Al, do you have a 'Watering 101' post somewhere?
kristimama
16 years ago
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
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Soil, Watering, Fertilizer and questions for Al (tapla)
Comments (24)Finally I got all the ingredients for the gritty mix, to my surprise, the hardest to find is the pine bark fine(I still did not find it). I am using the Repti Bark for now (a little pricy -$19.99 for a 24 quart bag). But do not want to wait any more, will use Repti Bark for now whereas keep looking for I Pine bark fines. Well, I have to say the particle size of Turface and Gran-I-Grit is smaller than I thought although I saw so many pictures on GW. I still do not have Foliage Pro 9-3-6, But I got Osmocote Outdoor & Indoor plant food. The ratio is 19-6-12 ( close to 9-3-6), is that ok for now (Will order Foliage Pro from internet later. I got some Jade Plant, Christmas Cactus, Spider Plant and Some NOID succulents cuttings before I found all the ingredients. I put them in the Miracle Grow Potting Mix and they rooted already. But like most people find out already, the bagged potting mix is so hard to water when it drys - the water just stay on the top of the soil. I was repotting them (except the spider plant) into the new gritty mix this afternoon. I did not even screen the Turface and Gran-I-Grit as I have not gotten the hardware cloth to make the filter yet. But I did shake the bag before I opened the Turface to hope the smaller particles will fall to the bottom. This is how it looks after I mix the three ingredients. Follow the tradition, a dime in the center Then put the mix and Osmocote into a soaked pot, water it well until water come out from the drainage hole. Soak the cutting that grown in the bagged potting mix, Remove most of the soil from the root - but not all - intimated by afraid broke the root. Put the plant into the gritty mix. It is actually hard to make a proper hole to put the roots in - the gritty mix is heavy so they keep falling into the hole you make for the roots. Final results: How do they look? Am I doing it right. I also have some Spider plant rooted, not sure is gritty mix good for them too. I had the impression that gritty mix is very good for woody plant, but Spider plant is somewhat herb? Should I put them in 5:1:1 mix. (I do not think I will make 5:1:1 mix though, since pine bark fines are not available and Repti bark is pricy). Also, Does anybody know the ID for the two plants on the last picture (the one that not Christmas Cactus or Jade Plant) And if anybody knows where to find pine bark fines in new England area, please let me know. Thanks....See Morepic posting 101
Comments (12)Hey Ozvon, those electrical clips sound and look excellent as attaching devices - I should give them a try. Re using ribbing - lol Rick! Sorry I forgot to mention that you need to cut across the ribs, in order to get the true stretchiness working - glad you worked that one out, and have had success. And yes, Ozvon, sharp dressmaker scissors are necessary to get a good smooth cut on the ribbing, or else it will break when stretched. I find at least 2cm width necessary for strength when stretched. I still do use the ribbing on thicker branches and trunks, but only tie one brom on at a time when doing so. If I want to attach another brom at same height, but on another side of the trunk, then I can sometimes use the ribbing already there, and pull it slightly away from the trunk, and manoeuvre the brom under the already tight ribbing. Often I would like a third hand, but find my head works quite well! lol With vrieseas, which I wish more people would consider for epiphytic cultivation in their gardens, those clips might not work so well, without an obvious stolon. I have some very large vrieseas up trees, and they are fine if mounted on a horizontal branch, or only slightly angled. But when mounted on a vertical trunk/branch, the weight of them as they grow can sometimes cause them to detach, even leaving the established root system still on the trunk. In these cases, I also use the ribbing thread through the lower layers of leaves, about quarter to a third up the rosette, figure eight it behind the plant, then around the trunk. This keeps the vriesea upright, and lessens the tension at the base, and if done sneakily, you can't even see the ribbing :) Looking forward to seeing your experiments Ozvon. And Rick - I'd love to see some pics of your mounted broms. Cheers, Kerry...See MoreGritty Mix for plunged pots? Al, what do you think?
Comments (7)One thing we need to respect is another's perspective. One grower might look at growing with the attitude that nothing is going to stand in the way of my reducing the effects of every limiting factor that impact my plants' growth and vitality. Growers like this tend to look at growing from the plant's perspective. Another grower might not be interested in entertaining the thought of changing anything, so long as the plant seems to be doing well enough. I've found this to be especially true if the chance involves more effort or expense - this is more a view from the grower's perspective - how it affects ME, rather than the plant. Neither perspective is wrong, they're just different ways of looking at things and ordering priorities. We all go through the same considerations, but some people come down on the plant's side & others on the grower's side. A prime example of this can be seen in the form of people arguing vehemently against the effort involved in finding ingredients and then making either the 5:1:1 mix or gritty mix. Almost always, the argument against comes from growers who have never tried either mix, and are content with the results they get from a from-the-bag mix because it's easy. Not all of us orders our priorities in that fashion. My good enough may be her poor; and good may in fact not be good enough for her. I know a lot of people like that and admire them for their desire for continual improvement. Rachel's question is a very good one, and her commentary clearly illustrates she's been thinking the issue through (from the plant's perspective) and looking for some input. Any teacher would give her high marks for that. I say often that our plants are already genetically programmed to grow to be beautiful specimens. The ONLY thing we can do to help is to be proactive in continually reducing the effects of ALL things that have the potential to limit growth/vitality. Remember, if everything is perfect except ONE thing, that single limitation can wreck the entire growing experience. One thing for Rachel to consider is that water in plunged pots behaves differently than it does in conventional container culture. That they are partially buried turns them into mini raised beds, hydrologically speaking. As long as they are not plunged into clay, the earth will quickly wick any perched water from the soil she chooses; so she has roughly the same potential for growth/vitality using soils that would otherwise be too heavy (water retentive) to be well suited to container growing as she does if using the gritty mix or the 5:1:1 mix. Since there is little notable loss in potential, based on her growing method, if using a heavier soil, we need to look to the interval between when the pots are lifted and moved indoors and when they're returned to the garden or beds and buried. Normally, there would be considerable concern over accumulating salts during the over-wintering period; this, as a result of having to water a heavy soil in small sips to avoid the soil being wet for any extended period. Since I believe she will be watering rather infrequently, it may not be a serious issue. Just a guess - if she's watering less often than every two weeks, I think she should be ok until repot time. Also, if she's willing to cheat the state out of a little rain water and use that to water with, it pretty much makes it a nonissue. I think Rachel's free to use a heavier soil if she wants to, and it shouldn't have any notable effect on her plants. If she has a suitable bark on hand - maybe something like a 5:2or3:1 bark:peat:perlite would be good - or even a bagged soil. The only real disadvantage to a peaty soil for this particular application is that it makes repotting more difficult. So - there's a little about perspectives and growing for you to consider. I hope there's enough there for you to set course with a little greater degree of certainty. Time to get out in the yard before it gets too hot again. It looks like another day that will be pushing 100*. Take care - thanks for the kind words. ;-) Al...See MoreIst post.... Hi....Help.... Plumbing 101?
Comments (6)"Could not take the prime". Priming a jet pump consists of filling the pipes between the bottom of the well and the pump. If these pipes stay full, the pump is primed. But that does not mean that it will actually pump. Sounds as if brass adapters are screwed into a cast iron venturi body ( the jet). BAD! Electrolysis is assured! May look like barnacles! Non-metallic adapters are available and recommended. Use two 100% stainless steel clamps at each poly pipe connection to the adapters. Stainless steel poly pipe adapters are available, but often hard to find. In the well, the foot valve is frequently brass. I use Schedule 80 threaded PVC to isolate the cast iron and the brass at the foot valve. No dissimilar metals should be touching each other, but stainless steel typically is OK against cast iron and often compatible with brass. The venturi itself is the smallest passage within the jet body and often catches debris. If such is lodged in the venturi, it will pump poorly or not at all. Remember, the foot valve holds the prime, the venturi does the pumping....See Morewormgirl_8a_WA
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16 years agolast modified: 9 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
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16 years agolast modified: 9 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)