I have got some echinacea that have grown very tall. I don’t know what variety they are, as they were sent out by mistake. Should I pinch them out, or just leave them be...?
Is it recently planted Janie B? What size plant was it when it came? If it came in a 1.5- 2L pot and seemed to have a good root system, I would leave it to flower and see what you get, then cut the flowering stems down to the base once they go over. It will bulk up naturally over the next two seasons.
Some varieties are pretty tall, up to 90cm. Do post a photo when its in flower.
If it was a smaller, say 9cm pot, you would be better cutting all the flowering stems down as they appear, before they flower, so that this year the plant puts all its energies into establishing and growing roots. If you don’t do that the plants are weak and never seem to thrive. Voice of experience talking there!
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
My Echinacea 'Ruby Giant' sown as seed in February are about the same size as your's I would just let them do there thing once in flower you should be able to identify them 🐗
"You don't stop gardening because you get old, you get old because you stop gardening." - The Hampshire Hog
I've found the photo I posted last year when they replaced the wrong ones with more wrong ones! These are the ones I'm talking about. So they were quite tall when I received them last August. I think I'll let them be and see what happens...
Ah, OK, they are well established already, I assumed we were talking about a new plant... its an Echinacea Purpurea of some sort, some of those definitely get pretty tall. A good strong pink, could be Magnus or Magnus Superior, but impossible to say. As PJ says, cut them back or pinch them out and you will lose the flowers for no real benefit.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Posts
Some varieties are pretty tall, up to 90cm. Do post a photo when its in flower.
If it was a smaller, say 9cm pot, you would be better cutting all the flowering stems down as they appear, before they flower, so that this year the plant puts all its energies into establishing and growing roots. If you don’t do that the plants are weak and never seem to thrive. Voice of experience talking there!
"You don't stop gardening because you get old, you get old because you stop gardening." - The Hampshire Hog
I've found the photo I posted last year when they replaced the wrong ones with more wrong ones! These are the ones I'm talking about. So they were quite tall when I received them last August. I think I'll let them be and see what happens...