celosis Bombay 36"

Is this the norm for this plant? Should I bury the stem a little or not?

I think the bombay line is the taller/larger flowered variety. I wouldn't bury the crown of the plant any deeper. I would maybe buy one of those circular plant support rings (one of the taller ones) to help support the weight of the flower heads. They look like they're going to spread and flare out as they mature. If I remember seeing the Bombay flowers they are large and brain like looking. You can pick up the support rings at Home Depot or Lowes usually out in the garden center area around the outside cash register areas. Stakes and twine couldn't hurt either just so they weight doesn't take them down to the ground.

Really happy plants you've got there! Really pretty! Save the seeds and share if you think about it:lol:

Well......weeks later and they have no grown one new leaf, heads beginning to troop. I did stake them up gently and everything around them is growing well, very disappointing. I'm not sure what I need to do differently.

Hi Tammy,

"...very disappointing. I'm not sure what I need to do differently."

Those plants in your picture had already bloomed and had already essentially "gone to seed" by the time you bought them. Deadheading them back early in May might have helped them "snap out of it", but they had been in those containers much too long and had stretched abnormally trying to get more light. Those long gangly stems weren't what you would see in Bombay celosia grown from plants set into the garden while they were small green seedlings. Since Bombay is a cut flower strain of Celosias, catalogs tend to show just the flowers, and not how the plants should look.

http://parkseed.com/search-original.aspx?sb=RANK&ss=Celosia+Bombay

This link shows some Bombays growing in a greenhouse environment.

http://sunvalleyfloral.com/svg/pdf/SV_RP_Celosia.pdf

You will have to give that last link a little time to load, since it is a PDF file. You might want to try growing some Celosias from seed next year. Maybe even start some early in small pots indoors under lights. But time it so that you can set them into a roomy spot outdoors before they get more than a few inches tall. Don't make them stretch for light. There are many strains of Celosias that are bred specifically for beds and borders, rather than for cut flowers. They will have a plant habit much different from the spindly, gangly plants in your picture.

ZM
(not associated with any product or vendor mentioned or linked)