flowers from Teddy

I don't believe it! They are sprouting already! I only did it a few days ago, I did not think they would sprout so quickly. I have them on a bookcase beside my computer desk and they have a lamp beside them that is always on and the bulb is only 60 watts. Things are certainly looking up in the flower dept. my Cosmos is blooming, my MG here inside is sprouting. Will keep sending you pics on the development of the MG. Since they are sprouting I can keep the bag off right ecrane? I believe that is what you said, so while the snow is howling outside and all the flowers are sleeping outside, I will be growing my MG! It is so fascinating to watch something like that grow and mature and know that YOU started it and YOU are in control of it. The white in the middle is the sprouts.

The sprouts are actually growing pretty fast, when should I put something in there for them to climb on? I mean I can actually see the first leaves coming up. I have a pair of chopsticks, would it be okay if I put one of them in there now, or wait for awhile? I will post a picture of them now, they have grown more since this morning.

why does this flower look like this? There is another one behind it like it.

The flowers are perfectly normal. As the bloom progresses, the petals will emerge and the flowers will look as you expect them to.

altagardener thanks.

My Morning Glory that I started from seeds just a few days ago. I can see the first leaves coming out, I was wondering if there was some way I could train it to stay small since I started it now, I don't have much to let it grow on. It is on the windowsill for now and it gets a lot of light. Any suggestions and advice would be helpful, this is the first time I have tried to grow anything inside, I would like to have MG flowers in the winter when the snow is falling, I can go over to them and smell their slight fragarance. So give me your expert advice gardeners, please:0

No, there's no real way to train it to stay small other than continually pinching it back.

Could I cut thses things down or would it hurt the plant? They are making it hard to take this in the house when the wind is high, a part of the Geranium broke the other day, I took it the rest of the way off, will it regrow? It is going to be cold enough pretty soon to bring it in and keep it in and I thought I would cut these down some so I could put it somewhere where it won't be in the way. I am talking about the tall green things, not the main plant.

This is the Morning Glory that I have growing inside the house. It is in the window as you can see, it is getting plenty of sun(when there is sun to get)! A friend of mine asked if I had a black light, and I told him yes, he said the black light will help the plant grow, is that true or was he just funning me? I don't think I ever heard of black lights helping plants grow, I looked on a few pages and did not find any reference to black lights. I was thinking about trying to grow a naked lady plant inside, I have a bulb that is dried and I have plenty of potting soil, might be fun to try, what do you think?

This Amarylis bulb had its neck partially cut off, will it still bloom? I was going to try to grow it inside along with the Morning Glory which is doing quite well. Please let me know so I can get it into a pot as soon as possible, it has dried and I have it in a napkin wrapped up and inside a baggie, if I don't get an answer pretty soon, I will just keep it in there and see what happens in the spring.

Go ahead and give it a shot...just keep the neck at soil level per planting guide info....the worst to happen is it won't grow.

http://www.rochestergardening.com/bulbs/amrylcar.html

http://www.guide-to-houseplants.com/amaryllis.html

I went to the first page you posted and it told me everything I needed to know about the plant, I will try it and see what happens. The weather here in Ohio has cooled down somewhat, it is not quite 60 degrees in the house now, although we do have the pellet stove on once in a while to crack the chill. Would that have a bad effect on the plant?

I planted it and it is on the book shelf beside my desk, it would not fit in the window, there is a 60 watt lamp right beside the plant, so it is getting light. I do have a black light that I can use if necessary. Will let you know how things work out.

I changed the light bulb to a 75 watt and I have some tin foil wrapped around it to act as a kind of reflector to keep the heat and light more concentrated on the plant. So I will see what happens.

brought my Geranium in tonight it is supposed to get in the 40's and 30's at night, should I take it out during the day and bring it in at night? Or should I just leave it in all the time now?

You can take it back outside as long aas the daytime temps stay above 60º. Anything below that and you risk losing leaves.

As you can see, the tall Cosmos plant that is taller than me has red on it, here are two more buds on it, I can't figure out why a warm weather flower like this is blooming on a cold, wet day, Can someone point me to a page that tells me how this flower does what it does?

Here is a pink one just opening up, I never liked pink too well before, but on these flowers they are lovely.;)

It is following its' natural cycle, Teddy. The plant's growth was slowed down a bit by the lack of full sun and now it is completing the cycle....it will bloom right up to the time you get heavy frost or really cold temperatures. The "purpose" of an annual plant is to germinate, grow, set buds, flower, and go to seed...and then die back over the winter so new seeds can start again in the Spring.

thank you very much themoonhowl, I hope you like the pictures. When and if it ever warms up enough to go out for a bit, I am going to take pictures of all the trees surrounding the house we rent, and then you can maybe give me a better idea where I can plant flowers that need sun, that sounds like a plan to me about you and some of the others?

Does this look like a good setup for the Amaryllis bulb, it is 8 1/2 inches from bulb to clamp on light, is that too close, the light bulb is a 60 watt. I am afraid if I put too much of a bright light on it it will burn it. What do you think?

question, I set my potted Amaryllis bulb out to get some sun, if it is the 50's and 60's during the day, would it be ok to take it out during the day and bring it in at night? Or would that confuse the growing cycle? If it grows.

I would allow it to be outside in the sun as much as possible in the daytime as long as the temperature is above 40 degrees.

one more question, when I dug this one up, it had not bloomed at all and I damaged the neck when I dug. Do you think I should get rid of this one and get one of my neighbor's? Hers bloomed this past summer whereas mine have not?

If your neighbor is willing, I would get one from her, BUT I would also give the one you have a chance to grow. It may have been too young to bloom this past year.

Just went over and got 3 bulbs, two of them are stuck together, can you plant them and keep them hooked together? They are pretty good size and the neck is in pristine condition. I have them in the kitchen so they can dry out and will put one of them in a coffee can, also have another can I might put the double ones in, what do you think? I appreciate your input themoonhowl.

You can absolutely leave them stuck together. Next year, you can pop them apart.

thank you kwanjin, if they bloomed in the ground last year will I be able to make them bloom in the house this winter? My neighbor's did, but I think mine was too young last year, I still have mine potted but it won't fit in the windowsill without tipping over so I put it outside for a while while it is still warm, and the other one I put in a coffee can and I was able to put it in the window. I was just wondering, since mine did not bloom at all last year, do you think mine will? Sorry so many questions I just want them to bloom and then I can enjoy them all winter long. I will be so excited if they do my feet did not touch ground for two days when my MG came up inside! Now they are both up and doing good, now I have to be patient, booo! Hopefully one of the amaryllis will bloom, knowing my luck, it will be hers since it has already bloomed last summer.

Teddy, there is no need to let the bulbs dry out as you are replanting them immediately and not storing them. I agree with Kwanjin, leave the double as one for now.

I think I am going to transfer the first Amaryllis bulb I potted to a smaller pot, they say they like to feel crowded and the pot I have them is way too big. What do you guys think? Is that a good idea?

It is a good idea to follow the planting info as closely as possible, so yes, a pot that is only a little bit larger than the bulb would work.

Ok, I will switch pots today. Is it possible for a bulb to mildew? I don't smell anything, but it looks like it has something on the top, how can I check? I don't want to go through all the work of repotting it if it is rotten, so if it is spongy when I take it out what should I do?

If it is the bulb with the damaged neck/crown and is spongy it may be best to start over with the newly dug bulbs and just discard that one.

Well, I think that is what I am going to do, the neck is so damaged that I don't think it would have grown anyway, and I still have 3 that are whole and firm and it pots that will make them feel nice and cozy. Thanks for your help and I will keep you informed as to their progress. I just took it out and it had a songy spot in it and it stunk, so I threw it away, my neighbor said if I wanted anymore I could just go over and get them, I think I will go over and get one more to replace that one, is it possible to be rotton and still have green on the inside of the bulb?

Very possible. The rot can start on the outside and move inward. Good you tossed it.

I broke the one that had two of them together and potted them separately, I went over and tried to find one but they were all rooted in and I was afraid I would tear it up trying to dig it up, so I just repotted the ones I broke in half. Here is a picture of one of the ones that was stuck together, see if it looks ok to you. Any suggestions would be helpful. Got one question, in the winter should I move it from the windowsill? It gets real cold there, should I move it to a warmer spot like beside my desk, my lamp is a 75 watt soft light and it is a lamp, would that be enough light?

Just checked on the amaryllis bulbs that are planted outside, since I read that they should have the necks above the dirt, I scraped some of the dirt away from them now their necks are exposed and a little bit of their shoulders). Now do I have to put something over them to protect them from squirrels, or do they like those bulbs? There is greenery on both of them, how do I ( short of digging them up and possibly destroying them)protect them from winter? I am in zone 6, will they be ok, planted in the ground, they seem solid and in the ground pretty tight.

This is the amaryllis between the Irises beside the lattice where the MG are, is it exposed enough, I had to scrape very gently around it to get that much. The next picture is the other one, do I need to scrape more away from either of them? They seem to be rooted in quite nicely.

This is the one at the corner of the house, does it need more dirt scraped away from it, I have them both marked to where they are now. Do I need to put something over them to protect them from the winter weather? What could I put over them to protect them? Do you think they will bloom this year?

You will need to use some sort of mulch to protect them....a blanket of leaves, pine needles, straw....something to keep the frost off and give them a layer of protection from the snow...