Often even after taking good care of our plants, during summertime, they tend to turn yellow and die thereafter. Throughout all the seasons, different plants have different care requirements needed to be met and to grow to their fullest potential. But during summers, survival becomes the very question for most of the plants. As temperatures are awful, most of the plants can’t cope with the scorching heat. Indoor plants for air purification or for attracting good “Chi” (energy) are still able to protect themselves due to staying within the shelter of the home, but outdoor plants seem to go through the blistering heat. If you are wondering how to save your plants from this enormous level of heat, then here’s your ultimate guide. Read these tips and save your plants before it’s too late.
- Deep Watering – One of the measures to take care, revive and protect your plants is by deep watering. Plants like to store some amount of excess water in their roots so that it is able to coax the roots deeper into the ground. Deeply watering is to be at least done once a week. Now the question is for how long, right? Well, that actually depends on your plant, but make sure to deep water its roots as long as it is sufficient to saturate the soil a good foot in depth. Vegetable plants might need to be deep watered at least two or three times a week when it’s crazy hot. Precisely, keep a record of temperature, as and when the hot spell is on its way, start your pattern of deep watering your plants.
- Don’t Overwater – Deep watering would by no means, mean to overwater and spoil the plant away. It might happen that sometimes wilt from the severe sun, even when they have a sufficient amount of water stored with them. So check the soil every time before opting to water it, if it is damp then you needn’t have to water it again. Your plant has enough moisture to sustain itself.
- Don’t Water Under Sun – As one chooses to water their plants under direct sunlight/heat it tends to intensify the heat, thereby tormenting the plant completely. So it is advised not to water your plants in the middle of the day. Rather, one must spray some water to cool their plants down, once the sunsets to prevent them from burns.
- Shade Your Plant – Make use of some old bedsheets, rigged-up cheesecloth, or propped-up cardboard to protect your green babies from the heat of the sun. Quite just the way, an umbrella protects us from the heat. Make sure the shade setup you create, allows air to circulate freely around the plants. If you have some cloth that is a dark colour, opt to make the shade set up with that one so that it can absorb the heat but keep several inches away from the cloth. Keeping it close to the cloth may burn the plant.
- Don’t Chop Off Damaged Foliage – Damaged leaves, flowers and other parts tend to provide an additional coat of protection to your plant, so make sure you don’t chop them off, at least for the time being.
- Don’t Prune Until Fall – By being exposed to this scorching heat plants are already under the pressure. So they don’t want any additional pressure from the pruner’s side. So let them just be, you can choose to prune them when the temperatures start to cool down, a bit. For the time being, let it grow as it is growing.
Now, that you know how to take good care of your plants during the summertime, don your gardener’s hat and save blissful green beauties.