A message on rec.gardens.

I thought it might interest someone.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Only where
people have learned to appreciate and cherish the landscape and
its living cover will they treat it with the care and respect it
should have - Paul Bigelow Sears.


Does anyone know of a growth retardant for hanging baskets,
particularly Petunias? Needed to stop the plant bolting
but to flower profusely...



There are several chemicals that are used to control growth:
e.g.
Florel, Bonzi, B-Nine and Sumagic (I believe these are all
trade names).
Florel is one of the oldest ones and it works by maintaining
the plant
in a vegetative state (non-flowering) while the plant is being
treated.
This encourages branching and helps to keep the internodes
short for a
bushier plant. I haven't used the others, but there are
different modes
of operation, particularly in the newer regulators.

However, Florel won't really control petunias once you stop
treating
them so they can flower. Your best bet is to change the variety
of
petunia you are growing to one with a more compact habit.

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