Why are my petunias and marigolds dying?

I planted red, white and blue petunias and yellow marigolds (in the shape of a ribbon). However they arent doing too well. I water them with miracle grow and pinch off the dead flowers. My marigolds are now turning brown...and petunias arent looking so hot either. However the petunias I planted in a planter on my back patio are very healthy as you can see in the pic. An suggestions???


first pic is of my marigolds the day I planted them http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/...


next is a pic of the petunias and marigolds the day of planting http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/...


and the last is my petunias from my back patio http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/...

Why are my petunias and marigolds dying?
three times a week is too much water... period! once a week is enough. they don't need fertilizer really either, but once during the growing season! sounds like ur killing them with too much love! cut back the water!
Reply:I love the formation! What a great idea! Marigolds are susceptible to botrytis blight, especially in very wet conditions. Look for a grey mold on the flowers and leaves. If this is present remove the blooms/ leaves at once. This will cause them to turn brown. Perhaps you are watering too much? The petunias could be suffering a little root rot. Is the soil well drained? When do you fertilize? Fertilizer can burn in the sun and effect the flowers, I fertilize at night before bed to give it time to settle in before sunrise. Hope this helps, good luck . :)
Reply:this could be one of many things. too much nitrogen (miracle gro), too much water. one thing is did you water in the daytime when the sun is hot? if so the combination on the miracle gro and the sun on the leaves will burn them up.
Reply:Pictures of the sick plants might be helpful.


I can't tell what kind of dirt you have those planted in. Did you mix compost with the existing dirt 1 to 1?


I wonder if the marigolds were already root-bound when you planted them....that would cause them to look crappy later.


How long ago did you plant them?


The dirt in that spot may have gotten contaminated in the past with herbicides or something used when the house was built..


If both the petunias and the marigolds are doing badly, I suspect your dirt is the problem. If it's just bad soil add compost. If you think it might be contaminated, remove the dirt and add in new topsoil, or put a whisky barrel in that spot and put your ribbon planting inside that.


Is that area really shady? If it's not getting much sun, that could be your problem too. Then you could replace the marigolds with impatiens, yellow allyssum, or yellow nasturtiums. FYI nasturtiums hate to be transplanted, so plant those where you want them.


Nurseries and pet stores carry cat repellent.


The planting looks great. Good luck!
Reply:It has been pretty hot. Did you maybe forget to water one day? Or maybe you watered too much. I could have told you more with a close up of the wilted plant. If they have been kept evenly moist, and I see you have a mulch around them which should help, it may just be too much water and they are not draining properly.





The petunias only last a day or two and you need to pick off the limp ones so that new ones can appear. Or if it is the lack of watering, just try to keep them watered, and shaded a little if the sun is too hot for them, you can put news paper over them during the hot afternoons and remove it at night, try this for a couple of days.





Have you ever grown in this soil before? It could be too sandy which would make the water drain too fast, or too much clay could make it stay too wet. If the marigolds are brown now, were they yellow colored leaves before? That would mean they were too wet, and started to rot.


If water does not fix it you may have to ad some soil conditioners, talk to a garden expert. You could try this next year, ad lime and peat moss if it it needs to hold more water.


Ad lime and sand if is not draining well. If you have not grown there before ad potting or top soil too. Hope it resolves for you they look very nice in the pictures.
Reply:They aren't dying, each bloom only lasts a few days.


Pinch the old ones off to create new.


After a bloom is finished, it starts making seeds.


You don't want your plants to spend their energy making seeds, you want blooms.


So the more you pinch, the better they will look in the near future.
Reply:You only need to feed them once every 2 weeks. Use miracle grow and epsoms salts (1 tablespoon of each per gallon of water). They do best in full sun. Continue deadheading them as usual. Water every other day either in the morning or late evening.

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