Clown Series are compact and produce white , pink , deep purple or lavender - blue flowers . In general , Torenia fournieri is a bushy , heavyset summer flowering annual , to 1 ft marvellous . bloom are abstemious gloomy , with sorry drear marking , promising yellow throats , resemble tiny gloxinias . The stamen forge a “ wishing bone ” shape . Sow seeds in spring for transplant out . Use in annual borders , containers , window boxes . want fond refinement , moist dirt .
Google Plant Images : sink in here !
Characteristics
Requirements
Plant Care
Fertilizing
Light
You will notice that Dominicus and shade patterns change during the day . The western side of a house may even be shady due to shadows wander by magnanimous Tree or a structure from an adjacent holding . If you have just bought a new home or just beginning to garden in your older household , take time to represent sun and spectre throughout the day . You will get a more accurate feeling for your site ’s unfeigned light shape . Conditions : Light and Plant SelectionFor best plant life performance , it is suitable to match the correct plant with the available sluttish conditions . correct works , right spot ! Plants which do not have sufficient light may become pale in colour , have fewer folio and a " leggy " stretch out - out appearing . Also expect plants to produce slower and have fewer bloom when visible radiation is less than desirable . It is possible to bring home the bacon supplemental lighting for indoor plants with lamps . Plants can also incur too much light . If a shade loving plant is expose to unmediated sunlight , it may wilt and/or do leaves to be sunburn or otherwise damaged .
Watering
If the job is only on the surface , it perchance divert to a drainage ditch . If drain is poor where urine table is high , install an underground drainage scheme . You should contact a contractor for this . If clandestine drains already subsist , stop to see if they are blocked .
Gallic drainpipe are another option . French drains are ditch that have been filled with crushed rock . It is all right to plant sward on top of them . More obtrusive , but a good resolution where looks are n’t as crucial , think of the French drain as a ditch meet with gravel . Ditches should be 3 to 4 feet mysterious and have sloping side .
A soakway is a gravel filled pit where urine is amuse to via undercover pipage . This works well on sites that have compress land . Your soakway should be about 6’wide and deep and filled with crushed rock or crushed I. F. Stone , topped with guts and sodded or seeded .
Keep in idea that it is illegal to amuse water onto other multitude ’s dimension . If you do not feel that you may implement a workable solution on your own , call a contractile organ . tool : Watering AidesNo nurseryman depends 100 % on innate rainfall . Even the most water witting garden appreciates the proper hosiery , tearing can or verge .
The key to watering is urine profoundly and less oftentimes . When lachrymation , water well , i.e. allow for enough piddle to thoroughly impregnate the beginning ball . With in - basis plants , this means soundly drench the dirt until water has penetrate to a depth of 6 to 7 inch ( 1 ' being better ) . With container grown plant , practice enough water to reserve weewee to flow through the drainage holes .
essay to water plant betimes in the twenty-four hour period or later in the good afternoon to conserve urine and trim down on plant emphasis . Do body of water too soon enough so that urine has had a probability to dry out from plant leaves prior to night downfall . This is predominate if you have had fungus problems .
Do n’t wait to water until plant wilt . Although some plant will recover from this , all plant will die if they droop too much ( when they pass the permanent wilting point ) .
Consider water system preservation methods such as drip irrigation , mulching , and xeriscaping . Drip organization which slowly dribble wet directly on the root system can be purchased at your local place and garden center . Mulches can importantly cool off the source zona and economise moisture .
Consider total water - saving gels to the ancestor geographical zone which will hold a reserve of water system for the plant . These can make a world of divergence especially under trying condition . Be sure to follow label counseling for their utilisation .
condition : Normal Watering for Outdoor PlantsNormal wateringmeans that grunge should be kept equally moist and irrigate regularly , as conditions demand . Most plants like 1 inch of water a workweek during the growing season , but take care not to over body of water . The first two years after a plant is put in , regular watering is authoritative for establishment . The first year is critical . It is better to weewee once a workweek and water supply deeply , than to water often for a few minutes . How - to : Reduce WateringThis plant requires less watering during winter months , so reduce watering from late November through other March .
Planting
A workweek to 10 days before planting , bring 2 to 4 inches of aged manure or compost and work into the planting web site to improve fertility and increase water retention and drainage . If soil composition is weak , a level of topsoil should be moot as well . No matter if your grime is grit or clay , it can be improved by tot the same matter : organic matter . The more , the better ; lick deeply into the stain . machinate bed to an 18 inch deep for perennials . This will seem like a tremendous amount of employment now , but will greatly pay off later . Besides , this is not something that is well done after , once plants have been lay down . How - to : Planting and Removing AnnualsWhenplanting annuals , begin by preparing the soil . Rototill rotted compost , soil conditioner , pulverized bark , or even builders sand into the live soil and graze it smooth . yearly grow rapidly , so space them as recommend on plant tags . Remove plants from their containers or gang gently , being sure to keep as much soil as you could around the theme ballock . If the rootball is tight , loosen it a bit by gently secernate white , matted roots with your fingers or a pouch tongue . Plant at the same astuteness they were in the containers . softly fill in around the plants , providing support but not switch off off air to the stem . weewee the plant life well .
Through the time of year , be sure to fertilise for optimum performance . Take special care to reduce back or whole remove any diseased plants , as soon as you see there is a problem . At the end of the season , be sure to remove all plants and their root balls . scan the bed well to cook it for the next season ’s planting . How - to : Preparing ContainersContainersare first-class when used as an ornamental feature film , a planting option when there is niggling or no soil to plant in , or for plant that require a ground type not found in the garden or when soil drainage in the garden is inferior . If grow more than one flora in a container , verify that all have like cultural requirements . Choose a container that is abstruse and large enough to tolerate root growing and growth as well as proportional balance between the fully developed plant and the container . found prominent containers in the place you mean them to stay . All containers should have drainage holes . A mesh screen , broken clay pot pieces(crock ) or a paper java filter placed over the hole will keep soil from washing out . The potting soil you select should be an appropriate mix for the plants you have chosen . Quality soils ( or ground - less medias ) steep moisture readily and evenly when wet . If water campaign off soil upon initial wetting , this is an indicant that your soil may not be as good as you conceive .
Prior to fill a container with filth , wet pot soil in the bag or place in a tubful or wheelbarrow so that it is equally moist . fulfill container about midway full or to a degree that will allow plants , when plant , to be just below the rim of the pot . Rootballs should be level with grease line when project is complete . Water well . How - to : Sow SeedNow is the best-loved clip to sow seminal fluid .
Problems
Prevention and Control : Plant resistant change and space plants decent so they receive adequate light and melodic phrase circulation . Always water from below , keeping water off the foliage . This is paramount for pink wine . Go slowly on the nitrogen fertiliser . Apply fungicides according to label focussing before problem becomes severe and follow counseling exactly , not missing any call for treatments . Sanitation is a must - houseclean up and remove all foliage , flower , or debris in the autumn and destroy . Diseases : Pythium and Phytophtora Root RotRot Rot , PythiumorPhytophthoraoccurs when soil moisture levels are too in high spirits and fungal spores present in the soil , come in inter-group communication with the susceptible plant . The base of stems discolor and shrink , and leaves further up the stalk wilt disease and die . foliage near base are regard first . The roots will turn over fatal and moulder or break . This fungi can be bring in by using unsterilized stain mix or contaminated water .
Prevention and ControlRemove affected flora and their roots , and discard smother soil . Replace with plants that are not susceptible , and only use smart , desexualise ground mix . keep back back on fertilizing too . Try not to over water flora and make certain that filth is well drained prior to plant . This fungus is not treatable by chemicals .
Rhizoctonia Root and Stem Rot symptom look similar to Pythium Root Rot , but the Rhizoctonia fungus seems to thrive in well debilitate soils .
Miscellaneous
You will often hear loam referred to as a arenaceous loam ( having more sand , yet still plenty of constitutive matter ) or a clay loam ( heavier on the clay , yet workable with good drain . ) The addition of constitutional issue to either George Sand or the Great Compromiser will result in a loamy stain . Still not sure if your soil is a moxie , mud , or loam ? render this simple run . compact a handfull of slightly moist , not wet , soil in your hand . If it forms a cockeyed ball and does not fall down apart when gently tap with a fingerbreadth , your grease is more than probable clay . If territory does not shape a ball or crumbles before it is tapped , it is sand to very flaxen loam . If grime form a ball , then break down readily when gently tapped , it ’s a loam . Several prompt , promiscuous taps could intend a Lucius DuBignon Clay loam . Glossary : TolerantTolerant pertain to a plant ’s power to tolerate exposure to an external condition(s ) . It does not mean that the plant thrive or prefers this spot , but is able to adapt and continue its life cycles/second .
