Bought these petunias Memorial Day weekend they are in a hanging basket looked awesome till one week ago. Soil is damp never dry has weep hole on the bottom of the planter. Bought two and one is showing early sign of the same thing haven't done a soil test but they are planted in potting soil fertilized with mirical grow 24-8-16 about a month ago then two days ago. Not sure how to approach them could use help thanks
Where are they located? Do they get enough/a lot of Sun?
Is it possible you are overwatering?
I would stop fertilizing them. That fertilizer is very high strength for something grown in a pot. Also, I would stop watering them. If you say the soil is always damp, that is very likely most of the problem. Water only when the soil is dry to the touch.
They get sun in the morning and afternoon and the evening they get more shade. I have pulled them away from the sun right now in hopes to revive them. I have stopped watering until they feel dry. I fed them both fertilizer but true one looks the worse compared to the other. Thanks for your advise just so bummed as I spent a lot of money on these and they were so beautiful.
They are gorgeous flowers...I hope they come back for you!
Hi WAK13, Petunias have to be constantly deadheading and they look much better and they are sun loving plants. Trying deadheading often and see how the thrive.lots of luck
Petunias are annuals, that is the seed germinates, grows then flowers and dies all in a few months, that is when left to their own devices, what you have to do is, try imitate there short life, in the wild.
The difference is, your plants are NOT growing in the wild, so you have to try help these plants adapt to there environment, you know the like sun, so you give them a nice sunny spot to grow.
You know they need watering, BUT you have to learn when to give water, stick your finger into the soil, if it's dry (the plants look wilting IF too dry ) you give water, IF the soil is still damp, you withhold water till you Know they definitely require a good drink.
When my baskets and larger pots get very dry in the hot sun, I plunge them into a large container of water leave them in this water until the soil turns dark brown, (in my case, overnight) remove the baskets pots etc and allow them to drain either by hanging them back in there place, or where they can drain the excess away.
Feeding, most potting compost already have some form of fertilisers added BUT in a very weak strength, IF your adding more and a second dose, you are killing the plants with kindness, any Annuals that are fed that much will suffer from burning roots, also they dont grow in wet / constant damp soil, so the plants will begin to shut down either due to drowning or overfed. the resulting look of these problems is what you are having or treating the plants as you are.
Flowering, these plants are free flowering, they have to germinate, grow, flower THEN set seeds for their natural cycle to continue keeping the species continue.
What you have to do is each day, remove ALL the dying flowers, this prevents the formation of seed-head's, it tricks the plant into thinking it has STILL got to make seeds and by keeping up the dead-heading, the idea is to get the plants to flower ALL season instead of one flowering, sets seeds, then death of plant because it's done the job nature expects.
The last thing I would ask you to consider is, looking at the white background you have the plants hanging beside / against, is this brilliant white backdrop may be acting like a mirror effect in as much as the glare of the sun gets reflected onto the plants causing even more heat to dry out the soil, dehydrate the plants and cause more stress for these tender plants.
Hope this helps you to understand how to care for your lovely little plants, once you get the the right way to help them last all summer, you will then relax and begin to enjoy the display and know you did everything you could to help improve the situation.
Were all rooting for you, so stick with it.
Kindest Regards.
WeeNel.
