Fertilzer or not to Impatiens

Do yall add fertilzer to your impatiens for blooms? Do yall just leave alone your impatiens and let nature take its course for blooms?

I just let nature take its course. Mine always do really well. Sometimes I think they get to "leggy" if you fertilize them.

they do get tall if you fert but thy really bloom their heads off, gotta water em if ya fert.

spray mine with fish emulsion 2 x a month in the summer. They are always loaded with blooms

If mine are looking sorry I pinch them back a to a good height then fert. with MG or something like it. They get full and bushie. It doesnt take long for them bloom again.
Caren

I did a planter for my sister last summer with impatiens and used the Miracle Grow w/fert. They were absolutely gorgeous. I also did up a container of red geraniums. My sister, who usually does her own containers, wanted to know what I did that was different because her containers had never looked that good before. I just smiled and held up my thumb.

sarv, thanks for the fish emulsion hint. I'll just swing over from the veggie garden and give the impatiens a soaking.

then I'll take a shower. :)

boy! we sure to differ here! the below pic is only mid season on some that i grow in the shade. i fertilze.......are you all sitting....ONCE a week! every year we have to take them down with an axe! the tallest we think and after much discussion was about 4 feet high....really!

Okay, now, what are you fertilizing, with, tobee? Steroids? Those are amazing.

hehehe...nope...no steroids...promise!actually zeppy my hubby throws 5-10-5 walmart special on them every week. i really think the trick is the soil which we mix ourselves and watering every morning including mornings that's it's raining. the soil being so rich i think really helps them.

tobee43, those are beautiful impatiens that you have, and I certainly agree that fertilizing helps, but I would caution you to maybe not water when it rains. Impatiens can take a lot of water, but I have seen them develop a fungus called rhizoctonia from too much water. The stems melt and the plant collapses. You usually see it in beds of begonias and impatiens (both are susceptible to it) after a rainy period where there is a lot of water from the rain. Sometimes just part of the plant develops it and you can cut away the infected part and throw away all debris.
Have a great garden this spring/summer!

thanks tigerliy for the warning...we so far have been growing them now over 15 years and no fugus yet...TG!!! we get extremely dry here during the summer months and with the base clay soil, water does not absorb as well deep down under. so i water my gardens everyday from 5 am to 11 am rain or shine! one day without watering even with rain....that is unless it has rained for a few days in a row... and they wilt to no end and it takes days to regain there perkiness. i'm just lucky so far i guess:)

Are you seeing them wilt during the afternoon ? They do that regardless of the amt of water in the soil. I don;t mean to be 2nd guessing you, but that is a lot of water you are giving them. Clay retains water, so that should help with keeping the water in the soil. When I grow them in the greenhouse or outside I sometimes let them dry out to wilting and they come right back a few hours after watering. What series are you growing? I grow them for a living for landscapers and am always wanting to try new series. Thanks

no....not during the afternoon exactly. just when they have not gotten enough water period. otherwise there is never a wilting problem. we have never lost even one. those that are planted directly into the landscape need just as much water as those in pots. being that you are in a zone 7b i would think they would perform very different. as for the series i'm not quite sure. i usually purchase them at a local nursery when they are on sale since i have no room to keep them if i started them from seed.my sunroom is full of more expensive annual seeds. (although this year we have a little cold portable greenhouse we will be using),however this local nurseryman does start them from seed and grows them in the area. the 15 years we have growing them here we have tried a lot of ways and this has been most successful for us. you go out early in the morning and water them....if you think they have had enough that's your sign that haven't had enough so continue to water another 5 minutes or so. i would think whatever works for one may not work for another depending on climate and conditions. however, since we have had extremely consistant excellent results we just continue with what we are doing with them. now of course we don't have such luck with everything we grow but we have enough continued success with our method which we know works for us. so basically we give no throughts into changing what we have been doing since any change could have a negative result. also, as a master gardener in my county when i'm working the phones i give this exact advise to those that are calling in about their impatiens. once again i stress that climate and local conditions have a direct impact for your growing results. :)

This message was edited Mar 26, 2006 8:06 AM

This message was edited Mar 26, 2006 8:56 AM

I never change feed on a winning horse. Can't wait to see how the impatiens do here.

here here zeppy! pheeww!