Keeping Your Plants Beautiful This Summer
Two of the most important things to remember about keeping our flowering plants and growing well are watering and feeding. Some gardeners have a difficult time determining when to water and then the next question is, how much? Recently there have had a number of phone discussions with gardeners that are causing this important subject to be explained frequently.
Feeding your hanging baskets & container gardens
A good slow steady feeding program is the best way to go but for some reason, while gardeners have good intentions to feed their plants regularly with a water soluble fertilizer like Jack's or Miracle Gro, days or weeks go by and the plants are not fed. Then when it rains no feeding occurs and soon the plants begin to show the lack of feed as the foliage yellows. When this occurs it is almost too late to have the plant respond well when we try to "catch up" on the feeding program.
Thanks to the nursery industry, and their need for a fertilizer that would be somewhat "automatic", a timed release fertilizer was developed. One of the best slow release or timed release fertilizers available to the consumer is called Osmocote. One application in the spring will feed plants for the entire growing season. There is no waste and there is no need to follow up with more fertilizer when the proper amount is used. This solves the feeding situation.
Watering
The next big issue is the difficulty of knowing when to water plants. Water thoroughly but not too often. Over watering is very detrimental to plants whether in container gardens, hanging baskets or in the ground. (Newly planted landscapes may need daily watering.) Some gardeners tell us that they water their plants every day, and others have told us they water their plants twice a day. It is important to remember that roots of plants must have adequate oxygen in the soil in addition to water and nutrients. Mother Nature has a wonderful way of doing this but when we take over this function we must model what we do after her. It is always necessary to allow the soil plants are growing in to dry out some between waterings so the oxygen that was replaced by water can return to the roots until the next time watering takes place. For plants growing in the ground the oxygen balance normally takes longer to happen after a plant is established for 2 years or more. For plants growing in pots or hanging baskets the oxygen balance happens quickly, within a matter of a day or so depending on how long the plant has been in the container and what the temperatures are and how much direct sun the plant receives.
So you can see this is not an exact science that is easily explained. This is one of the major challenges for gardeners. Actually plants will give you signals If you are watching them closely you will notice that the foliage of many flowering plants becomes dull and slightly wilted when they need to be watered. Avoid severe drying. Watch your plants closely and give them what they need and you will be rewarded many times over.
30 years of Growing
Meadow View Growers
New Carlisle, OH
www.meadowview.com