Essential elements for healthy plants

Every gardener’s goal is to have healthy, flowering plants. To achieve this goal, there are two things to consider: the choice of your plants and their maintenance.

Basically, it’s important to buy quality products. If you buy plants that have not been properly cared for, it will be more difficult for you to have beautiful plants right from the start. So, to ensure the success of your garden and flowerbeds, choose to buy your plants from a retailer whose priority is the quality of its products. That’s what we do at Le Migrateur Garden Centre! Furthermore, we are 100% grower of annual plants, which means we control the quality of the plants we sell throughout the production process. For more information on our production process, see our article Le Migrateur Garden Centre: A True Local Business.    

As well as providing you with quality products, it’s essential to look after your plants. To help you understand the importance of caring for your plants, we like to use the following analogy: like a child, a plant that isn’t fed or watered won’t grow and may not survive. A plant is a living being and needs to be cared for so that it can flower throughout the season.

In this article, we explore four essential elements for healthy plants: potting soil, light, water and fertilizer. When you buy your plants from Le Migrateur Garden Centre, and follow our care tips, you’re sure to have the most beautiful plants in the neighbourhood!

Potting Soil

The first essential element is the potting soil you use for your garden, flowerbeds and potted plants. It’s important to use a well-balanced, nutritious potting soil for your plants. Le Migrateur Garden Centre produces its own potting soil, composed of:

• Black earth

• Horse manure

• Top soil

• Peat moss and perlite mix (Berger BM6)

Our potting soil has evolved over the years, as plants have too. In fact, we’ve always adjusted our potting soil so that it’s compatible with the flowers we grow. For example, a few years ago, we realized that our potting soil was too rich for New Guinea Impatiens. We have therefore revised the composition of our potting soil to make it suitable for the production of New Guinea Impatiens. So, as with everything else in our production process, we’re constantly improving our potting soil.

Our customers often tell us that our hanging baskets and planters are heavy. That’s because our potting soil is nutrient rich! If you weigh a hanging basket from another retailer and it’s very light, it’s because the potting soil used is very light. Some growers use light potting soil for better control during production. However, for you, who may not always be around to water your plants, a very light potting soil is not ideal. 

Another important aspect of our potting soil is that it is sterilized to eliminate weeds and other contaminants. All our potting soil, around 200 yards of it, is put into a machine that heats the soil to a temperature of 85°C, thus sterilizing it.

30-litre bags of our potting soil are available in store. We also sell bags of horse manure. This is the same manure that goes into our soil mix. Contrary to what some may think, our horse manure does not have an unpleasant smell. Manure is an excellent natural fertilizer. If you already have soil and just want to enrich it a little, horse manure will do the job! However, it’s important to have the right ratio of potting soil to manure to avoid your soil being too rich and your plants’ roots suffering a shock.

Finally, we’ve had nothing but positive comments from our customers about our potting soil. It’s a top quality potting soil suitable for flowers and vegetables. Try it and you’ll love it!

Light

The second essential element is light. For a plant to live, it must photosynthesize. For photosynthesis to occur, there must be a reaction between water and the carbon dioxide that is absorbed by the plant. This reaction takes place through sunlight and results in the production of carbohydrates and oxygen. So, it’s the energy of sunlight that enables plants to feed and grow.

Although all plants need sunlight to photosynthesize, the amount of light a plant needs to survive varies. The table below shows which annual plants need sunlight and which need shade, or both.

	Sun For 4 h or + South, West
Alyssum	Zinnia	Black Eyed Susan
Dahlia	Petunias	Morning Glory
Gazania	Dragon Wing	Bacopa
Gomphrena	Osteospermum	Bidens
Marigold	Reiger Begonia	Scaveola
Portulaca	Dipledena	Euphorbia
Salvia	Geraniums	Canna
Snap dragon	Pennisetum Rubrum (Grass)	Calla Lily
Verbena

	Sun & Shade
Wax Begonia	Lobelia	Citronelle
Celosia	Pensées	Sunpatiens
Coleus	Potato vines	English Ivy
Dusty Miller	Spike (Dracena)	German Ivy
Lysimachia Goldi	Vinca

	Shade Between 1 h and 4 h of sun North, East
Impatiens	New Guinea Impatiens	Tuberous Begonia
Tradescantia

Some plants, which need more than 4 hours of sun a day, can survive in a shady spot, such as geraniums and petunias. However, if these plants don’t get enough light, they won’t flower as much or may develop other problems. 

It’s also important to note that the afternoon sun is stronger than the morning sun. This means that, if you only have 2 hours of sun in the afternoon, for example, it’s best to consider plants for sun or for sun and shade.

If you’re not sure which plants to choose, we’re always here to help. We’ll be happy to assist you in planning your garden and flowerbeds.  

Water

The third essential element is water. Just like human beings, plants need water to live. Once your flowers and vegetable plants have been planted in quality potting soil in a location that offers an adequate amount of light, all you have to do is water them.

To ensure the growth and survival of your plants, you need to water them regularly. We recommend watering your plants every 2 days, or every day in hot weather.

The best way to know when to water is to feel the soil. If it’s dry, you should water; if it’s damp, you should wait before watering. Be sure to check the soil at some depth, as the soil at the surface could be dry, but the rest of the soil could still be very moist.

Also, it’s best to water your plants in the morning, as watering in the evening can lead to rotting, as the foliage will remain damped overnight.

Although it’s very important to water your plants, you mustn’t flood them. Too much water will cause root disease and rot.

Finally, even if there’s a lot of rain, it’s important to check whether your potted plants have had enough water. Often, even in heavy rains, water bounces off the plant and doesn’t enter the soil, which means the plant will need watering.

Fertilizer

The fourth essential element is fertilizer. Although not necessary, the use of fertilizer will energize your plants to keep them full and vibrant throughout the season.

In our store, we use water-soluble fertilizer, which is a powder that is diluted in the water we use to water our plants. We water our plants with fertilizer once a week. The fertilizer helps the plants to flower, keep their foliage dark green and continue to grow throughout the summer and even into fall.

We sell water-soluble flower and vegetable fertilizers in-store.

Clean, clean, clean!

To ensure the success of your garden, flowerbeds and potted plants, it’s also essential to clean your plants. Indeed, cleaning your plants by removing dead flowers and leaves allows the plant to redirect its energy towards new growth.

The following paragraphs explain how to clean geraniums, petunias and tomato plants.

Geraniums

When the flowers on your geraniums turn brown and look burnt, it’s important to remove the entire flower. If you only remove the dead petals from the flower, the plant’s energy will continue to be directed towards a flower that is already dying, instead of energizing new flower buds.

To clean a geranium, you need to go to the base of the burnt flower stem and break the flower off at this point, removing it from the plant.

It’s also recommended to remove the yellow leaves from the geranium plant.

Petunias

Contrary to what you may think, you don’t have to remove every little dead petunia flower to clean them. Normally, the dried flowers will be blown away by the wind.

As petunias grow, after a while, the plant loses its shape. The plant’s branches grow in different directions and a hole may form in the middle of the petunia plant. The trick to getting your petunias back into shape is to give them a haircut! All you have to do is take a pair of scissors and cut off the long stems to give your petunias a new shape.

Pruning your petunias keeps the plant supplied in the middle. The plant’s energy is redirected from the tips to the middle of the plant. Cutting back long stems encourages the multiplication of new growth and flowers.

Tomato Plants

When there are yellow or even large green leaves at the base of your tomato plants, it’s important to remove them. Again, doing this will allow the plant to redirect its energy towards tomato production.

The success of your garden is in your hands!

Now you’ve got all the information you need on the essential elements to consider for a successful garden, flowerbeds and potted plants. If you have any further questions about caring for your flowers and vegetable plants, we’re always here to help. Come and see us in store to buy quality potting soil and plants to get your gardening season off to a great start and ensure its success!

3431 Regional Road 174, Cumberland (Ontario)