24
That wild moment last spring when I figured out why my petunias kept dying
I live over in Eugene and I've been trying to grow petunias on my front porch for like 3 years now. Last year I bought 6 of them from a nursery down the street and within 2 weeks they all turned yellow and droopy. I was watering them every evening because I thought they needed extra water since they wilted during the day. Then last May my neighbor who has this massive garden saw me out there with my watering can and she stopped and asked if I was watering at night. I said yeah and she just laughed and told me that's why they were getting fungal spots. Apparently watering at night with wet leaves sitting in the dark is a recipe for rot and disease. I switched to morning watering and within a month those petunias were huge and bright purple. Has anyone else had that weird learning curve where something so basic like when you water makes or breaks your whole flower setup?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
keithbennett18d ago
That reminds me of something I heard on a gardening podcast about how watering at night basically rolls out the welcome mat for fungus. Total game changer once you hear it, right?
2