Keeping your indoor and outdoor plants thriving during the summertime and heat waves can be stressful. We're here to help you save time, energy and help keep your precious plants hydrated and happy!
Houseplant Tips
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Hydrate your Soil with a nutrient rich drench that has long lasting benefits! When you alleviate hydrophobic soil you don't need to worry about your plants getting dried out too quickly. The stress of dehydrated roots can be devastating to the overall health and longevity of your houseplants. Adding Sacred Soil Tonic to your watering ritual simultaneously hydrates, and stimulates root growth while boosting your plant's own resistance to stress.
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Spray those Leaves with moisturizing botanicals that minimize dehydration and maximize a healthy glow with botanicals like fresh aloe vera, horsetail and kelp. Just as we apply moisturizer to balance the hydration in our skin, our houseplants benefit from a hydrating mist with Sacred Leaf Tonic
Want to learn the science behind how leaves hydrate or steps for treating plant disease or pests naturally? Check our blog post list at the end of this page!
Outdoor plants and Urban Gardens
1. Water deeply
As soon as you wake up, grab your beverage of choice get outside and get to hydrating! Early morning is the ideal time to water deeply as it allows water penetrate the soil deeply keeping it cool throughout the day while giving the plants time to dry off before nighttime temps drop again. Wet leaves at night encourage fungal diseases like powdery mildew so it's best to leave them dry before heading off to bed. The goal is to water deeply, for longer amounts of time-not just a sprinkle, but instead, a nice, long drench that goes deep into the substrate.
Why is drenching key to happy plants? Two reasons; first when you water more deeply, it gets past the top soil and hydrates where it is most accessible to the root system. Second, it keeps the overall temperature of the soil cooler for longer. We recommend drenching houseplants and gardens (with the exception of cacti and succulents) a few times a week during the long, hot days of summer and be sure to add our Soil Tonic for optimal hydration and nutrient uptake!
2. Mulch
Adding a layer of mulch on top of the soil not only keeps the weeds away, it also feeds the soil while it breaks down while keeping plants hydrated for longer periods of time.
For outdoor plants and edible gardens, use any of these natural materials as mulch: straw (not hay as it contains seeds), dried leaves, bark chips, grass clippings, or shredded cardboard. Small decorative rocks, sand, and mosses can help retain moisture for your indoor garden and houseplants too!
Sedum is fantastic ground cover and living mulch, keeping the soil covered up around trees while adding a touch of color and texture!
Another method of mulching is to add other smaller plants or edibles around your taller plants to create ‘living mulch’. You can plant ground cover decorative plants and smaller succulents that spread around ornamentals and for your edible garden we have another tip for you!
3. Underplanting
Create a living mulch for your garden! For taller plants like tomatoes, sunflowers, pole beans, peas, or corn try placing shorter crops under and around these crops to not only boost bio diversity but also increase food production while also helping smaller veggies stay cooler during the heat of the day. Try planting crops like our abundantly producing Italian bush beans, basil, lettuce, spinach or strawberries, or choose vining crops like our delicious zucchini, This method of understory planting helps taller veggies soak up the heat and sunlight they need to thrive while keeping more delicate crops shaded to reduce bolting and the soil hydrated for longer periods of time plus it inhibits weeds from taking over!
4. Shade cloth
Another trick is using shade cloth outside in your garden and lowering the shades inside for your houseplants.
As temperatures rise, try installing more shaded areas to extend garden harvests. A few hot days can cause your crops to bolt prematurely. One year we had over 100 heads of lettuce bolt within a week after a few surprising days of extreme heat. Everyone in the neighborhood had salad for dinner!
Throwing a quick shade tent together made from whatever materials you have available (an old sheet, a few bamboo poles and zip ties will work in a pinch) during those days helps keep your crops cooler and can prolong your harvest.
Resources
Learn the science behind how leaves hydrate and why spraying with Sacred Leaf Tonic benefits your houseplant health HERE
Need help with natural ways to treat disease like powdery mildew or pests like spider mites? Check out our Pest Care Blogs HERE
Stay cool friends and wishing you an abundant growing season!
Karina and Team SE