Tips for you and your plants

Watering your plants

To properly water flower beds in your yard you can use a soaker hose.  If this is not available, place a hose in one corner of the bed and turn on a small trickle of water—not enough to wash soil away.  Let this run for 1-1 ½ hours then move hose to any part of bed that is dry and repeat. 

This will only need to be done about once a week, as you will deep water soil in your beds and plant roots will be pulled down deep which will become drought resistant.  Three or four inches of mulch also helps moisture and will control weeds in beds.

Watering potted plants

Most pots will need water daily in hot dry conditions.  Pots should be watered until about 10-15% of the water runs through pots

Hanging baskets

Baskets will also need to be watered daily with the same procedure as pots.

Fertilizing your plants

Fertilizer is necessary for proper plant growth.  Most fertilizer or plant food on the market is safe for your plants.

Beds need not be fertilized a lot, but will need some.  To start when preparing beds, add about one tablespoon of 12-12-12 dry fertilizer per square foot.  Incorporate into beds and till into the top 6 inches of soil.  About every 30 days, use a liquid fertilizer as a top dress.  Use about ½ to 3/4 of labeled amount late in the day as plants will take plant food in through their leaves at night.  Also about every 30 days it is a good idea to give your plants a dose of Epsom Salts.  Put 1-1/2 tablespoons in 1 gallon of water and apply to beds after 6:00 p.m., as plants will also take this in through their leaves at night and the roots will pick up the rest.

Fertilizing your pots and baskets

Pots and baskets require fertilizing more often.  The best procedure is to fertilize every 3^rd or 4^th watering.  Use a water soluble fertilizer and mix ½ to ¾ of label amounts.  Slow release fertilizer tablets may also be used in pots and baskets.  About once every 30 days give your baskets Epsom Salts at the rate of 1-1 ½ tablespoons per gallon of water and water normally.  Do remember plants in hanging baskets and pots depend on you to feed and water them.  Think of yourself when watering your plants, remembering that we need eat and drink to live.

Annuals and perennials

Annuals are plants that are planted in the spring, will flower all season long, and die back with the first frost in the fall.

Perennials are plants that can be planted any time the ground is not frozen and will come back each year.  Perennials flower at different times of the year and most only flower 5 to 8 weeks then go dormant.  There are a few perennials that bloom all summer long such as Moonbeam Coreopsis, Rudbeckia, and Stella De Oro Daylilies.  Flower tags will usually tell this information, but remember to enjoy the plants themselves.  Look for different leaf texture and perhaps interesting seed heads.  Dried seed heads on some varieties, such as ornamental grasses can be very attractive.

For someone who wants to plant a perennial bed for the first time, I suggest you plant a few perennials with some annuals so you will have bloom and color all summer long.  I also suggest your use a camera and take some pictures of your flowerbeds and use them as a planning template to add new perennial plants the next year.

Sun and Shade

Check the tags on plants for proper sunlight exposure.  Most recommend Sun, Part Sun, or Shade.  Plants marked for “Full Sun” will need at least 6 hours of sunlight a day.  Plants marked “Part Sun” or “Part Shade” will take sun in the morning until 11:00 a.m. or sun later in the day after heat of the day has passed.

Plants marked “Shade” may take sun early morning until 9:00 a.m. or late in the afternoon after 4:30 p.m.  Some shade plants will do well in more sun if they get plenty of water.

Vegetable Gardening

Vegetable gardening can be very rewarding.  Fresh vegetables are unsurpassed in taste.  Cold crops such as Beets, Potatoes, Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Radishes, Lettuce, and Carrots can all be planted early as soon as the soil can be worked.

Tomatoes and peppers should be planted later after all danger of frost has passed.  Always remember to stop fertilizing tomatoes when they start to bloom as over fertilizing with nitrogen can cause blooms to abort or fruit to develop end rot.  Also remember that you can have a nice fall garden by planting cold crops the first part of August.  Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Radishes, and Turnips can be planted at this time and will finish to cool fall weather, resulting in a sweeter, tastier crop.  Every $1.00 spent on garden seed and plants can return up to $20.00 in produce.

Our goal at Marlin Plant Kingdom is to help you to be successful in your gardening endeavors.

Thank you for shopping at our greenhouse.