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pld365

Worried about my new impatiens

PLD365
9 years ago

I bought some "Dazzler" series impatiens that were extremely healthy-looking and compact, with hardly any flowers, but a fair amount of buds. Since the ground where I wanted to plant them (and which gets just a teeny tiny bit of sun for maybe an hour or two mid-day) is fairly wet and mucky, I figured I'd better amend it heavily. So I used some Miracle Gro "Potting Mix with MicroMax" (recommended to me at a nursery), along with some composted steer manure, to break up the ground. Then, I went back and got some more compost because I figured the bed might be too "rich" and not loamy enough with just the manure and MG.

Anyway, the plants still look real healthy, but I have very few blooms. Also, I've been checking the soil daily (inserting a "moisture meter" probe device), and it consistently reads "wet" -- at the high end of the scale.

I'm wondering if the soil is too wet and/or rich -- I believe the MG is weighted heavily towards nitrogen) for best results with blooms.

I have toyed with the idea of gently lifting the plants out of their new homes and backfilling with more compost. Or should I just be patient and let the plants get more settled in? Would it help to add just some phosphorous now?

Thanks for the feedback!

Yours,
A Concerned "New Father" (of his baby impatiens)

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