Having Problems Growing? Maybe There’s Something Missing.
Many things can happen in the soil to create deficiencies or even surpluses that cause issues for our green ‘friends’. It can be hard to determine whether its environmental, watering related or truly a nutrient deficiency causing us grief! Here’s a few tips to help you determine what is going on with your garden space and some solutions to give a try at sorting them out!
The Importance of Proper Watering!
Both UNDER or OVER watering your garden can be a cause of problem. While it’s obvious to most people that under watering will cause a plant to drought and die — it is often not as commonly understood why over watering can be just as bad or worse.
Obviously, if the plant in question is being UNDER-watered and is drying out then this is a major problem. Plants require water to create their food/fuel and without it they cannot eat and they cannot grow. If your plant is not getting enough water, you will often see what I call the “sad-drought-droop” where the leaves of the plant hang limp and ‘sad’ off the stems or main plant, possibly curling and twisting from dehydration.
The other characteristic feature of this issue is that the leaves/needles will feel crunchy and dry and might show discolouration like yellowing or other colour variations depending on individual plant biology. The solution here is of course, get this plant on a more regular watering schedule or do seasonal adjustments on an irrigation timer to add more time to zones if the weather has recently changed to drier/hotter/windier conditions. Adding mulch to reduce evaporation is also helpful where possible and where adding more water isn’t an option.
On the flip side, OVER-watering or creating a water-logged environment happens when water fills all the spaces between the soil particles around roots for a long duration of time. Plants breathe through their roots. They breathe through their leaves too, but they also need oxygen access at the root level in order to properly respire and complete the process of photosynthesis and resist disease.
Water logging can be caused by clay soil that is a fine particle in a mineral rock category and not a ‘true’ soil for growing in. The solution to this issue is to increase the air flow through the soil by creating a series of ‘pipes’ for drainage or to replant the plants in an alternative spot in the garden with a soil type that allows for more permeability. Many things can happen in the soil to create deficiencies or even surpluses that cause issues for our green ‘friends’. It can be hard to determine whether its environmental, watering related or truly a nutrient deficiency causing us grief!
