Expert: C.L. Fornari - 7/24/2005

Question
I live in SE pennsylvania. My inquiry concerns a
hanging,potted Impatien Infinity PinkFrost plant.
It is in a mostly shaded area with some late sun.
The nursery told me to water everyday with enough
so that water drains from hole in bottom and to feed weekly with Miracle Grow.
The plant was beautiful with dark green leaves and copious blossoms for the past 6 weeks. Now  the buds are slow to open and the leaves are less vibrant with some of the inner ones taking on a bit of yellow tint.
Any idea on what may be happening or what I may be doing incorrectly?
Thank you.

Answer
Nicholas,
Yellowing leaves sometimes happen as the plant gets older (inner, older leaves are shed in favor of new growth) or if a plant goes through dry periods.  (If the plant is allowed to wilt occasionally, it will shed older foliage again in favor of the new growth.)   

I suspect that the problem, however, is that at this point the plant is extremely root bound - if you pop it out of the pot I think you'll see that the roots are all round and round against the bottom of the pot.  Once the majority of the roots are out of the soil like this, the plant goes downhill.  You could either repot in a larger hanging pot, or plant this impatiens in the ground (breaking up the root ball gently with your fingers first, so that the roots will be encouraged to grow into the ground) - then get another basket for hanging, or plant something else in the basket the impatiens came out of.

If you do plant the impatiens in the ground, feed it every two weeks and water when the soil surface is dry - at first the plant may need every day or other day watering since it's roots are still in a ball, but after growing into the ground, it can go longer between waterings.

I hope htis helps!
C.L.