I had some hyacinths in my garden for many years, but they weren't
thriving, so I potted them up and have been treating them as winter
house plants (pots stood outside over summer).

The problem I have with them as house plants is that the leaves and
flowering stems tend to flop over. Does anyone have any relevant
experience and advice?

--
SRH

In article ,
Chris Hogg wrote:
On Fri, 28 Dec 2018 14:39:10 +0000, Stewart Robert Hinsley
wrote:

I had some hyacinths in my garden for many years, but they weren't
thriving, so I potted them up and have been treating them as winter
house plants (pots stood outside over summer).

The problem I have with them as house plants is that the leaves and
flowering stems tend to flop over. Does anyone have any relevant
experience and advice?

Do you have central heating? If so, perhaps the air in the house is
too dry. Try standing the pots on a bed of pebbles or Hortag (if it's
still sold), which is kept permanently wet to provide a humid
microclimate.

My guess is that 'too hot' is more likely. They do OK on our kitchen
windowsill, but it's typically only about 15 Celsius in winter, and
very rarely more than 20.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 28/12/2018 14:39, Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:
I had some hyacinths in my garden for many years, but they weren't
thriving, so I potted them up and have been treating them as winter
house plants (pots stood outside over summer).

The problem I have with them as house plants is that the leaves and
flowering stems tend to flop over. Does anyone have any relevant
experience and advice?


They always flop for me, inside and out! I asked a professional Dutch
parks gardener how to stop them doing it (having noticed they all look
upright in the Dutch displays) he told me that they push wires down
through the flower stems, but as that destroys the bulb its not really a
viable method unless you are treating them as annuals!!

--
Charlie Pridham
Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk

"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
...
On 28/12/2018 14:39, Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:
I had some hyacinths in my garden for many years, but they weren't thriving, so I
potted them up and have been treating them as winter house plants (pots stood outside
over summer).

The problem I have with them as house plants is that the leaves and flowering stems
tend to flop over. Does anyone have any relevant experience and advice?


They always flop for me, inside and out! I asked a professional Dutch parks gardener how
to stop them doing it (having noticed they all look upright in the Dutch displays) he
told me that they push wires down through the flower stems, but as that destroys the
bulb its not really a viable method unless you are treating them as annuals!!

The head gardeners trick is to use a thin pointed green cane pushed into
the flesh of the bulb to just below the bottom florets, then tied to the
flower stem with thin green twine. This does minimal damage to the bulb
and is quite unobtrusive.

Phil



---
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On 28/12/2018 14:39, Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:
I had some hyacinths in my garden for many years, but they weren't
thriving, so I potted them up and have been treating them as winter
house plants (pots stood outside over summer).

The problem I have with them as house plants is that the leaves and
flowering stems tend to flop over. Does anyone have any relevant
experience and advice?


Thank you all for your responses. My takeaway is that it's partly the
nature of the beast, but that I should be more proactive about watering
them and maybe keep them in cooler rooms (though I don't keep my house
near as warm as some people do). My other thought was lack of light -
the one bulb that is in full flower has a stalk about a foot tall, which
is more than you see in outdoor hyacinths - but it's in the brightest
room in the house.

--
SRH