🌸 The Pot I Forgot: How One Lazy Shortcut Cost Me My Best Petunias
Every summer, I end up with one pot that just doesn’t perform — and this year, I know exactly why.
It wasn’t the plant.
It wasn’t the soil.
It wasn’t the weather.
It was me.
More specifically: it was the fact that my liquid fertilizer was on the other side of the house… and I didn’t feel like walking over there.
That’s it. That’s the story.
While I was faithfully feeding all my other pots, this one got skipped over and over again because the setup wasn’t convenient. I told myself I’d come back to it later — and then later turned into weeks.
And it shows.
What a hungry petunia looks like
Petunias struggling with high salt water and lack of fertilizer
Here’s what I’m seeing in that neglected pot:
Pale leaves
Stretchy, leggy stems
A few sad blooms that fade fast
A generally tired-looking plant that just doesn’t have what it needs to thrive
It’s not that I didn’t water — I did. But I didn’t feed it. And when you're using peat-based potting mix and well water like I am, that combination is rough on a small container.
Why it mattered more in this pot
This container was smaller than the others, which made the problem worse. Less soil means less buffer against the salt in my well water (we’ve got high sodium here), and not enough nutrients to bounce back.
Bigger pots? Totally fine. Same petunias, same water — but they had the volume to help handle the stress and the regular fertilizer to keep things blooming.
What I’ll do differently now
Petunias with adequate fertilizer
Feed with every watering (or at least most) — especially in peat-based mixes
Keep my fertilizer where I’ll actually use it
Use larger containers that give plants room to grow and recover
Collect rainwater (yes, I need to finally set up that rain barrel!)
Stop pretending one skipped week won’t matter — because it does. Do as I say, not as I do.
Want more tips like this (and a few honest garden fails)?
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(And yes, I’ll tell you if that sad pot recovers.)
With petals, beauty, and joy,
— Heidi
