Keeping Summer Colorful
Tips & tricks to keep your pots and hanging plants looking their best, all summer long!
From the Experts at Gainan's
Summer has arrived! No wonder we planted so many flowers! When that summer sun bares down, however, heat stress, lack of fertilizer and missed watering can lead to some bleak looking hanging baskets and container gardens.
Want to know the keys to growing success? Two things: water and fertilizer. There’s so little soil in containers and hanging pots so when we water consistently like we are supposed to do, very few nutrients stay in the soil. The soil becomes nutritionally depleted and the plants – which have become very large by this time of year – lack the adequate nutrients to stay healthy and strong. In hanging baskets, the plants have grown so long that the center or top of the basket can become sparse looking.
Here are some tips to breathe new life into your container gardens so you can enjoy them the whole season long.
TRIM
In the early morning or late evening, cut off excess foliage hanging beyond 3 inches past the bottom of the pot. Lightly mist the plant with water. This will stimulate more growth from the top of the plant yielding a fuller look.
WATER
Water when soil is dry to touch and then saturate soil. Water until it runs through the drainage holes in the container because it washes out any salts that have built up in the soil and ensures that you have saturated the soil. When temperatures exceed 90 degrees, watering twice a day is a must.
FERTILIZER
Feed every week with a blossom booster fertilizer. To get the best benefits, fully water each container with plain water. Water a second time with a fertilizer/water mixture. Why water first? If the soil is too dry, the fertilizer and water mixture will just run out the bottom.
IN ADDITION . . .
Due to more air circulation and limited root space, hanging baskets and container gardens will dry out fast, so check them frequently (more than once a day when it is hot). The hotter it is, the harder it is for a plant to tolerate long periods of time exposed to the sun. Also, when temperatures are over 95 degrees, some plants will stop blooming in order to survive. After it cools down, the plants will begin to bloom again.
All annuals will flower more often if the old blossoms are physically removed. This is really beneficial to geraniums, fuchsias, lantana, verbena and marigolds. To remove old flowers, just follow the flower stem down to where it attaches to a branch and then pinch it off.
Check weekly for insects because you never know when these critters will decide to make your plant their next home!
