Why are the flowers small and thin after a tree peony blooms?

24. I finally waited for the tree peony to bloom, but something seems off, the flowers are small and thin!

This is an excerpt from the original "Tree Peony Cultivation" column article by Lanyao

Last autumn, Lanyao planted a Daokin tree peony, but in spring it produced large red flowers, without even a trace of the Daokin pattern.

Later, when chatting with fellow flower growers, I found that many of them said that Daokin tree peonies planted in the first year do not show the pattern, and some also said that their tree peony flowers were small with thin petals, not at all like other people's flowers which are large and full.

So why does this problem occur? Let's analyze the reasons behind it.

First of all, tree peonies that produce small flowers with thin petals are mostly newly transplanted ones; generally, tree peonies that have been planted for many years will not have this problem. Also, potted tree peonies are more prone to this problem.

This requires considering the issue of rejuvenation in tree peonies. We know that tree peonies are transplanted bare-rooted, and bare-root means the roots are fairly damaged; when the root system is damaged, it naturally affects the growth of the tree peony plant.

Because it has just been transplanted, the roots have not yet grown very well, and since sprouting and blooming in tree peonies consumes a large amount of nutrients, this inevitably leads to a situation where nutrients are not quite sufficient.

Even if we apply base fertilizer and do topdressing, since tree peonies only sprout and bloom in spring and do not grow roots, and only grow roots in autumn, the root system of a recently planted tree peony is not yet well developed and its absorption of fertilizer is limited, which easily causes insufficient nutrition and small flowers.

In particular, some flower growers are reluctant to thin the buds; if several buds grow and all are allowed to bloom, the limited nutrients are spread even thinner, so naturally the flowers are small and the petals are thin.

For varieties like Daokin, it is very difficult for them to perform normally, resulting in the phenomenon of no pattern showing.

So Lanyao suggests to all fellow flower growers that for tree peonies planted in the first year, it is best to try not to let them bloom, or to let only one or two flowers open at most, so as to avoid dispersing nutrients and thin petals, and at the same time to avoid excessive consumption, because excessive consumption may very likely prevent them from blooming in the second year.

When our tree peonies do not perform very well in the first year, there is no need to panic; we just need to do the management work well, apply topdressing in time, prune, water reasonably, and prevent pests and diseases, creating good growing conditions for the tree peony and prompting it to rejuvenate as quickly as possible.

However, we should also be careful not to over-manage, especially in autumn; if the tree peony gets too much water, it will cause autumn sprouting, and then it will not be able to bloom in spring. So how should we deal with the problem of autumn sprouting? Please continue to follow tomorrow's update.

(The text of this article is original by Lanyao, and the images come from the internet. If there is any infringement, please contact me to delete them.)

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