What’s The Best Shakespeare Play To See In Summer? A Midsummer’s Ice Cream!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Canada Long Weekend. Although we did have a few heavy downpours and mostly cloudy weather I know many people enjoyed their camping trip. The weather is about to change and by the end of this week we will be experiencing 30 degree temperature and very little chance of rain and by the following week we will be in the mid to high 30’s and the evening temperatures will remain fairly high. This will create some challenges to keeping everything watered and especially your hanging baskets.
Petunia hanging baskets are one of the most popular hanging basket of all types of hanging baskets although they require a fair amount of grooming and lots of care.
We have been able to get away with less frequent watering due to our cooler and overcast weather but with the temperatures soaring you may need to water daily and even more often if your baskets are smaller in size. Lift the basket up and the weight should tell you if it needs watering, be sure to water thoroughly enough for the water to be flowing out the bottom.
Water during the coolest part of the day unless you see the plant wilting then it should be watered immediately. This is a huge stress on the plant and will cause it to go into heavy seed production. This can be remedied with considerable amounts of pruning and is best avoided at all costs.
Petunias are heavy feeders and should be fertilized once a week and a bi weekly treatment with Epsom salts will make them even happier. Use 1 tsp per gallon of water. This supplies the plants with magnesium which petunias are very fond of. Turn your baskets at least once a month to ensure even exposure and growth.
Pruning Petunias is important, most people just pull off the dead blooms however you should cut the entire bloom off where is grows from the main stem. The plants will spend less time producing seed and more time producing the blooms that you want. Petunias require at least 6 or more hours of sunshine daily to be their best so if they are not getting that you may need to move them to a hotter and sunnier spot. They seem to be getting leggy cut them back a few inches. This will cause them to become fuller and healthier. Your garden will also have to be watered more often and more thoroughly.
Water deep and consider adding some mulch or compost to keep it from evaporating. This heat should help with the lack of vigour we have seen in plants like our Tomatoes. Remember to stay hydrated yourself!
Happy Gardening!
Samantha Nason
BS Ranch & Greenhouses
250 547 6567
sam1nason@gmail.com
