Tips to Keep Container Plants Alive During the Summer by Jeff Rugg on Creators.com

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Tips to Keep Container Plants Alive During the Summer

Q: The plants in my patio containers are getting plenty of water and the soil is staying moist, but the plants wilt every afternoon. They perk up each evening and morning, but I am sure this is not good for them. What can I do to prevent this?

A: Some days are so hot. With a patio area in direct sunlight, plants have a hard time keeping enough water in the leaves. A plant's leaf evaporates water to help cool the leaf as well as to move water and nutrients throughout the plant. If the water is leaving the plant faster than it can be resupplied, the plant will wilt. Even though the plant recovers on its own each night, it may still have some tissue that dies. The leaves could develop brown edges or whole leaves may fall off the plant.

Next year, use larger containers or put fewer plants in each container to allow the plants to develop larger root systems within the pot. Hopefully, the larger root system will be able to keep up with the demand for water. Plants that like some shade will wilt when exposed to a lot of sun, so look for plants that prefer full sun.

Using water-retaining crystals in the soil will help the soil hold more water, but if the plant can't move enough water, they won't eliminate the problem.

Spraying the patio surface with a small amount of water will cool the whole patio — the lower temperature may be enough to prevent the plants from wilting. This is how many greenhouses are cooled.

Q: We have a small pond where ducks have started to come. The water is green, but the bigger concern is that some of the fish have died. Should we try to keep the ducks away?

A: It is possible that one of the ducks flew from another pond and brought in a disease or parasite, but that is not very likely.

They sure can pollute a pond. You said the pond is green. Algae, which bloom in ponds, are often fed by animal fertilizer and can kill fish indirectly.

Algae, like all green plants, produce oxygen through photosynthesis during the day. Plants also consume oxygen 24 hours a day. In a closed environment like a pond, this can be a problem. A pond that is stuffed full of algae can deplete the oxygen level at night, causing the fish to die. If the pond has a floating fountain that only pulls in water near the surface, it doesn't help nearly as much as a fountain pulling in deeper water or a recirculating waterfall that plunges water back into the pond.

The duck waste material is very high in ammonia, which is toxic to fish. Over a period of time, it damages their gills, causing them to have a difficult time when breathing. A pond low in oxygen from an algae bloom would now be even more deadly. Ammonia is broken down by bacteria into nitrite, which is even more toxic to fish. It is absorbed into the bloodstream where it binds to the iron in the blood, thus inhibiting the intake of oxygen and making the low oxygen problem worse.

The nitrite is broken down by bacteria into nitrate, which is used by plants (algae) as a nutrient for growth. So, the algae are just using the available fertilizer to grow. Too much algae remove too much oxygen from the water for the fish to survive. You have to reduce the amount of algae in the pond — that may mean getting rid of the ducks.

E-mail questions to Jeff Rugg, University of Illinois Extension at jrugg@illinois.edu. To find out more about Jeff Rugg and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.