I need garden help!?
Question:I am not a natural gardener, unfortunately, but I have taken an interest in having my own little garden. I bought some flowers to have in a pot( one of those ones you can hang from a window ledge or a porch) but they are dying and I don't know what to do. I am watering them everyday to every other day. Is that too much, or maybe too little. It's been really hot here, in the 80's and 90's. Could that be a reason? I need some advice on how to keep flowers from dying.
Answers:
Don't worry, we all started by killing a lot of plants.
You need to use your fingers more, reach down and feel the soil, dig down a bit with your finger...the soil will wash off later.
Is the soil moist or is it dry? Also when you water you want to get water all the way to the bottom...assuming you have drainage in the bottom. You do have drainage holes down there don't you? Otherwise the water backs up in the soil and the plants drown.
If the plant are in full sun and are the type that tolerate full sun, the problem may be you are not watering enough. With limited soil and extreme heat, the plants pull out moisture quickly. Hence, use your finger to feel the soil often until you and the garden gods are in sync.
Wow, 90's are tough on container plants. The sun may be beating down on the container and making the soil too hot for the roots...they like it alot cooler than what the leaves tolerate.
Keep trying, don't give up, just learn from your mistakes and try not to make them too often again the future...spoken through experience.
Hanging plants can be tempermental. I suggest you get something in a regular pot on the ground. It may just be getting too much sun.
First of all how much sun are those plants getting? Some plants thrive in full sun while others can't tolerate it at all. Most plants want to be almost dry before they are watered. Never water during the heat/sun of the day. I water in the morning before 9am unless they are in full sun already then they only get watered in the evening. The water needs to get to the roots and if the hot sun is on them the roots will stay close to the surface and be burned.
You are doing what all gardeners do when they start, learning and experimenting.
Email me a picture of the plants and I can help more.
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