AboutC.L. Fornari Expertise Annuals suggested for specific situations (sun, shade, windowboxes etc) New or unusual annuals are a particular interest of mine, and I grow many of these from seed. I am happy to help problem solve, answer questions about maintenance, and guide you to sources of unusual plants.
Experience I am a garden writer/speaker/consultant and host of a weekly gardening radio program in the Northeast. I have been gardening all my life for my own pleasure, and started as a professional gardener and garden communicator 15 years ago. I work part-time at a garden center, selling and tending shrubs/trees/annuals/perennials...and doing some propagation and design work. I often think that all these professional activities serve to put a somewhat legitimate framework around a serious case of plant-lust.
Question QUESTION: I live in West Central Texas. One month ago (May) I planted impatiens in two identical planters. At the time, both were blooming well. I used a root stimulator as well as a wetting agent. Also included was a granular fertilizer. I used a Cedar mulch. I placed both containers on the front porch flanking my front door. The sun does not reach them but there is ample indirect light. After one week, both stopped blooming. Buds just fell off without opening. I figured that maybe they needed some sunlight so I moved them to the back patio. Now they are receiving dapple sun through 2PM then very little sun. One of the containers has begun to put on buds and is blooming slowly. The other has not responded to the move. These are not New Guinea impatiens. Yesterday they received a good rain. What do you think could be the problem? Oh yes, I also used a liquid fertilizer on them both when they were on the front porch. (Approx 2 weeks ago)
ANSWER: John,
Your instinct to move them so that they get more sun was a good one. Although Impatiens do fine in some shade, they need at least a couple of hours of sun to bloom well. Hopefully the dappled sun that they are getting now will be enough.
You're overdoing it a bit on the fertilizer - since there was some included when you planted, and the plants were undoubtedly fertilized when you bought them, and you've given them a liquid feed, hold off on any more until into August! Sometimes too much fertilizer will make a plant grow but not bloom.
Be sure that when you water you aren't getting the foliage wet - stick the can or hose underneath the foliage and water them well when the soil is dry. Wetting the foliage, especially later in the day, can cause fungi to grow that can also cause flower buds to drop off and leaves to be spotted.
Usually after moving to more sunlight a plant might take a couple of weeks to begin flowering again, so don't be too impatient. If they are getting enough sun, and you aren't splashing the buds and leaves, and you hold off on the fertilizer for awhile, they should come into bloom soon. In the future when you fertilize (later in summer) water the plant well and let the water soak in for an hour or so before fertilizing with a liquid.
I hope this helps,
C.L.
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QUESTION: I didn't know that the leaves shouldn't be watered. I've done this every time I've watered them. Now, my liquid fertilizer (Miracle Grow) says to wet the leaves. Is this a general rule for all plants, but not a good idea for impatiens?
ANSWER: John,
The problem with wetting the leaves of any plant is that this creates the perfect conditions for fungal problems. Although it's true that a small amount of fertilizer, and I stress the word SMALL, can be absorbed through the foliage, the truth of the matter is that we humans have a hard time sticking to the "less is more" concept. So most people put more fertilizer in the watering can/sprayer than is good for plants. Fertilizer is somewhat like a headache remedy - a small amount will cure your headache, but too much will do damage or kill you.
Most gardeners do best with putting fertilizer in the soil, not spraying it on the foliage. Miracle Grow wants to sell fertilizer, after all, and to that end they want people to perceive the application of their product as being "easy". That aim, and what is good for plants, may not mesh.
This is what I do for annuals: I put a combination of a time-release fertilizer (you could use Osmocote Plus, Miracle Grow or Proven Winners Time Release) and organic fertilizer (you could use Organica's Plus or Plant Tone or Flower Tone) and dig those into the soil or into the potting mix in containers. The time-release feeds for the first two months, and the organic kicks in about mid-July. Given this combination, I don't usually have to apply liquids.
If you think about it, the plants that grow in the rain forest where it rains every day, wetting the foliage frequently, have thick and waxy leaves. Those plants that grow other places aren't adapted for frequent splashing.
I hope this helps!
C.L.
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QUESTION: I'm still questioning the regularity of feeding impatiens. Here is an excerpt from P. Allen Smith's latest newsletter.
"If you want to promote lots of blooms throughout the summer it is important to feed Impatiens regularly with an all-purpose liquid fertilizer that is high in phosphorous, which is the middle number. Feed Impatiens planted in beds every 7 to 10 days and every time you water if they are planted in containers." He doesn't recommend a specific fertilizer, so I don't think he is trying to sell fertilizer.
What say yea about this?
Answer John,
People used to think that you needed a fertilizer with a high middle number in order to get flowers. Newest research, however, shows that an equal or slightly higher amount of nitrogen was more important. In response to that research the fertilizer companies changed their formulation and now if you look at the numbers on common fertilizers they have a slightly higher percentage of nitrogen. P. Allen's book was probably written before this research was done, or perhaps he hadn't heard of it when he was writing the book.
When you use the 7 to 10 day method you use a very, very dilute mixture of the fertilizer... he should have said that. This is how commercial growers feed - they have a system that adds a very, very small amount of fertilizer to their water. Because it is so, so dilute, the plants get fed a little at a time, over the entire time they are growing. Frankly, most people who aren't growers have a very hard time mixing so little fertilizer crystals into their water... they want to see the water really blue! And if you mix too much and apply it that frequently, the plants get leggy and weak, possible fertilizer burn and other problems.
I like to keep my fertilizing of annuals simple. Liquids are fine, but the run out the bottom hole of the containers and you need to hydrate the plant well before fertilizing. You also have to be careful not to mix them at too high an amount. How I manage both my container and in-ground annuals is to mix a time release product (I use Osmocote Plus) and an organic or highly organic product (I use Flowertone) together, and add that to the soil. The time release product feeds steadily until mid to late summer, and that's about the time the organic kicks in. Given this, I generally don't have to use a liquid all summer.
