From: T@invalid.invalid   
      
   On 8/18/23 18:24, songbird wrote:   
   > T wrote:   
   > ...   
   >> My soil is somewhat alkali.  But they are planted   
   >> in ground pots filled with peat moss, which is   
   >> acidic.  They never really grew well till   
   >> this year, when they had a massive growth spurt   
   >> and tons of flowers, which I never got before.   
   >   
   >    a lot of growth followed by a hot spell may   
   > overtax the root system, especially if it is   
   > confined as i think it may be.  you need to   
   > keep the top of the plant sized to about what   
   > the root system is below.  i do not know these   
   > plants in specific well enough to know for sure   
   > how much this may apply but as a general rule   
   > for bushy plants it is probably ok.   
   >   
   >   
   >>> have you amended   
   >>> the soil where they're planted recently?   
   >>   
   >> A month ago everyone got fine powdered   
   >> organic bone meal.  Everyone seemed to   
   >> love.  I used it for transplant shock too at   
   >> the beginning of the season.  Virtually   
   >> zero shock.  Only my eggplants showed any   
   >> shock, but it lasted only one day.   
   >   
   >    nowadays bone meal is very over processed   
   > and doesn't have nearly the same stuff it   
   > used to have.  that said my guess is that this   
   > will not help your pH much.   
   >   
   >    neutral water with alkali soils and only   
   > somewhat amended area means to me that the   
   > surrounding soil is going to eventually   
   > dominate and shift the pH to alkali again if   
   > you do not consistently keep amending with   
   > somewhat acidic things.   
   >   
   >   
   >>> do they   
   >>> need partial shade during hot weather?   
   >>   
   >> They've never seemed to care over the years.   
   >> But they never had so much foliage before.   
   >> And the worst heat was in July and the first   
   >> part of August: 90 to 100F and 60 to 70F   
   >> at night, which they seemed to thrive under.   
   >> Now it is 80 to 90F and 40 to 60F at night.   
   >>   
   >> Don't suppose this is a deciduous thing and   
   >> they think winter is upon them?  Seems   
   >> way early.  And as I remember their leaves   
   >> are beautiful red when the they start to fall.   
   >   
   >    no, i think may be more related to the plant   
   > getting bigger than what the root system could   
   > actually support.  i've no idea if they will   
   > survive or not or if they will respond well to   
   > being pruned or what.  since i don't know the   
   > growth habit of them...   
   >   
   >    i would keep them moist enough so that they   
   > do not dry out completely, but i would also not   
   > want to drown them.   
   >   
   >   
   >> I used to water every day during July and the first   
   >> week in August when it was hottest.  Now, every   
   >> other day.   
   >>   
   >> Our humidity is usually around 7 to 15%, but the   
   >> last few weeks we have had higher humidity (swamp   
   >> cooler hardly works) with thunderclouds all   
   >> over but no rain.  Lots of virga though.   
   >>   
   >> With the two weeks of thunderclouds have come a lot   
   >> of wind.  They have never seemed to care about   
   >> that in the past.   
   >>   
   >> Several of my plants used to have aphids.   
   >> I sprayed them with soapy water mixed with   
   >> cayenne powder.  And, I poisoned the ants   
   >> with my cheap poison (borax laundry powder,   
   >> cheapest honey I could find, and water).   
   >> EVERYONE loved that!!  But that was also   
   >> months or so ago.   
   >>   
   >> I noticed the browning of the bilberry leaves   
   >> about two weeks ago.  I thought they needed   
   >> more water, which they got in spades, but that   
   >> did not help.   
   >   
   >    are they dead now completely or just not looking   
   > as good as before?   
   >   
   >    if there's anything left alive i would amend   
   > with some organic matter (remove the top layer of   
   > soil around the plant and replace it with new stuff)   
   > and see if that helps.  if there is any really dead   
   > and crispy stuff you could trim that off.  but i   
   > would see a reference for the plant to see if there   
   > is a better time to prune or what not to do with   
   > respect to pruning because sometimes plants need   
   > first year wood to use for the next season's flowers   
   > or such.   
   >   
   >   
   >    songbird   
      
   There is nothing to stop them from going outside   
   the pot, except that the ground is really hard.   
      
   Any idea what the dead leaves tell us?   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)