Not sure if I'm giving them too much or too little water, give them water every 2-3 days, they're on a balcony that gets sun every hour of the day

by Eduinclap

32 Comments

  1. Fantastic-Active8930

    Water. More. Those boxes look REALLY dry

    Boxes tend to dry out very quickly

  2. mightbeyourpal

    More water. If they get a lot of sun, you’ll need to water daily.

  3. 1dirtbiker

    They’re WAY underwatered. Look at your soil. It looks like it came out of a kiln.

  4. rockasilly7

    You might have to water them 2-3 times a day if they are getting a lot of sun.

  5. kittenherder93

    Put some straw mulch in there on top of the dirt. Water morning and night. If you used bagged dirt like miracle grow, the soil can be hydrophobic for a while from being stored in the bag for so long without water.

  6. OverlyCuriousADHDCat

    Water and maybe add some straw mulch to help them from drying out so quickly.

  7. Wise_Championship273

    More water, maybe some shade in the hottest part of the day. Are they recent transplants? If they’re not used to direct sunlight they can get sunburnt. 

  8. MailSquirrel8890

    The sun is frying them. They need a good watering at dawn and dusk every day if they are in sun every hour. It’s only gonna get more harsh on them in the summer.

  9. Smallwhitedog

    Small containers in full sun need tons of water. You probably will need to water this at least twice a day. Really soak it until the water runs out the bottom.

    Outdoor containers aren’t like houseplants that just need a little sip of water every few days. They need to survive significant heat, wind and bright light.

  10. sirenloser

    If there are no trays below the pots, you may not be getting a deep enough water. Water them for longer even when you see water flowing out the bottom. You want to soak them as much as you can

  11. tables_AND_chairsss

    They are losing weight at an excellent rate

  12. Comfortable-Emu8082

    The sun is nuking that box and the reflective railing is only increasing the total heat that black box is receiving.

  13. Like everyone said, it needs water, but more specially, you probably need to fully rehydrate the soil because it might be hydrophobic at this point. Either submerge the soil (probably hard to do), let them sit in trays filled with water for a while, or slowly leech water into the containers (as otherwise the water may run off the sides), you can do this by punching some holes into the bottom of an open top plastic bottle, filling it with water, and then placing it on the container. And also use a mulch, your plants need them as they are in the most extreme conditions – constant sun, in a container, no mulch (exposed soil), full wind exposure, black container (i.e. more light absorbent – so warmer containers).

  14. Adventurous_Fun_9245

    Throw some kind of mulch on top of that dirt. Water at least two times a day.

  15. gottagrablunch

    Looks like new plants – they could have transplant shock. Deffo need water. Also consider removing with a clean cut the dead leaves.

  16. Squishy_Boy

    So, to offer a comment that hasn’t been posted 1,000 times already…

    I found it useful to have a moisture meter when I started growing for the first time. New growers usually struggle with over/under watering. A moisture meter has two prongs that you can stick down into the soil to tell you when to water more or when to hold off. Use it every day whether you think you need to water or not. This helps you get a feel for how many days one watering is good for.

  17. SquatchoCamacho

    You’ve been told they need water but I just want to mention another tip. Once it gets that dry, sometimes the water tends to kind of roll off and just drain out of the bottom before it has time to soak in the soil. Being where it’s at, the way I would handle that is by poking a few holes about halfway down into the soil (try not to disturb the roots if possible) and pour some water in there to help it get into the dirt. Once it’s wet again it’ll soak up water again like normal 🙂 

  18. Fine_Wedding_4408

    As others said, they look dry. The boxes will dry faster and be hotter since there is less soil volume. 

    You can also top dress with fine wood chips to help keep the direct sun off of the soil and retain a little more moisture. 

  19. You need to water depending on how your soil looks/feels, not on a schedule. That’s some dry-ass soil.

  20. LolaAucoin

    You’re going to need to water those 2x a day. The boxes are too small to hold much water and the heat just evaporates it even faster.

  21. so what i’d probably do in that situation is dig them out and get some vermiculite to mix in with the soil before putting them back in. you’ve got shallow planter boxes in the sun they’re going to dry out quick and you’re probably not going to want to water 5 times a day, vermiculite is essentially little sponges that help hold moisture in the soil.

    oh, another idea is to get a drip water solution. they make these glass water bulbs that look nice and just drip a couple cups of water into a pot for a few hours. alternatively you can take a throwaway plastic water bottle, punch a few tiny holes into the base, and sink it a bit into the planters to act as a watering bulb.

Write A Comment