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Deficient Nutrients--What To Look For
| Nitrogen Potassium Phosphorus Calcium Magnesium Sulfur Iron Manganese |
Pale green or yellowish lower leaves (slower growth). Older leaf edges are yellow/brown. It may be yellowed, curling or brown spots. Phosphorus Stunted, extremely dark green leaves. Purplish to reddish veins, leaves or stems. Flowers and fruits late. Calcium Deformed or failed terminal buds and root tips. Results in blossom end rod in tomatoes and peppers. Magnesium Yellow in area between veins and may show mottling of older leaves. Sulfur Entire plant is light green, yellow younger leaves. Iron Upper leaves are yellow between veins and eventually look bleached. New leaves may be yellowish white. Manganese Yellow leaves between veins followed by spots that occur on the middle leaves first. |
| Nutrient | Organic Sources | When & Why To Use |
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Nitrogen |
Manure, Vermiculite, Peat Moss, Cottonseed Meal, Liquid Fish Emulsion Bone, Hoof, or Horn Meal, Rock Phosphate Wood Ashes, Leaves, Compost |
Springtime-good leaf/stem growth and maintain green color.
Throughout the season-plant growth, resistance to disease. |
| Minerals | Sources |
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Calcium Magnesium Sulfur Iron Manganese |
Lime (Dolomitic Limestone) Lime (Dolomitic Limestone) Ground Sulfure, also Calcium Sulfate, Iron Sulfate or Aluminum Sulfate |
| Compost | 1/2 Brown (Carbon) | Green (Nitrogen) |
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Corn Stalks & Cobs Evergreen Needles Paper Sawdust Straw & Hay Tree Leaves |
Fruit Spent Annuals Grass Manure Coffee Grounds |
Compost Adjustments
Not decomposing fast enough: Needs more Nitrogen (green stuff)
Has an ammonia odor: Needs more Carbon (brown stuff)
Containers are Contagious
An exerpt from The National Gardener, Spring 2009
Joan Franson, NGC Container Gardening Chairman
One way to brighten up a plain corner or area that does not lend itself to planting in the soil is to use containers brimming with plants. The number of containers can be tailored to the setting – one large one or a multiple of sizes in compatible colors. By putting a few on risers, a lovely combination of potted beauties can be created.
From the “All right, how do I start?” to the “OH, my…this looks great!” try the pattern of placing the individual plants in a container by using the “thriller, filler, spiller” approach.
The tallest plants for “thriller” effect can be positioned in the center for pots to be viewed in the all-around, or placed to the far back for those containers staged against a wall, fence or in a corner. Try Canna ‘Cleopatra” with its gorgeous colored foliage; Eupatorium capillifolium ‘Elegant Feather’ for its fox tail of bright chartreuse, ferny green, five foot-tall growth; ‘Red Shield’ and “Maple Sugar’ hibiscus chosen for rich mahogany red foliage; both green leaved and red leaved, spiky Dracaenas, red leaf Euphorbia; and tri-color Amaranthus.
Next in height and width comes the “fillers” – those plants with a more rounded growth habit to compliment or contrast with the “thriller.” Try white Petunia ‘Tiny Tunia’, small zinnias and various daisy-flowered plants. Also, think about colorful foliage plants such as coleus ‘Fishnet Stockings,’ ‘Black Dragon,’ ‘Tilt-a-Whirl,’ ‘Sun Red Velvet,’ and “merlot.’ Talinum paniculatum ‘Limon,” comes in stunning chartreuse foliage with tall slender stems supporting panicles of tiny dainty pink flowers.
Finally, select the “spillers,” which are chosen to finish off the container. Thee plant should have a pattern of downward or outward growing forms to pull the entire setup together. One can’t be without the silver vine Calocephalus brownii ‘Silver Sand,’ which consists of silvery, slender stems with a wiry appearance. Other staples are black or chartreuse sweet potato vine; Lysimachia (creeping Jenny) in green or chartreuse to dangle over the rim, the dainty ever flowering Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost;’ and various trailing Verbenas.
Another approach is to plant a perennial shrub such as blue mist spirea with its yellow-green foliage and blue/lavender blooms. Try a small Japanese maple tree surrounded by Irish moss or chamomile.
Once the plant is removed from its pot, cut off about an inch of the bottom soil ball. This root pruning help stimulate new growth once the individual plant is firmed into its chosen spot.
The goal when placing the individual plants into the container is to have the finished container soil level at least an inch below the rim. The goal for many people is to nearly overstuff the container with plants so after potting them up, the newly planted container has mst of the soil surface covered and only needs maturing to fill upward.
Use Soil-Moist granules in containers—they act as sort of a sponge to hold water, thus extending the time between waterings.
Less maintenance is required in container gardening. For a fresh appearance, foliar feeding every second or third week will boost the plant’s lushness. Use a 7-2-6 formula, because you are not looking for heavy foliate growth as much as you want maturing and fruiting/flowering results.
Prune spent blooms and misplaced stems to improve the overall beauty, and rotate the pots once or twice a week to promote more even growth. Be sure to prune coleus two weeks earlier to produce bushier plants.
Drought Tolerant Annuals for Containers
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Alternanthera
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Calibrachoa (Trailing petunia)
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Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost’
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Geraniums
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Helichrysum
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Lantana
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Annual phlox ‘Intensia’
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Sedum
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Portulaca grandiflora (Moss rose)
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Verbena
~UMass Extension
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