Tammy - have you fertilized? Are these in the ground, or in containers? Are they in full sun? Do they get buds and drop them, or are there no buds? Have you been extremely hot? It's hard to tell what the problem may be without a little more info....

anyone water it while you were on vaca??

ken

yes they were watered regulary, my son was home. I also had rooted cuttings in cups that he watered as well.
Tammy

I have said many times....more plants, especially ones in closed enviornments like pots or planter boxes, are killed by over fertilizing than by not fertilizing.
And petunias always benefit from deadheading and cutting back.....but lay off the fert!
One of the most successful pot gardeners fertilized every time she watered....but at about 1/20th strength. Where a tablespoon per qt of water was recommended, she used 2 or 3 drops.And since potting soil these days contains fertilizer, plants don't need more for about 2 months. and very little even then.
Even after you have cut back, go back and cut off all the seed pods, water well and stand back!
Linda C

Well, the one I cut back, and the one I didnt are both doing well and blooming now. So maybe my son wasnt as diligent with the hose as I thought,lol. They were still green, so I wasnt sure.And thanks Linda for the tip on the fertilizer.
Tammy

While (estimated soil) temperatures are between 55-80*. I fertilize virtually all my floral containers weekly with full recommended strength solutions of MG 24-8-16 (or MG 12-4-8 - both are 3:1:2 RATIO fertilizers) and when temps are out of that range, I fertilize at reduced rates with Foliage-Pro 9-3-6. I can do this and get excellent results because of my watering habits and the fast soils I use.

How often you SHOULD fertilize depends on the relationship between 4 things, primarily. They are A) the mass of the plant material in the container B) how robustly the plant material is growing C) how fast the soil is D) your watering habits. In my case, I NEED to fertilize that often because my plants ARE growing very robustly, the soil is fast, and I water copiously enough at every watering to insure that fertilizer salts and salts from the irrigation water don't build up in the soil. IOW, I flush the soil each time I water.

It may be, that more plants in containers are killed by over-fertilizing than not fertilizing, but fertilizing containers is a very necessary part of producing productive or attractive containers. You cannot depend on whatever it is you mixed into your soil, or the soil components themselves to supply the necessary nutrients for container culture - especially not in a favorable ratio.

I fertilize my indoor plants that grow under lights during the winter at every watering, using a 1/4 strength solution of Foliage-Pro 9-3-6. Again, my soils are fast & I can do this with what most consider exceptional results. I wouldn't be able to do this if I was using a water-retentive soil, however.

Also, please AVOID bloom-booster fertilizers or ANY fertilizer where the NPK middle number is higher than the first or last number (N or K). No plant uses more P than N or K. Plants use on average, 6 times more N than P, and 4 times more K than P. The bloom-booster formula 10-52-10 supplies 32X more P than the plant can ever use in relationship to N. This added P makes it unnecessarily difficult for the plant to absorb water and the nutrients dissolved in water. It also causes deficiencies of Fe, Mn, and other micro-nutrients, and unnecessarily raises media pH.

Al

Al, thanks for all the tips on fertilizing. I had read the bloom buster type fertilizers were highly recommended for blooming plants. I jotted the info down.
I have a hanging basket of petunias with that fiber liner, and I cant keeep it from drying out. Water goes out as quick as I put it in. I have had to sit it in a pan to try and slow it down. I didnt even take the plastic out. Just punched a few holes in the bottom.
Tammy

Here is a chart I made to show how plants use nutrients in relation to N. I gave Nitrogen, because it's the largest nutrient component, the value of 100. Other nutrients are listed as a weight percentage of N.
N 100
P 13-19 (16) 1/6
K 45-80 (62) 3/5
S 6-9 (8) 1/12
Mg 5-15 (10) 1/10
Ca 5-15 (10) 1/10
Fe 0.7
Mn 0.4
B(oron) 0.2
Zn 0.06
Cu 0.03
Cl 0.03
Mo(lybdenum) 0.003

The chart shows that plants only use from 13-19 parts of phosphorous (the P in NPK) for every 100 parts of N. In parenthesis, is the average number of parts used relative to N, and the last number is the fractional amount of P in relation to N (1/6).

If you supply more than that, the plant will either not use it, or will become deficient of N. If you continue to fertilize to meet the plants N needs (which is how we fertilize), you grossly over-supply P and will be likely to create one or more associated problems.

Al

...Or you just scratch in some Osmocote fertilizer granules into the soil around the annuals and be done with it for the season. :o)