We get a lot of people asking us why their protea plant died, here are the top 4 mistakes we find people make in caring for their proteas.
Never ever weed or dig around the roots of the plant. Almost every time someone sends us a picture of their dead plant, the soil around the plant is beautifully weeded and tossed. This is a sure fire way to kill your plant. Plant grass or no obtrusive ground cover around the base of the plant, apply an acidic mulch (we use pine needles) or cut back any weeds,, but DO NOT pull them out, as it will damage the roots of the protea, thus killing it.
Plant your proteas in sandy soil. Proteas like soil with optimal drainage. If you live where the soil is very clay-like, the proteas will not survive, so you would be better off potting them, just make sure to water them daily if you do.
Plant your proteas in full sun. Like most South Africans, Proteas love the sun, so make sure you plant it somewhere where it will get a lot. The plant will never thrive in shady spots
Don’t fertilize the plant.Although we are usually led to believe that adding fertilizer or compost to plants is always a good thing, it will add nitrogen and phosphate to the soil, which is not good for a protea, and can kill the plant. If you want to add something to the soil, the best thing is pine needles.
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