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Posted on 5:37 PM by Wanto and filed under
By James Jordan
Disbudding on the second and third flushes will, of course, have to he much more severe if exhibition quality blooms are to he obtained.
Strong growing varieties disbud down for only two pairs of leaves, and weak varieties strip the side shoots from the top four pairs of leaves. Again the amount of growth carried after disbudding will be too much for first class blooms on the subsequent crops, unless thinned out after the first blooms have been cut. As each bloom is cut remove some of the surplus side branches from the main branch, finally leaving say two strong shoots on each branch from which the flower has been cut.
Such varieties, if grown on a side bud, will produce blooms only slightly less in size, if at all, but with less petals and a better centre, so that the bloom is more refined and thus more likely to take prizes; Vargas Gardner and Nearest Blue are examples.
Quite excellent results can be obtained if the plants are treated in similar fashion to the medium decoratives; the blooms will be quite good enough to score in reasonably fierce competition, although somewhat inferior in size and solidness to the products of more severely thinned plants. And the greater number of blooms will render it much easier to stage a fairly good vase at any selected time without having to worry about exact timing.
The replacement branches allowed to develop will require exactly the same treatment as the main branches, except that disbudding should be a little more severe, as there is a tendency with most varieties for the second and subsequent crops to be rather smaller and lighter in petal texture and numbers.
Medium pompons may be treated similarly for the first flush, but more branches may be carried on the second flush, and it may not be necessary to do more than remove weak and distorted growth. Naturally disbudding should be more severe on subsequent flushes than on the first crop. The baby of the family however requires somewhat more complicated treatment. A knowledge of the performance of an individual variety is almost essential, as the object is to produce a perfectly globular flower somewhat under 2 in. in diameter. This is almost impossible on the first flush on certain varieties.
Strong growing varieties disbud down for only two pairs of leaves, and weak varieties strip the side shoots from the top four pairs of leaves. Again the amount of growth carried after disbudding will be too much for first class blooms on the subsequent crops, unless thinned out after the first blooms have been cut. As each bloom is cut remove some of the surplus side branches from the main branch, finally leaving say two strong shoots on each branch from which the flower has been cut.
Such varieties, if grown on a side bud, will produce blooms only slightly less in size, if at all, but with less petals and a better centre, so that the bloom is more refined and thus more likely to take prizes; Vargas Gardner and Nearest Blue are examples.
Quite excellent results can be obtained if the plants are treated in similar fashion to the medium decoratives; the blooms will be quite good enough to score in reasonably fierce competition, although somewhat inferior in size and solidness to the products of more severely thinned plants. And the greater number of blooms will render it much easier to stage a fairly good vase at any selected time without having to worry about exact timing.
The replacement branches allowed to develop will require exactly the same treatment as the main branches, except that disbudding should be a little more severe, as there is a tendency with most varieties for the second and subsequent crops to be rather smaller and lighter in petal texture and numbers.
Medium pompons may be treated similarly for the first flush, but more branches may be carried on the second flush, and it may not be necessary to do more than remove weak and distorted growth. Naturally disbudding should be more severe on subsequent flushes than on the first crop. The baby of the family however requires somewhat more complicated treatment. A knowledge of the performance of an individual variety is almost essential, as the object is to produce a perfectly globular flower somewhat under 2 in. in diameter. This is almost impossible on the first flush on certain varieties.
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