5 Tips for Potted Plant Care
It isn’t difficult to care for potted plants, but some beginner gardeners (and even more experienced gardeners) have trouble keeping them alive. Turn your black thumb into a green thumb by remembering these 5 easy care tips for potted plants.
1. Keep it simple. Some people like to keep a lot of potted plants in many small pots. Not only will this make your container garden look cluttered, but many potted plants won’t survive in these conditions. Keep just a few interesting plant containers that are large enough for many plants to grow together. This makes care much easier because you won’t have to water so many little plant pots.
2. Make sure the pot drains. Some garden centers will sell you a container that doesn’t have drainage holes. Potted plants that grow in containers without draining holes will most likely die! Good potting soil and drainage holes on the bottom of plant pots will allow the plant enough water without having it sit in water (which leads to root rot).
3. Keep plants that do well in pots. Keep plant species that do well in pots, not just any old plant. Go to your local garden shop and peruse the plants, but don’t buy any. Once you see some you like, either ask a gardener at the shop or go home and research these plants. Will they survive and thrive as potted plants, or should they be planted into the ground instead? Choosing the right plants will make your gardening chores much simpler, and you will have a more beautiful container garden.
4. Water enough but not too much. Watering potted plants can get very tricky. If you ask someone, “How much should I water my potted plants?” you won’t get a simple answer. It depends on the plant, how big its container is and how sunny, hot and humid it was that day. A good rule of thumb is to put your finger into the potting soil until your second knuckle is level with the soil. If the soil is moist all the way down, the plant won’t need water. If it’s dry, then you should water the plant. This isn’t always the case, but it is a good rule of thumb when watering potted plants.
5. Spend time with your plants. The more time you spend looking at and caring for your potted plants, the quicker you will be able to see that something is wrong. The sooner you catch diseases or pests in your garden, the easier it is to eradicate those plant pests and diseases.
Now that you know these 5 care tips for potted plants, you should have better success in the garden. Good luck, and happy gardening!
