How to care for petuinas and cyclamen flowers in a pot?

[1sonia]

Hey guys - I’m trying to work out how to keep my petunias + cyclamen from dying.

The petunias are not blooming at all and some blooms have died. The cyclamen have some wilting leaves.

I’ve read a lot online one how to care for them but I feel I’m doing something wrong. I was watering on top of the flower until I was told not to. Now I water 1-2 times a week around the plant, not directly on top.

I do have them in shape and sun. I do have petunias in the backyard in a pot and They’re blooming fine and I haven’t even taken much care of them and it’s rained quite a bit.

Any suggestions would be very appreciated.

Thank you.

  

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @1sonia. It's great to have you join us and many thanks for your question.

Our members might need a bit more information to provide some solutions. Are the Petunias and Cyclamens that are having difficulties in the sun or shade? How many hours of direct light do they receive each day? Have you fertilized any of the plants recently? Do the pots have drainage holes? Do you give them a good soaking 1-2 times a week or brief watering?

It's starting to warm up and I would be inclined to up the watering regime if they are in a well-draining mix and a pot that has drainage holes. You might like to apply a fertiliser similar to Scotts Osmocote Pots, Planters & Indoors Controlled Release Fertiliser if you haven't done so recently.

The Cyclamen pictured looks rather healthy, would you be able to post pictures of all the plants having issues and perhaps the Petunia that is going well.

Once we get a bit more information I'd be happy to call on our Horticultural experts to give their opinions.

Mitchell

[1sonia]

Hi Mitchell - thank you for your reply.

These pots and flowers were purchased from a nursery in Melbourne.

Both flowers are in a pot without drainage and I was told the potting has fertiliser in it as I wanted a flower that I could just water and not worry about.

I was watering them a little each day and then I was told to only water once a week. To check if they need watering, feel the soil and see if it’s dry around 8cm deep, then they need a water.

In terms of sun and shade. They are positioned on my front porch and they do get both sun when we have some and the shade. So it does vary. However when it’s quite sunny, both of them are in full sun.

With the cyclamen, there are a few flowers that have wilted completely and with the petunia, there is still one bloom, two have what I assumed has died and no other blooms.

I also have petunias in my backyard in the barrel planter from Bunnings and they seem to be blooming fine and I have barely touched them, however they are in the full open and it’s rained here so I’ve avoided extra watering.

Unfortunately when I try to post photos and error message comes up:

Correct the highlighted errors and try again.

• Your post has been changed because invalid HTML was found in the message body. The invalid HTML has been removed. Please review the message and submit the message when you are satisfied.

Im not sure how to correct this.

Thank you

Sonia

[MitchellMc]

Hi @1sonia, 

Many thanks for updating us with further information. Plants that are in pots with no drainage holes can be quite difficult to water. Ideally, most plants like a good soaking at least a couple of times a week in summer and the drainage holes allow excess water an escape. When you have no holes, even after a short watering, the plant can sit for several days with soggy roots.

Let me mention @Adam_W  and @Noelle to see if they have some other ideas about what might be causing issues.

Mitchell

[1sonia]

Thanks Mitchell -

is it then best to purchase a flower with the drainage pot and transfer it into a ‘display pot’? 
everything  I’ve seen comes with the black standard pot, can I just put that whole thing in the cement pot? 

thank you.

[Noelle]

As @MitchellMc has already said, drainage holes in the bases of pots are essential to keep plants healthy, otherwise the roots will rot.  If you want to have plants in decorative containers without holes in their base, then pot them up in ordinary plastic pots that will comfortably sit inside your decorator pots.  Then, when you water, take the inner pot and plant out of the decorator pot and don't return it until excess water has finished draining away.

Large decorative pots without holes can have one or more holes drilled into the base, using the right type of drill bit and sticking some masking tape over the spots where you are going to drill, to minimise cracking.

[MitchellMc]

Hi @1sonia, 

@Noelle has described the exact method I use with my display pots. I have the plant potted into a black plastic pot and it is sitting inside the display pot. When I need to water I remove it and place it under the sink tap. I run the water slowly through it until it is completely saturated and then turn the water off. It sits in the sink until no more water is dripping out the bottom of it. I then return it to the display pot.

I hope that helps.

Mitchell

[1sonia]

@Noelle .......Makes complete sense.

Could I report these plants in containers with the same potting mix or is it best to use new flowers and potting mix?

thank you 

[1sonia]

@MitchellMc  thank you. Yes I think that’s what I’ll do now. 

if ,y ceramic pots are roughly 40x30 cm what pot size would you suggest and can I just get them made up at Bunnings? 

[Noelle]

Depends on how old the potting mix is.  If the petunias were potted more than 3 months ago, I'd certainly use fresh mix now or at least a 50:50 mix of the existing mix with new mix. Petunias should flower right through to autumn.

Keep in mind that cyclamen are corms (a type of bulb) that produce leaves in late summer, flower in autumn and winter and then die down when the weather starts to warm up in spring.  That's when you stop watering them altogether and put the pot in a shady, cool spot out of the rain and forget about it until late summer. When the corms start to show new growth they should be potted into fresh potting mix in preparation for the next flowering cycle.  If your cyclamen are starting look a bit droopy and past their best, then they've started their summer dormancy, so don't disturb them now.