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Container Gardening

how to correct for too much water

17 years ago

We had some major rains here, lately, and some of my potted plants got too wet. I didn't move them ahead of time because the pots have drain holes. It isn't enough, evidently, for painted ferns. They really look bad. What can I do for them. I have not had good luck with moving plants out of the pot, or putting them in the sun, in the past.

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Comments (4)

donn_
17 years ago
Try Al's (tapla) wicking technique. Stick something that will wick out excess water, up through a drainage hole, a few inches into the soil in the bottom of the pot. Leave a few inches of the wick hanging out the bottom of the container.

I've used ~8" strips of faux chamois, cut about 1/4" wide. I use a pair of long tweezers to insert the wick. If you don't have long tweezers, take a length of straight clothes hanger wire, and sharpen one end a bit. Catch the sharp point on the material, and shove it in.

Frequently, the excess water starts dripping out immediately.
Ann_in_Houston
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks. This may be something that I have to do frequently.
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I've had a devil of a time with Mimulus aurantiacus. If I water them through the summer, they die. If I don't water them through the summer, they die. One thing I've concluded, based upon the vast numbers I've seen in the wild this year (I make frequent trips up Palomar Mountain, and they are abundant on the lower sections of South Grade Road), is that I've gone overboard on trying to give them full sun. Part sun would be better, with some shade through the hottest parts of the day. But I live in Temecula, and my summer days are hotter than yours. As for S. clevelandii, I've had most success planting them in late fall. Right now I have a batch of plants grown from seed in no.1 pots. I'm nursing them through the summer, and they're getting about 6 hours of full sun every day. I don't have a shade house. In my situation, they don't have to be watered daily (usually every three or four days), but a single, ill-chosen day of forgetfullness could be fatal to them.
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donn_
17 years ago
Once inserted, it'll always be there to drain the pot. Start using them when you pot up something new. I bought a replacement mop head made with the stuff, and each strip of the mophead makes at least 4 wicks. A shorter pot uses a shorter wick. This mophead came with 68 strips, each 1" x ~9" (the 8" above was a guess). That's a lot of wicks.
Ann_in_Houston
Original Author
17 years ago
Again, thanks. I was wondering what to use for wicking material. Also, this pot has the kind of attached water tray underneath, and I don't know if I can get the strip up in there. Will it break the pot if I forcefully separate the tray?

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