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pondluvr

Need more water retention in 5:1:1 mix

12 years ago

I am a newbie and started using Al's 5:1:1 a few years ago. For me, I seem to have to water way too frequently with this mix. To complicate matters, if I fertilize with a weak solution of Foliage Pro at each watering, which is sometimes several times a week, that is a LOT of work filling and hauling a watering can around because most of my gardening is done in many, many containers.

Question 1: How can I ammend the 5:1:1 to get better water retention? I've found that adding more peat only makes it harder to get wet in the case it dries out.

Question 2: Is there an easier way to apply Foliage Pro than using a watering can? I tried using a hose end sprayer, but the settings must not be quite right because I burned through way more than I should have... and it's expensive. Plus with the 5:1:1 draining so freely, a lot of my $$ is going out the bottom of the pots and onto the ground.

FYI....A lot of my containers are hosta. With those, I eventually might transfer them over to the gritty mix (but this will be costly as I have LOTS of them in containers, some very large, and the Turface is pricey. The other containers are annuals.

Sorry if these are no brainer questions, but your input will be appreciated.

Sandy

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