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Container Gardening

My plants in Al's gritty mix!

meyermike_1micha

15 years ago

I just wanted to share some pic with everyone of plants I am growing in the gritty mix and 5.1.1. mix.

And,

Thank Al for all his help, patients, and proven ideas!

Thanks for making it possible for me to finally succeed in container growing, something I struggled for years with.

All of the plants in the 5.1.1 are fed with, FP and lime mixed into soil, while the ones in the gritty mix that have gypsum in it, are watered with epsom salts, MG, and micros...

:-)

Desert Rose

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Gardenia

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Citrus trees and others

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Different container plants and a few inground plants planted in a both mixes aroungd the yard

Plumeria and others

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Poderosa lemon baby, variegated jade, jade and spider plants...

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:-)

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Comments (7)

libbyc
15 years ago
Wow! They're gorgeous! I'm surprised at how small some of the pots seem; I guess some of these plants have compact root systems. What a relaxing place it must be to sit. I'd be sitting outside right now, but the sycamores have unleashed their fluffy seeds, and I'm sneezing.
I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the FoliagePro 3-1-2; I don't dare over-fertilize right now, as I started with the wrong stuff. I'd love to know Al's answer to my question of how finely divided organic fertilizer doesn't eventually make it out through the screen at the bottom. I won't use the alfalfa meal if it's going to clog things up.
meyermike_1micha
Original Author
15 years ago
Libbyc,
It took alot of friends here to pull my teeth and make me belive that less is best.
You don't need the alfalfa meal unless you really want to use it. I killed a many plant using wormcastings,bat guamo,crab shell,maunure, fish emulsions,and yes alfalfa meal in containers, in anything I had growing over 6 months in. Especially "houseplants and tropicals".
I hope you do well with yours!
This is the best forum anyone could learn from and we are fortunate to have it.
Happy spring!
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1) For most houseplants, full repots which include bare-rooting and a soil change are best done in the month prior to the most robust growth. For you, that would be mid-Jun through Jul. If you have good indoor (supplemental) lighting, you can probably get away with repotting any time, but recovery time will be considerably slower if you do it in the short day months with plants under natural indoor light. 2) Key, are the size of the particles and their stability. If both are appropriate, it's fine. Particles in the 1/10 - 1/8" range are best. 3) There are lots of threads discussing where to find bark. I often find it at big box stores or nurseries. It's sold as mulch, soil conditioner, clay soil conditioner, aged pine bark fines, double grind pine bark, and other names. I recently found some for Linda in TX by calling nurseries and asking them if they had pine bark small enough to be suitable for use in container media. If 'NO', my next question would automatically be "Do you know who would, in the immediate area?" In this case it lead me to a bulk supplier of double grind. 4) You can usually buy hardware cloth by the foot at smaller hardware stores. Al
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I got the NAPA floor dry and repotted everything. My mix was 2.5 parts gravel, 1 part bark, 1 part floor dry and some gypsum. I got my hands on a sifter, so I sifted the bark and the floor dry, though very little got through the insect screen. Since the big jades were in their original peat potting soil for so long and had become so horribly compacted, I went to work on the roots again with my pocket knife. I think the roots are about as free of that old soil as they're going to get. Here's the components. After actually screening the bark, I finally understand what the bark is supposed to look like. Stupid question for you all, how do you mix your mix? I mean, physically, how do you combine all the different components to make an even blend. I probably spent 20 minutes pouring the stuff from one 5 gallon bucket to another and trying to mix it by hand. There's got to be an easier way... Before potting... After potting. I took denise's advice and whacked one jade. It is now sitting in the sun while the others are enjoying some shade. I also decided to give them all a drink for two reasons. 1) They looked thirsty. Their leaves were a little squishy. 2) I read elsewhere that the floor dry absorbs LOTS of moisture and I didn't want it to dry out the roots. Thank you all for your helpful suggestions. I have been keeping plants for about two years, and I am just now starting to try to become knowledgeable about it. Hopefully they will all be happy with their new soil.
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Juventusopp: As you can infer from our posts, it's almost doesn't matter what ratio for "extra CRF here and there". Most of the stuff you'll find will be suitable, because you are already using FP. Anything near 5-1-3, 3-1-2, or even 3-1-1 will be great for that purpose. Heck, I would even use 14-14-14 if that's all I had and was going to use before I went on vaca. If you can find one with micros including calcium, even better. There are plenty of 14-3-9, 18-6-9, 14-14-14, and 17-5-8 retailed CRFs -- all will work acceptably. But keep in mind, your CRF won't adequately "feed" your plants when you are on vacation if your friend doesn't water much. The majority of CRF is released when the soil is watered (moisture or moisture+temp triggers the release of nutrients). Good luck!
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I've found a little patience goes a long way when it comes to repotting succulent babies. Instead of wondering if it is time to repot I generally wonder when I can find time to repot the babies that should have been repotted 4 months ago. Interestingly, survival rates went up when I stopped rushing them.
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greenhouser2
15 years ago
meyermike_1micha: I would loosen the ties on that gardenia. They appear to have no space left for the trunk to enlarge. You don't want your gardenia "strangled."
meyermike_1micha
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks for the advice greenhouser2. Have a nice day.
justaguy2
14 years ago
Nice job, Mike. Some of the plants you are growing have proven themselves quite difficult for many to keep alive for any length of time.

While you may owe Al a little bit of credit for helping you build a strong container mix you owe yourself the bulk of the credit for the plants in your care.

Looking good, my friend.
meyermike_1micha
Original Author
14 years ago
Justaguy2,

You should know that you are a part of my success too//:-)

Thankyou so much for everything you have taught over all this time too.
I know that I owe myself credit, but without the knowledge dispensed here, I would of still failed.

Thanks man!
justaguy2
14 years ago
Well you are welcome, Mike, for whatever tiny contribution I made, but you are 'da man' growing your stuff so take a bow. I notice that you are one of those kind souls very quick to credit others and that's really cool, but don't just say you take a bow yourself, really do it.

You have gotten to the point where you see excellent results where you once struggled and that is a huge thing. You are now ready to help others as I see you doing.

You are good people Mike, and I am happy to 'know' you.

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