How to Have Beautiful Nasturtiums? 5 Care Mistakes to Avoid
Nasturtiums are very beautiful flowers to have in your garden and offer many benefits. But how do you care for them? How to have beautiful nasturtiums? What are the mistakes to avoid when caring for them, and what can be done to stimulate their flowering?
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How to Have Beautiful Nasturtiums? What Are the Common Mistakes to Avoid?
Nasturtiums are very beautiful herbaceous plants with rich and cheerful colors with more than 80 different species! These flowers can be used in many different ways in the garden: as climbing plants for pergola and planters, all along borders and even to repel pests like aphids from the vegetable garden.
Although these fast-growing plants are also really easy flowers to grow and care for, there are a few tricks you need to know to take good care of them and enjoy their many benefits. Read on to learn what mistakes to avoid to have beautiful nasturtiums in your garden.
To Have Beautiful Nasturtiums, Don’t Plant Them in Overly Fertile Soil
“Why don’t I have any flowers on my nasturtiums?” is a question you will certainly ask yourself if you plant your nasturtiums in soil that’s too fertile. Start by planting them indoors between 4 and 6 weeks after the last frost and transplant them directly into the garden once they have become well established. However, avoid soil that is too fertile: this will lead to overproduction of green foliage and lack of flowers.
In what soil to plant nasturtiums? To have beautiful nasturtiums, plant them in poor to medium, well-draining soils with an optimal pH of 6.5.
You Don’t Water Them Enough
To have beautiful nasturtiums, watering is extremely important. Yes, herbaceous plants tolerate a certain degree of drought and adapt really well to a wide range of different conditions, but over time, in the absence of water, their flowers will decrease and their beauty will suffer.
How to water nasturtiums properly? Try to ensure enough water for your nasturtium plants during dry periods. Water them once or twice a week depending on the temperatures outside, but make sure the top layer of soil has dried before watering. Nasturtiums in outdoor pots may need more frequent watering in summer.
Your Plants Do Not Get Enough Sunlight
Although nasturtiums are easy plants to grow and maintain, there is one thing that can have a big impact on their beauty and health and that’s light. Nasturtiums that don’t get enough sunlight every day will produce fewer flowers.
How many hours of sunlight do nasturtiums need? Try to ensure your plants get at least six hours of sunlight a day by planting them in a sunny spot. And if you have nasturtiums in pots in an area with a hot climate, a bit of afternoon shade can be helpful to avoid sun burn.
You Are Not Fertilizing Your Nasturtiums
Many gardeners share the opinion that nasturtiums are plants that do not really need fertilizing. However, this is not entirely true. To have beautiful nasturtiums, it’s essential to give them the nutrients they need. Otherwise, they will not grow enough and may even end up dying.
How to fertilize nasturtiums? Feed your plants regularly using organic products, especially if you intend to use them as edible flowers. On the other hand, over-fertilizing nasturtiums is not recommended, because it will lead to overproduction of green leaves and insufficient flowers.
You Don’t Prune Them
Nasturtiums are plants that generally do not need much pruning, especially when it comes to boxwood varieties. However, pruning them in the middle and at the end of the summer season is recommended in order to stimulate new growth.
How to prune nasturtiums? Cut the longest stems from the plants and remove the leaves that have turned brown, as well as the dried flowers by cutting at the base.
How to Stimulate Nasturtium Flowering?
Traditionally Nasturtiums need lots of sun and high temperatures to produce lots of beautiful flowers. So try to ensure a higher temperature and more sunlight for your plants to stimulate their flowering. Phosphorus-rich fertilizers, such as bone meal, are also recommended when trying to get more flowers, as well as regular pruning to remove dry or dead parts.
