I am the gardener at my house. Husband was been invited, but had no taste for it at all. I had hoped we would be one of those adorable little couples who create a beautiful yard together, but that dream died with the scores of plants he murdered. He came out with me a few times and the results were a disaster. I may as well have sprayed Agent Orange on my most treasured plants He was always drawn to Round up and the weedwhacker, and randomly beheading or poisoning anything green. The really weird part was he would disappear from where we were working together. I would be talking and weeding, and he would just be gone. When i finally would go look for him, I would find a path of carnage on the way. He would deny every cold blooded murder. He is the Ted Bundy of gardeners. Since I could not have him incarcerated, I have made do with a life sentence of never touching anything that prunes or poisons again. I am not one to require my own way, but this he found out was an exception. So, out of respect to 39 years of marriage, I record shows I know he loves, and encourage him to enjoy those while I work outside. Heck, I would not care if it was porn if it protects the few plants I have left. In loving memory of plants lost in their prime Laurie.

Hey there Anthony! Well, we know dem maters need light, food, water and warmth. You've done this before, so I'm pretty sure water isn't a problem. The jiffy peats are good enough to grow a seedling without any ferts. You say they are in a good amount of sun. My only guess would be perhaps they are too cold? The soil needs to be warm enough for them to want to grow. I might stick a warming mat under them and see what they do. Only other guess is a bad batch of Jiffy pellets. Though I've never heard of this happening. Anyways, good luck with your grow, and I hope someone with more knowledge than I can pop in here and help you out. chris

please accept my sympathy to you and your family. i think it doesn't matter when you have lot someone that feeling never goes away. in afew weeks i will have been a widow for 4 years. everyday i think of my husband. i remember what we had for supper the night before (roast and veggies) and i haven't made or eaten it since. i still wear my 3 diamond ring he gave me for our 25th anniv. still proudly with my wedding band on my left hand. i also rec'd a diamond tennis bracelet for my 50th bd (all ths jewellery within 2 months of his passing) along with a puppy gracie joy devine (i swore we would never have another pet) i live in northern ontario so i know about cold and snow today it was minus 43! i walk 21/2 miles one way everyday to visit him at the cemetery. i hate him for leaving me. my husband was just loved by everyone, he had that kind of personality. our son hAS taken over some of his dads traits like volunteering etc. and i don't think our daughter will ever get over losing her date, she was home when the firetrucks and ambulance came to the house, but she has learned to be a nicer person. life is so funny those mean people we all know seem to live forever and ever. it took me about a year to mention Al's name but now i make sure that the kids (well 22 and 27) hear atleast one story about their dad. again i'm sorry for your loss

Www.babyviolets.com has an article on plant suckers and what to do about . However, if it is in the plant 's genetics to sucker, you won 't be able to completely stop the process. I posted a suggestion of an explanation on the Gallery page. I meant to post it here. J, it is probably just the plant trying to reproduce itself, as Aegis explained. Optimara plants very commonly do that as they mature. Not all AVs maintain a single crown. When those side clumps get bigger, just remove them. You can use tweezers to reach in and pluck them out. However, once a plant starts to sucker, it is difficult to get it back to a single crown. Optimara plants are cultivated to grow rapidly and reproduce quickly. That is one reason they form suckers rather than maintaining the desirable single crown. In my AV club, this is a frequent topic for discussion. The topic is Optimara's tendency to sucker, not radio waves! Good luck! You are not doing anything wrong, the plant looks happy. This post was edited by fortyseven on Fri, Jan 23, 15 at 21:33