ChatterBank4 mins ago
Why so few blooms this year?
7 Answers
Every summer I have a lovely display in my pots on the patio but not this year. Only a few of the buds have opened up. They are impatiens. I buy from a reputable garden centre. Could it be that the soil is exhausted? I just re-pot every year in the same stuff.
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No best answer has yet been selected by lynbrown. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.My pansies and petunias have given a beautiful display and are still going strong. I go out regularly and take off the dead blooms, it is a bit of a chore but worth it. I used to grow busy lizzies but one year they were very disappointing as apparently they had a virus and so I have not bothered since and instead went over to the pansies and petunias..
It has been probably one of the best years ive known for bedding displays....with the exception of Impatiens.
My dad bought some imps from B&Q as he does every year for his baskets and pouches. He also bought their own multi purpose compost as recommended by "gardening which ?" magazine.
Within 2 weeks, all the Imps had died and the compost looked like dust....it was some of the worst stuff ive ever seen and ive been a profesional gardener and nurseryman for over 30 years.
When we asked B&Q about it, they said they had basically had a £5m crop failure due to growing the wrong variety of plants for our climate.
With regards to your plants Lyn, it is certainly worth replacing at least 50% of the old compost every year. New potting compost usually has enough nutrients to keep the plants going for about 6 - 8 weeks. Therefore it's often worth adding some slow release fertiliser such as osmocote or even growmore to the soil and mix it well in before planting. A weekly liquid feed with miracle grow will help too.
Don't forget that good watering and dead heading (removing the seed head rather than just the dead flower) will also make the plants last longer.
My dad bought some imps from B&Q as he does every year for his baskets and pouches. He also bought their own multi purpose compost as recommended by "gardening which ?" magazine.
Within 2 weeks, all the Imps had died and the compost looked like dust....it was some of the worst stuff ive ever seen and ive been a profesional gardener and nurseryman for over 30 years.
When we asked B&Q about it, they said they had basically had a £5m crop failure due to growing the wrong variety of plants for our climate.
With regards to your plants Lyn, it is certainly worth replacing at least 50% of the old compost every year. New potting compost usually has enough nutrients to keep the plants going for about 6 - 8 weeks. Therefore it's often worth adding some slow release fertiliser such as osmocote or even growmore to the soil and mix it well in before planting. A weekly liquid feed with miracle grow will help too.
Don't forget that good watering and dead heading (removing the seed head rather than just the dead flower) will also make the plants last longer.
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