Primrose not growing

[Marb67]

Well, for the life of me I don't know what it is when I buy a new plant but it just either stops growing or dies. I bought this 3 weeks ago from a garden centre in the exact same state it is in now and it hasn’t grown a single mm, and non of the flower heads have opened that have been there for 3 weeks. I am absolutely at a loss as to what has gone wrong here.

[Jungle Jane]

One of the flower heads is dead & where have the leaves gone,doesn’t look like enough leaf for flowers. It’s a small pot,if planted in the ground maybe it might grow some more leaves.

[Marb67]

The leaves were wilting when I bought it so I cut them off (watering didn't revive them) as I didnt want them taking energy away from the plant. It was on offer for 50p so I took a gamble on being able to nurture it. I should have known better.

[Plot70]

Just get it into the ground and it will start to grow when the weather gets better.
The compost in that pot is most likely a bit clapped out.
It will most likely leaf up this year and grow much better next year.

[ameno]

Sounds like it was reduced to clear because it was half-dead.
If you want it to survive into the future them your best bet is to remove all of the flowers. That will allow the plant to put its energy into grow new roots and leaves to replace the lost ones.
If you want a good display now and are not bothered about long term then I'd just recommend throwing it away and replacing it. It won't give you a good display any time soon.

[Marb67]

Ok, thanks. I will plant it in the ground and hope the cats don’t dig it up as its so small. Just that it had promise because all the flower heads looked healthy when I bought it.

[quanglewangle]

It will have been grown in temperature- humidity- light intensity and period-controlled highly optimised conditions. Big shock to be then outside in the garden

The problem with garden centres is they have to offer plants in flower, else folks won't buy them, and that is almost the worst time to move them, especially given the first paragraph above.

Primroses are a weed here...
I could post you few in a bubble bag with some damp newspaper if you like.

[Jungle Jane]

I’d leave one flower on there,it has a bit of leaf,hopefully the cats leave it alone,good luck with it Marb.

[Marb67]

Thanks for the offer of more plants but I have planted it in the soil with a cloche. It was outdoors when I bought it so not too,much of a shock.