor had that happen to some
of her daffodils last year. It was fine the year before, and looks like
it will be fine this year.

Suja


Maybe they froze solid too quickly and didn't have enough
cold-but-not-frozen time? Stems that don't elongate is a lack of dormancy
problem. *Something* went wrong this past winter.

Best regards,
Bob


Were they old or new plantings? I don't know about hyacinths, but
daffodils planted too late, have shorter stems, I've seen late planted
ones bloom right at ground level.

They should be planted as soon after they're available usually
September, as possible. Lilies often arrive for fall planting so late
that people usually dig the holes early, mulch the soil and when they
arrive, pop them into the ground, water, mulch heavily so the soil
does not freeze right away, giving them time to root before the ground
freezes. I know you didn't mention lilies, but that technique could
be applied to any bulbs gotten in the ground too late.

If they're not a new planting and they have grown ok in previous
years, and the past winter was different than usual, I'd mark it up to
that, and let it go for this year unless there are other things wrong
than the height they attained.

Janice

On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 11:38:57 -0600, zxcvbob
wrote:

Suja wrote:

zxcvbob wrote:


Not enough cold during the winter.


Can't be. We've had a colder than normal winter. Not much by the way
of snow, but definitely cold. FWIW, my neighbor had that happen to some
of her daffodils last year. It was fine the year before, and looks like
it will be fine this year.

Suja


Maybe they froze solid too quickly and didn't have enough
cold-but-not-frozen time? Stems that don't elongate is a lack of dormancy
problem. *Something* went wrong this past winter.

Best regards,
Bob


Were they old or new plantings? I don't know about hyacinths, but
daffodils planted too late, have shorter stems, I've seen late planted
ones bloom right at ground level.

They should be planted as soon after they're available usually
September, as possible. Lilies often arrive for fall planting so late
that people usually dig the holes early, mulch the soil and when they
arrive, pop them into the ground, water, mulch heavily so the soil
does not freeze right away, giving them time to root before the ground
freezes. I know you didn't mention lilies, but that technique could
be applied to any bulbs gotten in the ground too late.

If they're not a new planting and they have grown ok in previous
years, and the past winter was different than usual, I'd mark it up to
that, and let it go for this year unless there are other things wrong
than the height they attained.

Janice

A good idea for keeping bulb gardens looking good and and recharged
is to use blood meal and bone meal when planting and fertilize each
year as well I notice that that helps keep my bulbs of all sorts
looking full and healthy .
I have allot of lillies and liatris and some tubers that do so much
better and when I plant my easter flowers I put a little down the
whole with them and they have somthing to stock up on for the winter
and the new year and it helps with the forced blooming they had to
deal with I have so many easter lilies and other flowers that just
look great oh and the blood meal seems to keep away rodents that
like to eat bulbs
hope this helps
michelle


On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 10:29:25 -0800,
(paghat) wrote:

In article ,
(L. R.) wrote:

I have noticed that many of the tulips, daffodils, hyacinths are not
fully growing before the bloom starts. There seems to be no stem or
very little stem. Does anyone know why this is happening? I live in
N. Virginia (not sure this has anything to do with this).

Thanks.

Well the hyacinths naturally have stubby stems. For daffodils, if they're
first-year plantings from last autumn, they wanted a cold winter & a damp
spring, but if you planted them right up next to the house, they may get a
house-warmed winter then a dry spring (because of the eaves keeping them
from being rained on; tazettas are exceptions, they enjoy both the warmth
& the dryness). In such a case daffodils will often bloom very nicely even
so, but without sufficient energy in their bulbs to succeed at
everything. Or for daffodils' second or third year flowering, if their
previous year's post-bloom grass got cut back while still green, the bulb
will not be able to recharge for the following spring; the grass has to be
allowed to die back on its own. I dunno if it happens to tulips too, but
many tulips do wear out after a couple years & produce flowers of
decreasing size.

Miscellaneous causes of stuntiness: Books on diseases of bulbous
perennials mention bulbs being stunted by nematodes which feed on bulbs.
Sometimes called "narcissus eelworm" these nematodes will attack more than
just narcissus. If the leaves are merely stunted but not deformed, this
terrible problem is probably not to worry about. There may also be some
bulb viruses that will cause them to bloom in a stunted manner one last
time trying to reproduce itself before the disease kills it, but I
wouldn't think a single virus would get tree distinct genera of bulbs.
Somewhat more likely possibilities: If you did't plant bulbs in autumn,
but bought potted bulbs already in flower to set out one spring ago, those
were likely prematurely "forced" to look there best for in-flower sales.
Such bulbs are depleted when you plant them, so their next year will not
be as perfect. Daffodils often recover from being forced but it takes a
couple years & they'll look feeble in the meantmie; some things like
crocuses can't recover. And a last possible cause which is fairly common:
Some people dibble a narrow hole & drop a bulb in it, & the bulb is
surrounded by packed soil. This almost never serves the plants' needs.
Without the soil loosened all around including underneath the bulb it can
only grow in a stunty way.

But usually stunted stems & leaves is merely from insufficient chilling
followed by insufficient watering. Even in cold zones this can occur if
you're planting along the margin of the house which you'll keep heated up
through winter. Planting too late in the season sometimes means the chill
wasn't lengthy enough. The same stunting effect can happen on extremely
cold winters if there is a period of warmth between cold-snaps. Like, if
there's a prematurely really cold autumn followed by an "Indian summer"
followed by a winter coldsnap then spring seems to have arrived in January
then it gets bloody cold again -- this results in he same sort of stunting
one gets from insufficiently chilled bulbs, probably the result of the
bulb getting totally confused about what season its in & using some of its
growing energy at unseasonable intervals.

-paghat the ratgirl