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Osteospermum (African Daisies) Care?

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  • 20-08-2008 12:59pm
    #1
    joseph brand
    Registered Users Posts: 4,537 ✭✭✭


    Some help please for a budding novice.
    Can't find sites with info for beginners.

    1 of my bushes has lots of black tops, I just cut them off now with scissors.

    Any info appreciated.

    Also,
    If you decide to pot up, you should pinch out the tips of the cuttings two weeks later to promote a bushy growth.


    What does 'pinching' mean?


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    #2
    joseph brand
    Registered Users Posts: 4,537 ✭✭✭joseph brand


    ricbyw.jpg


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    #3
    muggyog
    Registered Users Posts: 725 ✭✭✭muggyog


    Pinching in the Horticultural vocabulary is pruning with thumb nail and first finger.

    Italians must be great gardeners! :)

    Black tips can be an indication of frost / wind damage.
    Although most Osteospermums are labelled as annuals they are in fact half-hardy perennials or subshrubs. This means they are not entirely hardy and will therefore not survive persistent frosts.

    You may have to relocate it to somewhere warmer and more sheltered ( Africa? :) )


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    #4
    bmaxi
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,859 ✭✭✭bmaxi


    These are much tougher plants than you might think. I have several and all I do is cut them back to about two inches when they start into growth in spring ( around April ) and they romp happily away. If you are concerned, they take very easily from cuttings.


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    #5
    The Sweeper
    Registered Users Posts: 10,658 ✭✭✭✭The Sweeper


    When you 'pinch out' something, you take the tip of a branch, where the new leaves are - you know the way it has two leaves and then inside that a sort of mini roll of tiny leaves? Take your thumb and first finger and pinch that tip off - that's pinching out. Works well for annual herbs too, especially basil - stops them going to seed too quickly.


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    #6
    joseph brand
    Registered Users Posts: 4,537 ✭✭✭joseph brand


    Thanks for replies.

    I have 3 cuttings in a pot, wrapped in plastic bag. Out of direct sunshine. Used the root hormone stuff aswell. My first time too.

    http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54288/
    This site seems ok.

    Did pH test on my soil today, it's 8.0. Osteospermums like 5.1 to 5.5 according to davesgarden. Maybe I could try get some manure? Or use home compost?

    Does anybody know where to get manure in small amounts?


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    #7
    The Sweeper
    Registered Users Posts: 10,658 ✭✭✭✭The Sweeper


    Buy some ericaceous compost - translated as potting soil for azaleas and camelias. (Also rhododendrons, blueberries and conifers all thrive in acidic soil).

    Aluminium sulfate and/or sulphur will lower the PH of soil, but best do your research on volumes to apply and method of application. Since you're dealing with a plant in a pot, I'd go for heading to your garden centre and sourcing a bag of potting soil for acidic-soil-loving plants.


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    #8
    bmaxi
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,859 ✭✭✭bmaxi


    Did you test in more than one area of the garden? Soil can vary in PH from one part to another particularly in new houses where a bag of cement may have been opened or spilled. Most plants will grow in 6.0 to 6.5, my own is 7.0 (neutral) and the Osteos clearly love it. Manure can be bought in 50 litre bags in the DIY stores, Atlantic had a three bags for €12 offer but manure will not reduce the alkalinity of the soil, it is probably better and cheaper to dig in peat.


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