Bunny Tail Grass---a dirty looking plant?

17 years ago

Hello, this is my first post to this forum. I grew Lagurus ovatus 'Bunny Tail Grass' from seed this year (indoor grow light method). At planting time, my plants were quite healthy looking, green, growing, and full of white puffs. I planted out in several stages this year, some a month ago, some a week ago. But no matter when or where they were planted, all the grasses have barely grown, are only about 3 inches tall, all the puffs are dirty brown color, and much of the foliage is dieing out. Now, I am an experienced gardener, so I know how to care for most plants. I dont understand what it going on with this grass. They are being watered precisely when the time is right, have never been allowed to dry out totally between watering. I have some planted in mixed containers also, and those plants are still green, however, the puffs are still dirty brown.

Any clue as to what could be the problem here? Perhaps this is normal behavior?

I appreciate any thoughts/suggestions.

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Comments (5)

donn_
17 years ago
It isn't normal behavior by any means. I have 3 large clumps of L. ovatus growing right now, and they consist only of ~6" tall foliage. Later in the season, the tufts of foliage should reach 12-18" and will send up flower stalks to as high as 30" topped with the off-white puffs which give them their common name.

All I can think of is you may have gotten seeds of some other plant. What was your source for seeds?
ellen_inmo
Original Author
17 years ago
Hi Donn,thanks so much for your thoughts. I got my seed from Park's, and the plants looked very much like the pictured Bunny Tail Grass, was quite healthy at planting time. I had them growing in 3 inch deep pots, each plant was about 3 to 4 inches tall and loaded with blooms. The grass was planted out and now they are all dieing out.

Just a thought--if they were allowed to become rootbound, can that affect the overall growth? The reason I ask is, I know that Ornamental Millet should not be allowed to become rootbound, as it will cause the plant to become stunted. Last year, my OM was as tall as I am........this year, it is only about 3 feet tall, as I got far behind in my planting, and they did indeed become rootbound. I am assuming this is the reason why they are not as tall as they should be. So, can the same thing happen with the Bunny Tail Grass? Could it also lead to the death of the plant?

I am dissapointed that my Bunny Tails wont reach maturity! Clearly, I did something wrong at some stage of growth. Should they even have been blooming yet anyway??? The plants were loaded with puffs weeks ago already. I dont remember when I seeded them, I have followed growing guides(from Stokes and Park) pretty strictly for all plants ( I would look up the exact date, however my 2-year old daughter used my 2006 journal for a coloring book one day, then left it outside in the rain, and it is ruined). This grass germinated 120% for me, all very uniform seedlings the entire stages of growth.

Thanks again for all thoughts.
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zanezirklejr_aol_com
14 years ago
Plant them directly in the ground.
norma2013
11 years ago
Hi. I am not an expert gardener LOL. Could it be that you are having trouble since you started the seed with grow lights? Could you have something in your soil for which you are not aware? I ordered a sample of bunny tail seed recently and there were only a few seed. Wonder if I have a chance at getting any to sprout? The instructions were rather wild..including using an empty milk jug which is covered....never mind, I'm not going that route. I sort of take it to be a good idea to try to sprout the seed barely covered in damp sand. Yes or no? Any ideas? I sure would appreciate some help on this one. PS: I don't have grow lights or a germination pad readily available to me.
donn_
11 years ago
The instructions you got were for winter sowing the seeds, a technique which works really well, as long as you plant them out promptly. Lagurus doesn't like to be transplanted after the root system has become well developed.

Better to sow them directly where you want to grow them. If you have only a few seeds, sow them together in a clump, for a good showy plant. Cover them lightly and keep the soil moist until they germinate. You don't say what zone you're in, but April is generally a good month to do it.

BTW...it's usually better to start a new thread than to tack questions onto the end of a 7 year old one.