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Post by mountainlover on Aug 30, 2019 19:23:18 GMT
I decided to become a plant mom this year. I did okay watering every two days or so but then forgot to water for a week. We have two pots of beans, one of lettuce and one of cilantro. I started to water them daily to try to save them. The lettuce and Cilantro looked dried out but now look great. The beans still look dry/brown on the leaves but the stems still look plump. Can some plants not be saved? Or perhaps I need to water them twice or thrice a day to revive them?
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Post by Weed on Aug 31, 2019 1:10:29 GMT
mountainlover, once a day should be fine if you're watering deep into dry bare soil. Best to incorporate plenty of organic matter into the ground before planting and mulch around the plants to retain moisture so you can go several days without watering. Some plants aren't forgiving at all and will die quick from stress if the roots are allowed to dry out Reading your post made me think about some common milkweed I sowed from seed this past spring. After planting several hundred of them in full sun areas around the property, and giving away a few hundred, I still had plenty left over so I potted about 75 of them into 4" pots. I kept them in a holding area that was mulched with 6" of shredded leaves and the pots were sitting on top, exposed to the sun etc... To keep them from drying out completely, they needed to be watered at least every 2-3 days. They grew to be about 8"-10" tall. Then I went on a road trip for a few weeks and when I got back there was no sign of the plants...they completely died and the pots looked like bare soil, no sign of a plant! I lifted one and noticed it sent a tap root thru the pot down into the mulch. I dumped the pot and the soil was completely dried so I figured they were all dead. Shortly afterwards, after several days of rain I noticed a few were sending up new growth. Nothing wimpy about milkweed, just about every single one of them has grown back even taller since.
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Post by mountainlover on Aug 31, 2019 21:31:35 GMT
Weed, I didn't use any mulch. Mine are potted as well. I did use plenty of potting soil which I believe is the organic matter. I am out there watering the other two pots that are thriving again anyway so I guess I'll keep trying with the beans as well.
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Post by Weed on Sept 1, 2019 15:41:59 GMT
mountainlover, There's a big difference between potting soil and potting mix, maybe that's the problem? Potting mix is "soil-less", retains moisture longer & remains loose whereas potting soil has little OM, is much denser and compacts easily. Either way, both require watering more often when used in pots. Aside from a huge tree pot I use to grow carrots in, everything here is planted in the ground. In the pot is a homemade mix with equal parts of garden soil, peat moss and shredded leaves and some vermiculite. My wife will only use store bought potting mix for all her inside and outside plants...mainly because it's sterile for the most part and doesn't attract bugs as easily as my homemade mix
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Post by mountainlover on Sept 2, 2019 22:22:52 GMT
@weed It's great to know there's a difference! I didn't and now I'm not sure if I used potting mix or soil.
I read pole beans would attract a lot of bugs. Mine haven't seemed to, must be the mix or soil. Good to know these things.
We live in the city and this was my first venture into attempted gardening.
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