How to grow potted flowers so they stay compact and don't grow tall

With the development of the flower industry, compact and miniature potted flowers and bonsai are increasingly loved by people, so flower dwarfing techniques are showing more and more vitality. The main dwarfing cultivation techniques are the following six.

1. Asexual propagation

Asexual propagation methods such as grafting, cuttings and layering can all achieve a dwarfing effect, shortening the flowering stage, reducing plant height and keeping the plant compact. Grafting can achieve dwarfing by selecting dwarf varieties. With cuttings, plant height can be determined by choosing the cutting time; for example, chrysanthemums cut in late July can be dwarfed and prevented from lodging. In addition, the bud-bearing cutting method can make the tall dahlia grow in a pot of just over ten cm in diameter, with a plant height of only about a chi and with large, brightly colored flowers. Chrysanthemums are dwarfed through axillary bud propagation.

2. Shaping and pruning

Through shaping, the main branch is removed while the plant is young to encourage side branches to sprout, and then excess and poorly growing side branches are pruned away, so as to achieve a full plant shape, a low plant height and improved ornamental value. Chinese roses, salvia, rhododendrons, foliage flowers and others are mostly dwarfed by this pruning method. Narcissus is dwarfed by piercing and carving to destroy the growing points.

3. Controlled fertilization

Apply phosphorus and potassium fertilizer to potted flowers at the right time and apply less nitrogen fertilizer to control vegetative growth and achieve dwarfing.

4. Artificial trunk bending

Artificially twisting the branches and trunk obstructs the plant's nutrient transport channels, slows the plant's growth rate and achieves a low, compact flower shape. It is generally used more in the making of small bonsai.

5. Use of plant growth regulators

1. Spraying salvia plants with paclobutrazol can shorten the internodes, reduce leaf area and deepen leaf color, thereby changing the salvia's tall, thin-stemmed, sparse-flowered and heavily flower-dropping appearance and improving its ornamental value. In addition, it is also often used to dwarf flowers such as snapdragons and chrysanthemums. 2. Treating salvia and other plants with mepiquat chloride can reduce plant height by 26%, and also shorten the stem nodes, increase the number of branches and improve ornamental value. 3. Treating plants with B9 can inhibit the vegetative growth of morning glory, dwarfing it by 61.5-67% during the vegetative growth period and by 40.5% at full bloom, thereby making the plant short, with compact branches and leaves and concentrated flowering. 4. Using chlormequat to inhibit the vegetative growth of petunias and others can dwarf the plant shape and improve ornamental value.

6. Radiation treatment

Some flowers can also be changed in their growth condition through radiation treatment to achieve dwarfing. For example: treating narcissus bulbs with Y rays can control narcissus growth and dwarf the narcissus plant. Treating canna with 60°C can reduce the height of canna by 30-50 cm and improve its ornamental value.