Second-Chance Garden

Phaedra

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Not a rescue, a pot of healthy Alstroemeria from Lidl - however, we know this is (A) a perennial which can be divided and (B) the pot is obviously too small. So, it's absolutely a good deal to spend 6.99 Euros and bring it home.

Another reason is I did buy a tuber of different color Alstroemeria earlier, but a small tuber needs at least 2 seasons to become this size, so why not?
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As usual, let's take a look how is the root system growing at this moment - healthy, but very crowdy already.
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Then, it's time to divide - i know it was not the most ideal time to divide them, and there must be some damage. So I removed all flowering stems first, after the dividing, they will need a lot of energy to repair, rest, and re-grow. It's fine for me to miss their flowers this growing season. (but later, they still bloom after they adapt to the new pots.)

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From one pot to five - and these five, in fact, will become even more in the future, with good care. After dividing, i realized the inner parts were pretty bad due to the poor ventilation, so I removed a lot of damaged leaves and stems.

The rest of stems could have been removed, too, but as they looked not bad, just kept them for photosynthesis.
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Then, they stayed in the new pots, with a bottom tray for training the roots to find water from below. I removed them to somewhere bright enough, but no direct sunlight for a few days.

Gradually, these stems did what they supposed to do and die down. This stage looks sad, but I don't worry at all, as new shoots emerged.

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The spent leaves and stems were removed - each pot has new shoots, means all of them survived.
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After most of the older stems died, I cut them back completely. Meanwhile, all new shoots were doing nicely.
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They are blossoming again, now.
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The new leaves are shining under sunlight, I believe they are happy about the new houses now.
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Because they are not winter hardy, I will keep them in the greenhouse during cold months. I bought two pots, so I have quite some new plants now. :lol:

A small experiment to share with you all ~
 

Phaedra

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Earlier I bought a few pots of Mum from the discounter, and the flowers remain wonderful for already two weeks. While they are gradually fading now, it's also a good chance to prepare them for the future seasons.

Based on my experiences, their basal shoots will emerge sooner or later. Such potted plants are usually propagated from stems, so i will tidy them up, give a little feed, and prepare to move each plant to an individual pot.
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Hair salon is ready!
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And this is the secret to ensure a wonderful top blossom - all other buds were removed earlier. If I don't do the same next year, they will go back to their nature and develop tons of smaller flowers.
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I cleaned up two pots today - one I removed all buds developed at the lower stem, and the other, I kept 2-3 buds. Later, we might see what this decision will lead to. I will cut them back after the main bloom is gone - one complete, and the other till these buds.
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The plants look healthy, but as it gets pretty cold now, they won't survive outdoors. Since they have to stay in the house or greenhouse, the 'lighter' status will be more practical for maintenance, in my opinion.
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I will use these plants for 'replicating' much larger blooms next year. Another three pots to go, so totoally there will be 15 Mums for my 2026 experiment. :D
 
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