The first fortnight after install

Every garden we install goes in on a single visit. By the evening, your balcony looks finished. The plants do not feel finished. Most have just come out of nursery bags, travelled across the city, and been set into new mix in a new spot with different light and wind. The first fortnight is when they settle, and what you do in it matters more than any other two weeks of the year. Mostly, it is about doing less.

What settling in looks like

Some transplant shock is normal. Expect a few older leaves to yellow and drop in the first ten days, especially on ficus, croton and bougainvillea, which react to any change in light. Flowering plants may drop buds. A palm or fern may droop a little in the afternoon and recover by morning. None of this means the plant is dying. It is shedding what it cannot support while its roots grow into the new mix.

What you want to see by the end of week two is plants holding upright through the day, no fresh yellowing, and, on the faster growers, the first new leaf or shoot. Slower plants such as ZZ and snake plant may show nothing at all for a month, and that is fine.

What to water and what to leave alone

If we installed a drip line, the team has already set the timer for your balcony, its light and the season. Leave it as it is for the fortnight, even if a plant looks dry on top. Plants not on the drip have a watering note on the handover card. Follow the two-inch test: water only when the mix is dry two inches down. Succulents, jade and snake plant should get almost nothing in these two weeks.

Do not fertilise. The fresh mix carries enough nutrition for the first month, and new roots burn easily. Do not move plants around to find a better spot yet, do not repot, and do not prune beyond picking off fallen or fully yellow leaves. Each change sets the settling in back to the start.

Sending photos to the care team

If something worries you, send photos to the care team on WhatsApp rather than guessing. A good set of photos often saves a visit. Take them in daylight, not under a tube light at night, and send several rather than one. Tell us how often the plant has been watered, and whether anyone has touched the drip timer.

One photo of a drooping plant tells us it is drooping. Four photos usually tell us why.

When to worry

Message us the same day if a plant collapses completely, if stems turn black or soft at the base, if the mix smells sour, or if water is pooling in a planter or dripping onto the balcony below. Tell us too if a drip line has come loose or a dripper has stopped. Otherwise, give it the full fortnight. Most plants that look unhappy on day four look settled by day fourteen, and any that do not, we look at together on the first care visit.

Weather can make the first two weeks harder. An install just before a May heatwave, or at the start of a heavy Mumbai monsoon spell, puts more strain on the plants, and the care team may ask you to change the drip timer, talking you through it on a call. If a storm is forecast and you are on a high floor, move light pots away from the open edge and lay tall plants down rather than let the wind take them.

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Up next, lesson 2Months two and three: the first prune5 min read