Return to the Annuals Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
urgent help needed re: dirt frozen in pansy pots !!
| | |
Posted by brit5467 7b VA East Coast (My Page) on Mon, Jan 4, 10 at 11:01
| Been sick and didn't get pansies in the ground. We've had freezing weather for the past few nights and now the dirt is frozen in the pots. They look VERY WILTED, like they're dying, like the water in the stems is frozen, too.
These are in 8" pots. The dirt in the ones in flats is frozen too, but don't look dead. Actually they look quite healthy.
I may have screwed up because I watered the pots this morning, thinking the dirt was just dry. This was before I touched it and realized it was frozen. Most of the water ran out, tho.
What can I immediately do with the 8" pots or is it too late for them? What about the ones in flats? Can I cover them with leaves or something?
I DO have a place to plant them but don't really have time today, however if that is my only option, I will MAKE time.
HELP ASAP PLEEEEASE!!
Thanks,
Bonnie aka brit5467 |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: urgent help needed re: dirt frozen in pansy pots !!
| | |
| The frozen soil should not be a problem. The dryness could be. If I were you, I would bring the wilted ones inside to a sunny window just for a few days. Give them a good watering and keep an eye on them. With luck, they will perk up. Once they do, take them back outside and either put them in the ground or be a bit more watchful to keep the soil moist. As future info, it's important to water dry plants, especially in pots, before freezing temps move in for an extended period of time. When the soil freezes, the plants have a difficult time taking up water, which is probably why your plants wilted. Certainly, it would be best to get the flats of pansies in the ground as soon as possible (they're likely to be root bound), but I definitely would wait till the weather warms up a bit. Again, keep an eye on them and keep them watered in the meantime. |
RE: urgent help needed re: dirt frozen in pansy pots !!
| | |
| you cant bring a frozen pot in the house .. or you will shock the bee-gee-bees out of it ... put it in the garage.. and let it do it itself ... time will tell you will change too many variables by trying to love it to death ... if you are concerned with water.. put an ice cube on the soil.. and it will melt with the soil and release the water at the proper time ... you warm zone folk are weird.. rotflmbo ... pansy are questionable as a perennial .. viola are not ... whether or not they survive .. its all in the gene base .. only time will tell ... some winter over in my z5.. most dont ... and my soil can freeze solid to 30 inches ... you got sick.. you did the best you could.. dont worry about a few pansies.. in the greater realm of things ... ken |
RE: urgent help needed re: dirt frozen in pansy pots !!
| | |
| Yes....us warm folks ARE weird ;O) !!! But it IS the damn weather, with it being 70 one day in Nov and then 35 the next. I'm ALLLL confused....:) Thanks to both of you. I DO need to get the flats in somewhere. But still too muddy (and now probably frozen) in my regular garden. Thought about my empty hanging baskets (with the exception of one very DIE-HARD petunia??) but they'd probably freeze at night, huh? Thanks for the reminder about watering before freezes. I'm usually on top of it but that flu kicked my butt. I was wondering about shocking the plants with a drastic change in temp. Ken, don't know why I remember the ice cube thing. I've used it with hanging plants in my house....duhhhh. Probably because I've got 'frozen' on the brain and ice is 'frozen'...hee hee. And yeah, pansies....not that bigga deal. I was just so proud of my bargains, ya know? And I guess I sometimes take my plants too seriously, like they have feelings and I don't want to hurt them. I don't even really like pansies THAT much :) Bonnie aka brit5467 |
RE: urgent help needed re: dirt frozen in pansy pots !!
| | |
| Yes, when I said "in", I didn't mean into the heated house, just in enough that the soil would thaw enough to absorb water. Once you can water, give it some time (and light) to see if the plants perk back up. Then back outside. Normal and weird are relative terms. Southern gardeners in the south are not weird, they're perfectly normal. Northern gardeners in the south, on the other hand.... Well, my mama would fuss at me for having bad manners and calling anybody a name. :) |
RE: urgent help needed re: dirt frozen in pansy pots !!
| | |
| hey bonnie, Im close in VA Beach and was wondering how your pansies are?? Mine also bit the dust over the last week and did not perk up with our 2 day heat wave of 50 degrees. I have mine in a tiered pot. I did notice the ones in the ground look beautiful.... But where the majority of my money is looks like a casualty of frost.... |
RE: urgent help needed re: dirt frozen in pansy pots !!
| | |
| Hy bluigirl...my larger 8" pots looked dead, too, when I checked last week. I'd moved them to the side of house so I'd actually forgotten to check 'em again until you just mentioned it. Tks for the reminder !! The only 8" I got in the ground mixed in with some out of flats I bought a LONG time ago look so-so. But the flats I bought most recently (month & 1/2 or so ago??) I put into a lean-to shed with a little heater and then I forgot about them (too) for amost a week !! (been sick & busy). Took them out last week and have let them sit out back in late afternoon sun and they look very happy. The older flat looks pitiful, but that's more due to my neglect and not getting them in the ground. You know how they are...once they stay in flats for so long, they start to outgrow each other and block out sun to the stems and get all leggy (and some parts look frozen). But I they still have some new growth so I'm still gonna stick them in (probably today since it's very nice, huh??!!!) and see what happens. My biggest problem is I buy plants because they're discounted or just limited in a certain color and then never get to them (lack of time, procrastination, call it what you want : ) Strange, strange weather we've been having, huh? Trying to work around it is a b*tch !!! bonnie aka brit5467 |
RE: urgent help needed re: dirt frozen in pansy pots !!
| | |
| Hey bluigirl....I was mistaken. I'd forgotten I'd buried the three 8" pots I had left under a leaf pile after giving them some water the last time I checked them and now they seem fine. Gangly looking, but fine. Didn't get them in the ground, tho. Too much other gardening maintenance to be done. But just thought I'd let you know. bonnie aka brit5467 |
RE: urgent help needed re: dirt frozen in pansy pots !!
| | |
| I also had a full flat of unplanted six packs laying in the yard, neglected, and uncovered the leaves this morning and voila! still living. However my giants (beautiful peach,orange and maroon) have not come back in my tiered planter. I am so ready for warmer weather!!! amy |
RE: urgent help needed re: dirt frozen in pansy pots !!
| | |
- Posted by maryl Z7 Okla. (My Page) on
Fri, Jan 29, 10 at 17:49
| For what it's worth, it has been my experience with potted pansies that most of them just don't pull through over winter if left outside. I love pansies, but have very little room in my garden to plant them in the ground; so every fall I pot some up, and then every spring I pitch most of them out....Here's my take on pansies in pots from years of experience. The small pots seldom pull through. Larger pots (10" and above) have the best chance of making it. Pansies have a thin fibrous root system that is more easily damaged unless protected from the elements. This is why they do better in the ground as opposed to a pot where all sides are exposed to the cold. |
RE: urgent help needed re: dirt frozen in pansy pots !!
| | |
| I know..... :( And believe it or not, I have yet to get mine planted. Had better things (plants) to do...LOL. I DID stick the larger pots that I'd pulled out of the leaf pile into my unfinished raised bed and covered them with leaves, but have really neglected them. The one flat I have of a beautiful orange/peach kind has hung in there, but after the storm heading this way and possible 4-8" of snow (unheard of around here at the beach) I think I'd better put them somewhere safe, like back in the shed with the heater on. What a waste of energy (both mine & the electric co.) if I'm just going to keep procrastinating, huh? |
RE: urgent help needed re: dirt frozen in pansy pots !!
| | |
HELP!! I have a sunroom that faces south and is heated. It stays about 68 degrees all winter. I desperately wanted to have potted blooming pansies in the sunroom all winter. I bought blooming pansies and planed them in good soil, large pots and kept them healthy and blooming until the initial flowers died. Now all I have is healthy green growth, but no new flowers (even though I deadheaded the original blooms). Sorry this is long, but here's my question:
Can pansies bloom throughout the winter in a sunroom at 68 degrees OR is my only option enjoying them on through the window on the outside deck where it's cold. Please help with any thoughts!! |
RE: urgent help needed re: dirt frozen in pansy pots !!
| | |
| Watering your pansies may save them. The frozen water in the soil cannot be taken up by the plant, which can become dessicated. Winter hardy plants require water so that the cells remain turgid throughout a freeze. Water is one of the ingredients in their self-made 'anti-freeze'. The root systems of pansies are more fragile than the tops, so do what you can to protect them during freezes. Bury the containers in the ground, cover them with straw, or
other means to prevent the roots from freezing solid. Merritt, too bad that you can bring down the temp of your sunroom to about 60. If it faces South, I'll bet that it gets even warmer than 68 in the daytime. |
|
|
|
|
