Lobelia – soil vs compost

Question

I brought a 6 pack of lobelia and planted them around my garden. It just happened that I planted 3 in pots with compost and 3 in the ground which is quite a dry soil. I have been watering them all regularly and the same amounts. But those in the pots look perky and alive and the ones in the garden are droopy. At first I thought they had dropped because I accidentally watered them down but haven’t done that since and they haven’t picked up. Any advice would be good!

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Answer 1

Increase the soil organic matter content (compost) and mulch the soil surface, so that the soil can retain moisture.
Or water the plant in the soil more frequently than the one in the pot.
Or pot the plant that is not doing well in the bare soil.