Plant Doctor Archive

Alstroemerias

I HAVE quite a few diferent alstroemerias and several have flowers at ground level - not much good for picking! I wonder if you are able to tell me what I can do to get them to have longer stems?

YOUR alstroemerias might not be growing tall because of a lack of light, or prehaps they are suffering from spray drift, which can cause stunted growth and excess foliage growth. In recent years, a number of new alstroemerias have also been released which have been bred to remain compact - no amount of feeding will make these grow suitable stems for picking.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH.