Morning Glory newbee could use some help!

Hi all, well I have just planted about 6 or 7 MG seedlings that I got out of my sisters yard that had come up from last years flowers. The littler ones seem to be doing better than the larger. They were out of the ground for about 3 hours. Before I came on Daves for advice I planted and Fertilized them!!!!!! Now I see that was a mistake. I planted them next to a fence in hopes that IF they do make it they will have something to hang on too. I love them so much, so I hope these will make it. Any and all suggestions would be very apprecitated. Meem

Hi Meems,
An expert will be along to advise you soon, but until then, make sure the slugs and snails don't get those tender leaves. Give then some water but not too much- don't drown them. I just got some cuttings of morning glories from a fellow Dave's member and I stuck them in dirt and they wilted and I got scared that I killed them but she told me that's normal. So, your plants might look droopy for a day or two and then perk up.

Good Luck!

MeemsDream - Hello(!) and welcome to the MG forum

I follow some usual procedures when I dislocate and transplant a MG to help prevent and lessen the affects of transplant shock

1) water the plant deeply before transplang...preferably for several days prior to transplanting

2) try to maintain the integrity of the root mass by carefully digging around and under the plant

3) excavate some of the soil from where the plant was originally planted to add into the new medium mixture around the roots

4) place the misted plant and root mass into a covered container or very large sealed plastic bag to which some additional water has been added to help keep the plant very hydrated

5)excavate a hole in the new medium somewhat larger than the root mass of the transplant,place the root mass into the new medium and fill in any gaps with a mixture of the original soil and the new medium

6) keep the transplant well watered,misted and in the shade or at least partially protected from the full sun for at least a couple of days to reduce any shock and to help the plant recover vigour...placing the plants into small humidity chambers is sometimes helpful...

7)perform the transplant asap and minimize any stressors to the plant inbetween transplanting...

8) do not use any fertilizers (that are not speciffically designed to lessen shock) on fresh transplants as this adds to the stess of transplantation

9) there are some specialized products for helping to reduce transplant shock,and these are sometimes useful

10) if the plant to be transplanted is large enough,taking a cutting for rooting may enable the cutting to survive,if the main transplant does not thrive or otherwise succeed

Good luck with your MG's...

TTY,..

Ron

Thank you very much Croclover and Ron. I used rapidgrow on them right after I put them in the ground. My sis said I can have as many as I want. Is it better to take the smaller ones? Do you think that they will bloom this year? How far apart do you plant them along a fence? I went to several nurseries this weekend but everyone is out of them. They said they are becoming more popular again. Meems

MeemsDream - you asked
"Is it better to take the smaller ones?
Do you think that they will bloom this year?
How far apart do you plant them along a fence?"

You didn't mention what species you are attempting to transplant,but I will presume that the species is Ipomoea purpurea...

Plants that are relatively young will transplant easier than older established plants and they should bloom and produce seeds this year...I often start many types late in the summer here and still get blooms and seeds in September,October and sometimes into November,but a prolonged or particularly low temperature cold spell usually finishes them off for the season...but if you plant some in containers with a trelliss of some type attached,you could potentially bring any late maturing plants indoors to allow for seed ripening...alternatively,stems with almost ripened seedpods can be removed from the main plant and placed in water...this allows some of the seedpods to continue to ripen indoors before the freezing temperatures would turn the immature seeds into mush...

The spacing that you asked about is more related to looks and personal preferences than to the health or survival of the plant...plant them a minimum of 6 inches apart...

TTY,...

Ron

Welcome to the morning glory world, Meem!

I am trying bloom booster fertilizer on some of my morning glory vines (10-52-10), should be interesting to see the response.

Joseph

Ron, I don't know what the species is but my DS said that there were blue, pink and white. I am just digging up what I can find. So far my little guys are holding their own!. I am just happy that they are still alive! Joseph, I sure would like to know what happens with your fertilizer. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will see some blooms this year. The pictures posted here are awesome! Meems

Welcome MeemsDream! Good luck with your transplanting.

Joseph--I too would like to know how that 10-52-10 stuff works on the MGs. I have been using a 15-30-15 on my convolvulus and chocolate MGs and have no complaints with the number and size of blooms I am getting. DH and I were at Lowe's and saw a (0-some really high number-0) formulation and I briefly toyed with the idea of purchasing and applying it to my MGs (greedily envisioning blooms, blooms and more blooms), but resisted the urge to do so since the 15-30-15 seems to be doing fine.

Edited for spelling. My bad.

This message was edited Jul 4, 2006 11:39 AM