I am new to Dave's. Although I am not a novice gardener, I feel like it sometimes. I am attaching a picture of my nasturtium. I realized for at least the last three years my nastrutium just do not grow right. I cannot figure out why they do not mature and grow right. The leaves turn yellow and dwindle off. Any suggestions?
get the mulch off it for one. no plant likes to be smothered in it . i always leave space between the plant and mulch. the plant has to breathe. nastruims need air around them to move. dont know why but they do and are more of a water plant. what i mean is they like water they dont like drought conditions. and if soil is too rich they will produce more leaves then flowers. can add sand in their to as they like to root in easy soil.
also once they start to flower you may have to pinch the first ones to get it started more. i hate pinching but may have too.
but right now i would get that mulch off them and let them breathe. the air circulation is important for them. dont know why but it is . some plants you just cant mulch.
I've grown nasturtium for a few years now. Before I always grew the jewel mix(from seed) and never had a problem. This year I tried Carribean Cooler and Alaska(variegated). Alaska did well, Carribean Cooler pretty much turned out like yours there. I wonder if its the type of nasturtium? the Jewel mix always grows very well for me too. Maybe its the mulch? They say not to fertilize nasturtium because they'll grow tons of foliage and not flower, but maybe your soil is so bad it could use a little fertilizer? Are you growing from seed? I've noticed if I move them, they die back like that, recover, but then are small and look pretty much like that. Maybe if you're buying them as plants its the replanting that's doing them in? Also, how much sun are they getting? Maybe the light could be a problem....Just some thoughts....I'm not such a novice who does novice things all the time! But, luckily, there's many flower geniuses around here who answer questions........
Kristie
All of my nasturtiums (nasturtia?) get lots of yellow leaves. They seem to flourish soon after sprouting, but then the leaves yellow off and die. The plant itself keeps growing, and I get lots of blooms in the spring and early summer. In some of them, the central stem gets quite thick and the overall plant seems quite happy -- but the leaves still turn yellow and die off regularly.
I have some in a naturalized planting, some alongside the house, some in planters, some in hanging baskets. Some of it has mulch around it, some is growing in the grass, some growing just in dirt with nothing to block the air movement. All of them have the yellowing leaves, all of them bloomed profusely until the temp got over 100.
I'm new to nasturtium this year, so I just assumed that's what these plants do.
weekly waterings is a must for them and if ho tter then maybe more. but not overly water.
if not enough water leaves do look ratty.
they dont like heat. if have hot summers like i do partial shade is better then full sun.
Hi Lisaslove. Isn't a trial with different plants doing great one place and absolutely nothing elsewhere.
I tried some nasutrniums from seed this year in an outdoor planter. They are in plain old potting soil. You can kind of tell from the picture that some yellow leaves are perfectly normal.
They do seem to enjoy the water here in zone 6a (sometimes zoned 5 on national maps)
I use that clay saucer on the shelf there as my water guide . I water them til it fills overflowing and repeat when it's bone dry. I only mulch these planters with leaves in the fall. I don't have any wood mulch here.
Best of luck.
Q.
Q, your nasturtiums are beautiful! I've heard that they'll reseed, I wonder if that's true in my zone. I just went out and "harvested" tons of seeds that had fallen of my Alaska nasturtium. I have always collect seed and then replanted the next spring. I wonder how well they do reseeding though....just not brave enough to leave all the seeds and have them killed off at winter....
Kristie
Thanks to all of you for your ideas. I will be removing the mulch from around them and watering more. I had started these from seed- Double Gleam. I have grown both Jewel and Alaska in years past and had similar difficulties. They are in full sun. I know I've read that they thrive in poor soil and that you shouldn't fertilize, so I hadn't, but now I will try fertilizing as well. It's such a puzzle.
QuoiMerrie- yours are beautiful! That's what I wish for!
Thanks
