help w/cosmos please

25 Jul '05 3:46 am

I started flowers from seeds for the first time. Most of them are growing very well, including established plants already purchased. My cosmos on the other hand, are HUGE!!! Some of them are 4 ft, with stalks like broccoli. I don't know if this is normal, as I have seen other cosmos in my area that are not neraly as tall nor do they have such huge stems and are't so bushy.....like 5-6 stems on the same plant. This is all background info though, as my main concern is them not producing any flowers!!!!

If I don't have enough info in this rambling post please feel free to ask ????s. I am kind of new at gardening-I used to just throw some cheap plants at the dirt and see what lived.

Thank you for your help!
Erica

29 Jul '05 7:43 pm

Hi kidsndogs Very Happy

You might have more luck with responses if you pop your questions in the 'general chat' or 'your garden & plants' forums. I think this forum is more the techo side of things Wink

A bit like the spuds you have to eat before you can have desert Very Happy

Maybe you are getting all that green growth because your soil is too rich? Sometimes annual flowers put on a better show if they have a poor soil.
It's like something to do with slight stressing makes them produce flowers...sure I've heard somthing like that Confused

I have had some cosmos grow really high and others barely make one foot! So expect anything Very Happy

30 Jul '05 12:54 pm

There are definitely tall cosmos varieties - they grow nearly head high (white, and those lilac pinky shades), and then there are the same colours (specifically white) in littler knee high ones. Every two or three years I buy in specific tall ones from a seed catalogue - I love the height and the colours in late summer. Cosmos will self seed, too, if you like that sort of thing. I love cutting up the old cosmos plants and returning them in bits as mulch. I choose one patch, then I forget about them! It's amazing how many seedlings survive my random weeding without specacles programme!
Happy gardening,