Delphiniums

[Plocket]

I planted some delphinium seeds and they germinated just before I went away on holiday. I returned a week later to find that the weather had been much hotter and drier than I had expected. I watered them just in case and they all came back to life! I guess they are fairly tough!

Anyway - my question is, now that the delphiniums are very much alive, but still tiny, should I plant them and hope they survive the winter? Or will the slugs get them, or what?

Help!!!

[Plocket]

[Palustris]

If they have got their true leaves then I would suggest potting them up in standard potting compost. Put them somewhere shaded for a few days to recover. I would keep them in pots until Spring and plant them out then. As they grow you could move them on into bigger pots.

[feet of clay]

Is hardy stuff (like delph's) OK in pots over winter?  I want to do this with the stuff I've just got germinating but wondered if it would be more vunerable to the frost/cold.

[Palustris]

All plants in pots are more susceptible to root freezing. The answer is to keep the pots where frost cannot get at them, though I realise this is not easy in a small garden. We keep ours in the frames, no lids, but that is sufficient to keep out all but the hardest cold when we do cover with fleece.
If you have the room you can plant out in nursery beds in the garden. BUT if you do be careful of which plants you  choose. Poppies took us 5 years of weedkiller to get rid of from a bed like that. And they are just as prone to insect damage as adult plants.

[feet of clay]

Thanks.  I have two raised beds for salad and veg (the height stops the dogs from 'watering' the crops).  I plan to rip everything out at the end of the growing season and I could sink the pots into the soil.  I am not a winter gardener.  I start with seed sowing in propagators in early March and then pack up in October.  I spend the time in between catching up with DIY, decorating and sewing.
Having said this, I was gardening in the rain this week - trying to plant out my home-grown stuff in a newly-turned border.

[Plocket]

Thank you Palustris! I have replanted them from the seed tray already, and spaced them out in larger pots, although they are sharing! Oh and they do have their proper leaves.

I have a three-tiered unit which I cover over winter. If I pot the plants up, keep them off the ground and covered with plastic, would they survive do you think?

[Spurdie]

Plocket, I would advise putting down something to "deter" slugs and snails from your new delphineum plants. We find that that delphineums (and hollyhocks) are their favourite food. It would be a shame if the greedy beggars ate all your new plantlets before they got a chance to grow!
Regards Spurdie

[Plocket]

Hi Spurdie! Thanks for that advice. At the moment the Delphs are fairly well protected - high off the ground and on trays of coarse sand. So far I haven't had a problem with the slugs. Well not as far as the Delphs are concerned anyway. My new clematis is being munched faster than it can grow. I think I am going to have to buy some pellets and put them down. As for my hollyhocks - the slugs and snails have picked on just one which has no leaves now! I guess they will pick on another one soon.

[Mrs Ava]

Delphs and lupins in my garden, they ignore the hollyhocks.  I have to grow both in pots where I can protect them.  If they were so wonderful, I might give up on them, but my blue delphs are to die for!  ;D

[Plocket]

EJ - I'm with you on that one - the blues are just so stunning! And such different hues. I love them.

[feet of clay]

I love delphs but they don't do well in the garden so if I want them they are going to have to live in pots - I don't know if it's the slugs or the bunnies who are the guilty parties. Generally, the slugs don't do too well cos of my frogs, toads and birds - probably got hoggies too but not sees any.

[Plocket]

Hi FoC, I don't know whether it will help but I have heard of anti-slug mats. I've never tried them myself and would be interested to hear if they do work. Anyway, Thompson & Morgan do them, and I am sure garden centres might as well. Good luck with the pots!

[feet of clay]

Thanks.  I am actually blaming the bunnies - it's like Watership Down out there in the evenings.  I think I will risk planting out a few more healthy specimens and keep some back as reserves - they seem OK up on a table (bunny proof).

[Plocket]

Oh yes bunnies are pesky little beasts - and when they find something they like they keep coming back!!!

I wonder if anything is anti-bunny? You could invent something and make millions!

Good luck anyway!

[Garden Manager]

I cant grow Deplhiniums or Lupins in the ground because of the slugs and snails, though i have had some sucess in pots, which can then be mulched with grit and be placed out of reach of the slime devils.