Aquilegia

blameitonthedog

I have a few dozen Aquilegia McKana hybrids grown from seed early this year, all about a foot tall, in pots, in ordinary shop bought compost.  Ideally, I don't want to plant them out until I've removed some of the spent annuals/biennials towards the end of September.

Is this too late to plant them out?  If so, should I give them a liquid feed or two in their pots as the compost must be spent by now?

Thank you.

Fairygirl

Depending on how many you have, and what size of pot they're in, you could pot them on into bigger pots instead, and then plant out in autumn when you have your spaces ready.

If you don't want to do that, you could give them a liquid seaweed feed or similar if you feel they look a bit poor, and  plant them out in September as you would with any pot grown plant, but it's really just a  judgement call.  They're pretty tough plants 

Sorry - just noticed you have three dozen, so you may not want to repot them all!  Why not do half and half and see how they fare?

Last edited: 21 July 2017 16:02:36

BobTheGardener

 They do naturally grow long tap-roots, so better to pot them on if you can't plant them out yet as Fairy said.  Too late for this year but worth getting some root trainer modules if you grow them again.  I have only been using those for a couple of years but the results are excellent for all types of deep rooted plants and veg.

blameitonthedog

Thank you, both.  I think I'll do half and half.  I'm not great with seeds/seedlings in the first place and these, for ages, were the most airy fairy, delicate looking things that looked like they'd fall over should you dare even breathe on them... so I didn't want to stuff it up at this stage!

Fairygirl

'airy, fairy'; you say....my kind of plant....

Appearances can be deceptive, can't they? I have a dwarf one which I've collected some seed from. It's really pretty.

I might try a few in root trainers I've got somewhere, and some direct sown, after reading Bobs post! 

blameitonthedog

That is very pretty indeed!  I love 'airy fairy' but the stems on these were thread-like for months so yes, I guess they're tougher than they appear.  I do hope my current lot are successful.  The only others I have planted were bought as (pre flowering) plants... much anticipation and the flower colours were truly and horribly dull.  Then they died.