Plant Doctor Archive

 I HAVE quite a few different alstroemerias and several have flowers at ground level — not much good for picking! I wonder if you are able to tell me what I can do to get them to have longer stems?

  YOUR alstroemerias might not be growing tall because of a lack of light, or perhaps they are suffering from spray drift, which can cause stunted growth and excess foliage growth. In recent years, a number of new alstroemerias have also been released which have been bred to remain compact — no amount of feeding will make these grow suitable stems for picking.

Weekend Gardener, Issue 106, 2002, Page 24

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