TIPS FOR CONTAINERS
Spring is fast approaching and the mad rush to plant your seedlings or pick up your bedding plants will soon be on. Listed below are a few tips that may help you create some beautiful containers, and help your plants last the entire season.
The Container
• Don’t skimp on pot size. If you want big plants, they need room for their root system.
• There are some very affordable beautiful containers now available. Do keep in mind that dark pots tend to heat up a lot in hot weather and Terra Cotta pots dry out very quickly in dry climates. I usually put a smaller plastic pot insert in my terra cotta pots since it is very dry here.
• The tall vase style pots may need extra weight (sand, rocks) to keep it from toppling over if there is a strong wind. The extra large pots may not need to be filled completely with soil. Only 2/3 of soil with a bottom filler of empty cans or Styrofoam may be plenty, but do keep in mind that plant roots will need a fair amount of space so don't skimp. A smaller pot insert will also work.
• Drain holes are important, so drill extra holes if your container has only a few. If you have a planter with a removable base, drop a wide head screw in one drain hole to keep the drain holes lined up if you move the planter around. Some times moving the pot will twist the base and the drain holes will not line up and then the plants will drown. 'Bin there, done that.
• Place a small piece of landscape fabric, window screen or plastic scrubbing pad over the drain holes. Small rocks may plug your drain holes and may add too much weight to your container if you need to relocate it.
• Elevate the pots off the ground with pot feet for easier draining.
• In an open area self-watering pots may not drain fast enough in a downpour, leaving your soil sopping wet and your plants at risk of drowning. Do check them and dump the reservoir after a lot of rain.
The Soil
• Use FRESH potting mixture specifically mixed for containers. I like Premeir Pro-Mix BX
• If you are using a potting mix with added water-absorbing polymers, follow the instructions carefully.
• Never extinguish cigarettes in a plant pot, as dry peat moss is highly ignitable.
• Add a slow release fertilizer at planting time
Plant Selection
• Choose like-for-like plants with similar sun and water requirements for each container.
• Size the plants to the scale of the planter. For example, big pots should have big plants. If you have a larger planter 20” diameter and are planting petunias, buy 10 “petunia hanging basket and re-plant it in the middle of your container. Purple wave petunias are very striking with white bacopa around the edge. A tea rose with an assortment of herbs around it is also quite nice.
• Keep the "look" consistent. If you have chosen a tropical look, such as canna lilies, plant it with trailing foliage plants, and no other flowers.
• Complimentary colors are blue/orange; purple/yellow; red/white. Examples of colors that harmonize with each other are indigo and fuchsia or the reds to oranges.
• Echo colors. Find a solid color flower that matches the throat, fleck or stripe in a petal of another flower. Foliage and stems may have colors to echo (pink, purple, lime, etc.) Echo colors or add interest with some decorative décor accents.
• Try three different foliage textures in one container. Grasses are a nice choice.
• Fill your container with a mix of plants - tall, bushy and trailing. Often the magazines say " thrillers, fillers & spillers"
Planting
• Evening is the best time to plant as cool temperatures allow the plants to adjust to their new home with reduced stress. Water the plants before transplanting.
• Pre-moisten your soil first. If you squeeze it a trickle of water will come out.
After you have covered the drain holes with screen, half fill the pot with soil and push down the soil a bit to eliminate air pockets.
• As you place your plants, locate tall plants in the middle, with trailing plants along the edge. Depending on your choice, the more plants the better. There will be less bare surface soil & the moisture level will remain more consistent with more plants per pot. For common plants such as petunias, pansies, bacopa, impatiens or lobelia, space plants about 1” apart. A 12” pot may contain one to eight plants, depending on the plant choice, so check what the plant variety mature height and spread is. One Tidal Wave petunia is all you need for a 16" pot, where as 5 Wave petunias would really fill the same size pot.
• Continue to fill the container with soil mix and eliminate air pockets, until the soil level is at least ¾”from the top of the planter. Otherwise, the water will not seep into the soil and will run over the sides.
• Add a slow release fertilizer & be sure to cover it with at least ½” of soil.
• Add a layer of long strand sphagnum moss, decorative pebble or small wood nugget mulch on the soil surface to keep the moisture level consistent.
Watering & Fertilizing
• Water containers until the water runs out the drain holes. You will probably need to water every day when the temperatures are over 25 C (77 F) if you are in a dry climate. Plants will do better with rainwater, so a rain barrel may be helpful. It's warm and has no chlorine and other chemicals.
• Fertilizing is important since container become depleted of nutrients very quickly. I have success with a good low-release fertilizer for containers (i.e. Smartcote). Other options are to add a water-soluble fertilizer once a week to containers. Some gardeners use both slow release and water-soluble fertilizers at 1/2 strength once a month in the summer months.
• If you buy a container planted with assorted plants, repot it into a bigger container & add slow release fertilizer. I often buy a 10" assorted hanging basket and repot it into a 1/2 barrel. It will become enormous and will last until fall.
• Consider using a bloom booster fertilizer in August to keep your annuals going strong until fall.
Backup Plans
• Do some winter sowning, plant a few extra bedding plants in your flowerbeds for backup inventory, in case you need to replant a container mid-summer. If you have a casualty in late season, don't despair, there are some nice silks at the dollar store that will fill the gap. Often winter sown seedlings are the perfect size to add to a container later in the season.
Check out www.provenwinners.com for some great container ideas and plant descriptions. Happy Planting!
