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| Temperature, not age. I HOPE I'll still be gardening in my 90's! Working on it....
I have a lot of plants that still are not in the ground. About 1/3 perennials, the rest annuals. AS usual, summer and my busy season hit before I could get them all in. I am an artist and I travel the Midwest during art fair season, which means few days spent at home. I have time off this week and the next, finally. But now it is going to be hot all this week. I could get up early and plant before it gets hot each day. Or in the evening. But is this going to put the plants at risk? Right now they are all living in their pots in the shade. If they are just going to die by being planted now, I do not want to make the effort. What is the theory on this? Better to wait? Only plant those ones that are destined for the shade? If watering is the chief factor, I can certainly do that. Do plants struggle to get settled in when it's hot? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by mad_gallica Z5 Eastern NY (My Page) on Mon, Jul 18, 11 at 12:45
| Depends on how much root disruption is going to happen when you plant them. If they are potbound, so proper planting is going to involve tearing roots, they will have to regrow those roots, and suffer the loss of the water those roots would provide. If planting simply means popping them out of the pot and into the ground, then the only adjustment is from shade to sun. Of course the flip side to that is they are in the cooler, more moisture retentive ground. |
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- Posted by gardenweed_z6a 5b/6a N CT (My Page) on Mon, Jul 18, 11 at 12:50
| If the plants are living in their pots in the shade and doing well, I don't see the benefit of planting them where they'll be subject to hot sun and dry soil. Planting in the middle of the summer is usually not recommended unless it's done on a cloudy day with rain in the forecast. Frequent watering until the plants get established is generally also suggested. I have literally 100's of winter sown perennials in pots waiting to be planted out but they're fine right where they are now in mid summer. I'd rather wait to plant them when the weather cools than watch them shrivel up and die in the hot sun. |
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| You can plant perennials in the 90s, but plants will need extra care if their roots are torn apart at planting time. Extra watering is needed and shade the plants if you can do it, by covering them lightly with mesh cloth, or newspaper sheets or something to shield them from the hot sun to prevent wilting (not black plastic unless you want them to cook). If you are planting in the shade, extra water will do the trick. If you can wait until the temps moderate, so much the better... and fall planting is also an option. Annuals are even more of a problem as they require more attention anyway... |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Mon, Jul 18, 11 at 13:01
| its all about aftercare.. and if you arent going to be there to apply the TLC.. why bother ... do you travel to ann arbor??? what is your favored format or medium ... any links on the web to your work .... perennials would be better planted in fall .... with warm days.. and cool nights ... it will be too late for annuals by then ... ken |
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| That's why I hoped I could plant during this 2 week window of opportunity. My husband will water, he just won't plant (I burned him out with that). I just leave him a specific list of where and when. Nothing has died on his watch. (Not from lack of watering, I mean). Maybe I'll see who is potbound, and delay those till the weather is significantly cooler. The annuals are going in part shade, so it might be worth gambling with those. A friend unexpectedly gave me some barerooted hollyhocks late last week. I had no choice but to get those in the ground asap. I soaked them twice, put a lawnchair over them, crossed my fingers, and left town. But they look fine now. No, Ken, I don't do Ann Arbor. I did it 3 times, and it was too grueling. Long and late hours meant my husband had to take off work and come with. That meant our teen daughter had to come with. That meant (the last time) we had to bring a friend with for her, because she was too bored the first 2 times. The layers of complexity (and associated costs) kept expanding. Now I go, and they stay home. I am a metalsmith. Now I try for kinder gentler art fairs! I do a fair amount in Michigan. I don't have a webpage, because I don't sell on the web (and don't want to: I hate packing and shipping). I have a Facebook business page, that does have some images on it. It's mostly just a means of having my schedule posted (which needs updating, come to think of it). Do a search on FB for Darian Design, which is my business name. If you click the "like" button on my page, you'll get updates when I post them. |
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| Frankly, if it's annuals, I'd probably just forget about it already - in all reality, there's only a good 6-8 weeks left of prime blooming in Michigan, it starts to go downhill come September (plus, come the golden light of September, the cool-toned annuals which I favor look garish to my eye and I start removing anyway). I suppose if it were a replacement pot of something for a quick boost of color that would be fine, but other than that poop on it already. Perennials = fine to plant, but tending to them is necessary in this brutal heat/drought we're in. Multiple threads regarding this for suggestions/tips/tricks. |
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| I went back several pages, but I didn't see much. I'll do a search when I figure out the right terms to use. The annuals are things I plug in for color in certain areas where perennials are through. |
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- Posted by greyandamy (My Page) on Mon, Jul 18, 11 at 17:18
| I too have more than enough perennials (a few annuals?) to be put in. But the heat/my energy has left me ... not able to do what I used to. I've been watching any potbound plants and upsizing to larger pots. (Usually)Short term solution, problem is larger holes needed in future and my continued need for more potting soil (no energy, this heat). It's easier to care for things in pots right now (waterwise, etc) than ground. Rain, rain? I've forgotten what it is. At least I'm not as I was in younger years when I'd actually BUY plants now and plant out. For the things in ground, it's so dry/hot, I can't keep up with watering (and dread the water bill). Still, I'll take this over winter anytime. |
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