- It is myth that impatiens can't go into
your landscape until November or December. Local growers start with small
flower "plugs" and grow impatiens in South Florida starting in August.
Some growers start and grow impatiens plugs all year long ...including
every Summer month. Home owners can start early with reasonable care
- Plant as early as possible. October is
best. The reason is your price is the same (from Master Gardener), but
your free bonus is you enjoy your flowers much longer ...well into our
spring season. Why not get 6-7 months of flowers instead of 4-5? Plant
early is our advice
- Another important reason to plant is early
is the look you'll have during the holidays. If you expect luxurious
robust flowers for Thanksgiving and Christmas, don't wait until the last
minute to order your plants. Start early to allow your impatiens to fully
establish themselves in your garden. Avoid a possible shortage of quality
plants that is a typical problem in November
- Impatiens planted on your East & North
sides and in the shade are easier to establish when the weather is still
warm. However, in South and West exposures, all that is required is
attention to watering. Keeping a moist soil (not wet and NEVER let dry
out) is the secret
- Home owners who do
not rely 100% on their sprinkler system
have the best impatiens. The reason is very few sprinkler systems are
thorough in coverage. Hand watering, especially in hot exposures, is the
trick
- When tender flowers like impatiens get
dried out soil, they wilt within a few hours. Even after recovering the
flowers with watering, there is damage. The affected flowers require days
or weeks to get back to same point of growth as before they were stressed.
Repeatedly stressing your impatiens this way causes significant decline in
overall plant quality and flowering performance
- Larger plants are not better than smaller
plants. The reason is smaller impatiens grow into your landscape soil
faster and more thoroughly. Smaller starter plants actually end up growing
bigger with more flowers and lasting longer into the Spring than larger
starter plants
- Planting impatiens with a high quality time-release fertilizer is the biggest secret of all.
Apply 1/2 tablespoon per plant high performance. Use a flat
formulation like 13-13-13, NOT the
high nitrogen versions with a high first number like
25-10-10
- Impatiens in pots can be tricky. Impatiens
are very sensitive to wet feet and fungus from over watering. Usually the
over watering is from nature. When we get into a heavy rain pattern,
potted impatiens die easily. Consider moving pots under cover is a rain
spell is predicted to persist
- Cranberry is a weaker plant and tends not
to grow as large as the other colors. Try not to mix cranberry with any
other color because the other plants might over-size the cranberry
impatiens
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