I am in central Alabama. Because of an order mistake, my 8" and 10" pots (mostly Prestige)were 1 week later than expected to be potted and pinched. Therefore they are not much taller above the pot than my 6.5". My 6.5", measured from the bench, are at about 10", the 8s at about 11-12" and 10s at about 14". I performed the Florel sandwich on the entire crop before and after pinch.

I am worried now that I might not achieve needed size on the 8s and 10s. Running 68 degree nights and we still have good day heat and probably will continue to have pretty good day heating here through Oct. We normally remove shade here on about Oct 1. Should I consider leaving shade on the 8s and 10s for a few extra days, or does it look like they can be on schedule? Planning on using a Bonzai drench on all these sizes to totally stop them when and if I get the size I need.Thanks

Sam -

Different markets call for different desired finished heights. In order to get an idea of where your crop is tracking height wise we would need to know what heights you hope to achieve on the 8's and 10's.

On a blooming crop we usually shoot for a finished height of 20-22" for an 8" and 25-27" for a 10". If we were tracking a Prestige crop right now using graphical tracking we would like to see the 8" at 14-16" tall and the 10" at 18-19" tall in order to finish in the desired range.

Are you using graphical tracking? This is a great way to make sure your crop is where it needs to be during the different stages of the crop. It easy and free using our On Target Height Tracking program. It also takes the guess work out of growth regulating.

You mention leaving the shade on for a few more days. Is your thinking here that the shading will encourage growth? Actually shading and cloudy days does not encourage stretch and more vegetative growth. It is the competition for light between neighboring plants that encourages stretch, not shading. You should remove the shade cloth only when there is no more risk of stressing the plants from high light levels and heat. Don't factor in the height of the crop when you are making the decision when to remove the shade cloth.

If you go by the heights we recommend at this stage it looks like you do have some catching up to do. The key is to maximize soft vegetative growth. Here are a few suggestions:

Push an ammonium based nitrogen fertilizer which promotes soft, rapid vegetative growth

Run a positive DIF - warm days and cool nights will encourage growth

Good airflow, high relative humidity, and good moisture availability will increase respiration rates and metabolism, increasing the growth rate.

Hope this helps. Please let us know if we can help you get started using the graphical tracking. Good luck with the crop!

Thank you for using Ecke Ranch Tech Help on-line!

Sam, In the southern tier of states with a warmer and usually sunnier Fall season than further North you still have time to catch up as long as you follow the usual rules of keeping the crop at adequater EC and pH soil levels. I transplant, pinch and grow my single plant 6" on the exact same schedule as the two plant per pot 10" and the 10" always grow much larger due to the larger soil capacity and root ball. The picture below shows this as an example of different sizes being grown on the exact same schedule. Top right 10" container with 2 pinched plants. Left is 10" Hanging basket with 1 pinched plant. Lower is 6" container with 1 pinched plant. I do not think this could be accomplished further North but in your situation I believe you can pull it off! I have been height tracking my crops for years and I get the greatest amount of height growth in my crops between October 15 to the end of October and this is the period I have to watch my PGR program very carefully. If I were to go into this period with a short crop all I would have to do is skip a PGR application during this time to catch up. Your conditions will not be exactly the same as mine but probably similiar as you are not too much further North than my location..Michael Pawelek

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Michael Pawelek,

Thanks to you both for your considered posts. I will put the best conditions and treatment to these 8 and 10 inch plants, and figure on catching up in October.