New to gardening and this forum. I just bought some plants from the nursery to beautify the area outside my apartment. It can be very windy with some direct sunlight (depends on the sun movement, the low wall can block some of the sun).

I think these are zinnias. Initially I put them inside the apartment (shaded). Then they started to look a bit awful, so I thought maybe not enough sunlight, so I moved them outside. But they still look terrible after 2 days outside.

They are droopy, and the bottom leaves have turned brown. I removed the dead leaves. I also deadheaded some of the blooms. I also put some artificial fertilizer and natural fertilizer, hoping to revive them somehow.

Am I overwatering please? How much water should I give them please? (Pls ignore water on floor, I was washing away the soil before I put the pot there).

Thanks!

shock from transporting home.

shock of transplanting a HUGE ... FLOWERING.. plant ... in this case.. your gut reaction for instant gratification.. led you to a plant that was too big ... and not really at a point in its life.. that it should have been transplanted ...

yes watering is an issue.. your media.. looks to peaty ... do not water again.. until your finger.. stuck one inch down.. indicates the media is drying ... [did you wet the media PRIOR to planting??]

i would remove all the flowers .... trace down the stems .. and find where there are new flower buds ... and remove about half of what is above.. yes.. it will seem you are slaughtering it.. but what you are doing is reducing the 'canopy' .. and the flowers.. BIG water drains.. to give the roots time to start pumping water.. so as to help the plant recover from the shock ...

the future is all in those tiny new buds.. not the spent flowers ...

finally ... do NOT give up hope... on some level.. i think you bought the wrong plant.. for your gardening dreams... too big.. too many flowers.. and the TIMING was all wrong for transplant.. lol.. where we all started ...

had i seen a display of plants like this.. i would have picked the one with ALL flower BUDS .. so that in a few days.. the flowers would open.. delaying gratification a bit.. and extending my period of enjoyment ...

and being an annual.. i probably would not have repotted it ... i would have let it give me a short show.. a few months with deadheading ... and then thrown it out ...

if you want long lived potted plants.. you need to move into perennials ... or houseplants grown outdoors ...

trust me.. we all started here .. so dont be discouraged ... EVERY experiment.. leads to knowledge ... ===>>> AND!!! .. you found us ... WELCOME!!! ... we like to share knowledge ...

ken

ps: lesson #1: NEVER transplant a plant in flower .... too much stress ... the first thing sacrificed is the flower.. its useless to the plant to try to make seed [the whole point of the flower] .. if the whole plant is threatened ... they simply abort ... the disturbed roots simply can not process enough water for the plant.. hence the drooping ....

A potting medium can become the enemy if it is too mucky, dense, muddy, or heavy. Roots are not able to develop in such an environment; plants are unable to access enough water in such a situation.

I'll strongly disagree with ken about the "stress" caused by transplanting of annuals, either into an outdoor garden or a container. Millions and millions of people all over the world transplant their flowering annuals and perennials with ZERO problems. I've done it myself...probably every year of my life since I was three! Zinnias are a favorite of mine, performing continually from last frost (early spring) to first frost (October).

I grow most of my own annuals from seed, to get an early start. They are always blooming their heads off by the time I transplant them. They never lose their buds nor do they wilt. If that should occur, human error is the problem.

I transplant tons of annuals, too, Rhizo.

With respect to zinnia seed availability in Singapore, there are "international" seed companies. This is a link to eSeeds zinnias selections.

ZM