Thanks so much for writing and providing plenty of information – it really helps me understand what’s going on! First, Argyranthemums are cool season annuals. It may already be getting too warm for its liking. It sounds like that may be part of the issue. If you want to use clay pots or decorative ceramic pots, my suggestion is to keep the plants in plastic pots but slip the entire plant, pot and all, inside the ceramic container. This will do several things. First, it will give you a prettier pot so it will look nice on the deck. Second, it will keep water inside the ceramic pot to water from the bottom which should prevent the wilting. I do this on our front porch and it works well. I’ve included a picture of the pots on the porch. Every single one, including the green one, actually has a plant in another pot inside it. The planters keep the water near the bottom so the soil soaks it up during the day I do think clay pots would be too porous for these plants especially in southern CA. Good luck and let me know how it works out!

Over the 5 weeks I’ve had them, I’ve had to water them daily to keep them from wilting! They were purchased in a somewhat flexible plastic pot that is 6″ at the rim by 4″ deep. I pulled a sampling of the 9 plants from their pots to see what was going on. I wanted to use them in containers as a border in a flower bed around my front porch . Roots surrounded the edges (but you still see more than 50% soil along with the roots at the posts side edges), but were not yet visible, nor going through the several drainage holes at the bottom of their original container. I want to keep the plants that are currently 6″ tall by 9″ wide within 12″ all around as a border. Since the plants had obviously outgrown the sides of the container they came in, and I could not find a plastic pot that wasn’t way too big, I got unglazed terra cotta clay pots that are 7″x7″. I thought this the perfect size with 1″ more in width and almost 3 more in depth. Then after reading your posts about pot comparisons, I am wondering if a clay pot would defeat the purpose of being able to go a week without wilting (since you say the clay can pull moisture out of the pot. I live in Southern CA near Disneyland, and temps haven’t even gotten into the 80’s yet most days. In July thru October we will experience 90 degrees and even 3 digit weather, and watering more than once a week doesn’t really work for me!

WHAT TO DO? I suppose I could mix 1/2 well draining potting soil, with another half of regular bagged soil that isn’t labeled that it drains well for potted plants . . . , so the plants retain some moisture without rotting roots by retaining too much water. I also thought I could line the sides of the pots with sphagnum moss, or those light brown hanging pot material that is kind-of woven into shape. I also thought I could glaze the outside of the pot by painting it with some textured paint (or would it be better to use clear spray paint to seal the insides of the pots (or paint on some kind of varnish sealer–inside & or outside?) to help the well draining potting mix I bought from allowing the clay to pull moisture out of the soil & continuing to demand watering several times a week! Not only don’t I have the time to water so often, but if I go away for a weekend, I would come home to dead plants . Or maybe I should paint the insides with that black prunning sealer?

Any warnings or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank YOU so very much for your thoughts and TIME 🙂