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Early Flower Care After Planting
Starting Annuals and Perennial Flowers Right
Flowers need close attention and care soon after they are planted and for their first several weeks.
What’s important is to get your plants off to a great start by planting them correctly, then following up with good early care. The best times to plant are during cool weather in spring and autumn.
Early care includes applying regular waterings and foliar fertilizer, mulching, protecting plants from frost and sun, and installing stakes for support if they’re needed.
Your plants and seedbeds should have been fertilized during planting.
If that important step was skipped, sprinkle the soil surface with granular fertilizer that has a low-nitrogen assay—such as 2–5–5, for example—about 4–6 in. (10–15 cm) away from your seeds or transplants. Use use a cultivation tool to work it into the soil.
Water any fertilized areas to carry the nutrients into the soil around your plants’ roots.
With transplants, another approach is to use a hose-end sprayer filled with a half-strength solution of water and foliar fertilizer to help the flowers recover from transplant shock.
Foliar fertilizers—absorbed through the leaves and stems of the plants—provide a quick uptake nutrients before roots become established.
Water the plantings regularly, every day for the first week, every other day for the next, and then every time the soil surface dries. Always water in the morning so that foliage dries before sundown.
For beds with a fully-automatic watering system, place drip-irrigation emitters at each plant and use their controllers to water the plants.
Directly application of water at each plant conserves water and prevents weed growth in unplanted areas of the bed.
Next, rake protective mulch around the plants to stop weeds from germinating, lessen evaporation, and moderate soil temperature changes.
Always keep a circle around each plant’s stem free of mulch. Mulching soil stops fungal spores from splashing up onto foliage during waterings, and help stems quickly dry.
If you planted tall and narrow flowering plants, be sure to follow up planting by installing support stakes immediately rather than waiting until the plants have grown into their planting areas. Add stakes and supports as needed, positioning them outside the rootball, and tie the stems to the stakes.
Collect plant labels at the same time, and save them with your planting plan so you’ll have the necessary care information available for each plant for later reference.
If your planting took place early in the spring, watch the weather closely and protect your tender plants from overnight cold and late frosts. Apply a floating row cover or other covering whenever temperatures fall below 40°F (4°C) [see: Other Flower and Bulb Care].
In a similar fashion, those in hot-summer climates should provide shade covers and protect newly planted flowers whenever temperatures are forecast to be above 90°F (32°C) to prevent sun scalding damage to their foliage and flowers.
Early Watering
Proper watering is the greatest boon and improper watering is the greatest hazard for your newly planted flower seeds, seedlings and transplants.
Newly planted flowers have shallow roots, making them susceptible to failing if their soil dries out, even for a few hours.
Drip-irrigation systems are ideal for watering flowers, saving time and effort for their care.
Calibrated drip emitters release exact flows of water right to the roots of your flowering plants. Timers on automatic controllers govern the total amount of water that’s applied during each watering.
Drip irrigation allows water to be absorbed slowly. It never runs off or causes erosion.
The goal of most flower-plant irrigation watering is to deliver 1–2 in. (25–50 mm) of water to each plant every 4-7 days, depending on weather conditions.
While drip irrigation is convenient, a simple hose, a soaker hose, or even a watering can will do the job equally well.
New plants need more water than established plants. Water daily the first week after planting, then reduce watering to every other day for the following week.
Check that the soil remains damp but not soggy, and that water is penetrating down into the root zone of your plants.
The easiest way to gauge soil moisture is to use a hand-weeding tool or small trowel. Plunge the tool down into the soil between two plants, move it in a circular pattern, and pull it out.
Feel in the hole with your finger how much soil moisture is present 4–6 in. (10–15 cm) below the surface.
If sub-surface soil is soggy, decrease watering until it dries to uniformly damp conditions. If it is too dry, increase watering. It may be necessary to water, stop when runoff begins, and then repeat after the water is fully absorbed.
Dense soils with lots of clay sometimes take several cycles of watering to become damp at the root zone.
Watch for warning signs from your plants that something is amiss. A wilting plant may be overwatered, not dying from lack of water. Perform a soil moisture test before assuming it needs more water.
Another sign of overwatering is yellowed foliage. Again, check the soil moisture.
If the soil is properly damp, there may be a nutrition or an acidity-alkalinity problem that can be fixed with applications of fertilizers, garden lime—for too-acid soils—or garden sulfur—for too-alkaline soils.
After a few weeks, your flowers will be vigorous and growing in their beds, about to develop flower buds and blooms. That ends the period of early-care requirements. Review the regular care flowers need during the remainder of the gardening season [see: Caring for Flowers].