What Are The Harm of Tree Peony Foot Buds?

What Are The Harm of Tree Peony Foot Buds?

Peony foot buds may cause certain harm to peony plants in certain situations, mainly manifested in the following aspects:

1. Consuming too many nutrients

Competing with the main stem for nutrients: During the growing season, especially in spring and summer, peonies will grow foot buds from their roots. If these foot buds are not managed, they will continue to grow and even bloom, consuming a large amount of nutrients. These nutrients consumed by the foot buds could have been used for the growth of the peony main stem and root development, resulting in limited growth of the main stem and insufficient root development.

Impact on flowering quality: Due to the consumption of a large amount of nutrients by the foot buds, peony plants may not receive sufficient nutritional support during flowering, resulting in poor flowering effects such as smaller flowers and lighter colors.

2. Affects plant shape and ventilation and light transmission

Destruction of appearance: For peony varieties such as tree peonies that require good appearance, excessive growth of foot buds can damage the original beauty of the branches and bones, making the entire plant look messy.

Affects ventilation and light transmission: The dense growth of foot buds can hinder ventilation and light transmission inside the plant, leading to poor growth of internal branches and even causing pests and diseases.

3. Causing plant weakness or even death

Especially for peonies that have not been transplanted for a long time: failure to prune the foot buds may lead to continuous consumption of plant nutrients, and the absorption capacity of the roots cannot meet this consumption, ultimately causing the peony plants to become weaker and even wither and die.

4. Limited living space

When the number of branches per unit area of the peony tree reaches its maximum, the flower and fruit mother branches will occupy a large amount of space, causing the foot buds to not have the necessary living space even if they germinate in large numbers due to the deterioration of internal light, and they will not mature and die that year.

Response measures

Timely pruning: During the growing season, especially in spring and summer, unnecessary foot buds should be pruned in a timely manner to preserve nutrients for the development of the main stem and roots.

Leave the strong and remove the weak: For the foot buds that need to be preserved, choose thick and healthy ones, and cut off small and weak foot buds.

Pay attention to ventilation and light transmission: While pruning the foot buds, also pay attention to the ventilation and light transmission inside the plant, and timely prune overly dense and weak branches.

In summary, excessive growth of peony buds can cause various hazards to peony plants. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the management and pruning of foot buds during the maintenance process.