{"id":274,"date":"2015-07-17T20:03:22","date_gmt":"2015-07-17T20:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/echters.com\/wordpress\/?p=274"},"modified":"2018-11-11T02:10:52","modified_gmt":"2018-11-11T02:10:52","slug":"summertime-flower-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/echters.com\/wordpress\/?p=274","title":{"rendered":"Summertime Flower Power"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"pw<\/a>Temperatures have warmed up.\u00a0 We’ve had an abundance of rain.\u00a0 Insects have recently hatched and are multiplying like mad.\u00a0\u00a0 So, how do you keep your plants looking fabulous through it all?\u00a0 Plants have some built in defenses, but you can greatly help them along through stressful conditions.\u00a0 \u00a0It comes down to managing the moisture as best you can, and feeding them regularly, along with removing the spent blooms.<\/p>\n

Managing moisture levels starts when the plants are potted.\u00a0 The selection of the potting mix is the key to success.\u00a0 This is definitely a year when drainage is the most important consideration.\u00a0 Moisture control mixes tend to hold water for an extended period, which is helpful during dry periods but not so much when it rains.\u00a0 \"mosture<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s also important to feel the soil before watering.\u00a0 Just like in most every other aspect of life, making assumptions are not a good idea.\u00a0 Sometimes plants look as though they are wilting but they are really flagging due to high temperatures, reflective heat from nearby walls or concrete, or even because their root systems are so water logged leaving the plants unable to draw up moisture.\u00a0 All the more reason to use a moisture meter or to get your fingers dirty and feel the soil.<\/p>\n

Watering in the morning is better than watering in the heat of the day or in the evening.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 When plants approach the day well hydrated, then they will be less stressed during the height of the heat of the day.\u00a0 When plants are watered at night, it’s really a sort of recovery tactic.\u00a0 Additionally, as moisture evaporates off the soils surface when the night temperatures cool, it’s the perfect set of condition for fungi like powdery mildew to take hold.\u00a0 \"powdery<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the most important things you can do is fertilize your plants regularly.\u00a0 If you are growing flowering annuals, choose a high phosphorus fertilizer, like Jack’s Classic Blossom Booster.\u00a0\u00a0If you’ve ever wondered what those 3 numbers are on a package of fertilizer (ex.\u00a0 10-30-15), they represent the percentage of the\u00a0nitrogen, phosphorus and potash in the fertilizer.\u00a0 The middle number represents the phosphorus which promotes flowering .\u00a0 For flowering, this number\u00a0should be 3 to 5 times higher than the first number, which represents the percentage of nitrogen to promote green growth.\u00a0\u00a0 Follow the directions on any fertilizer you choose.\u00a0 Each is formulated differently and will have varied instructions for use.\u00a0 We’re asking our plants to perform at their best during the most stressful part of the summer.\u00a0 If we don’t supply them with the appropriate nutrition, they can’t live up to our expectations.\u00a0 If you purchased a potting mix that said it included a fertilizer, it’s a good idea to supplement it around mid July.\u00a0 More often than not, the fertilizer in the potting mix is just a little something to get things started and doesn’t support the plants for the long haul.\u00a0 \"Jack's<\/a>Lastly, a little selective pinching and dead-heading (removal of the spent blooms) will keep plants looking fresh.\u00a0 Pinching and pruning stimulates new growth which brings new flowers, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Temperatures have warmed up.\u00a0 We’ve had an abundance of rain.\u00a0 Insects have recently hatched and are multiplying like mad.\u00a0\u00a0 So, how do you keep your plants looking fabulous through it all?\u00a0 Plants have some built in defenses, but you can greatly help them along through stressful conditions.\u00a0 \u00a0It comes down to managing the moisture as … Continue reading Summertime Flower Power<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-annuals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/echters.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/echters.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/echters.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echters.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echters.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=274"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/echters.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":279,"href":"https:\/\/echters.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions\/279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/echters.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echters.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echters.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}