I recently bought a rubber tree plant. It looks very healthy but the soil it’s in is very rich and very hard. I had to take a chop stick to break it up since I couldn’t put my finger in the soil to test the moisture level. So I decided to change out the soil. My first mistake: I went and bought miracle grow potting soil and then watered after I transplanted and even though it has drainage holes not a drop of water came out the bottom. It retained ALL the moisture in the top 1/3 of the pot and I know my plant will die of root rot If I don’t do something soon. My second mistake: Next, I tried a mix of equal parts coarse sand, mini pine bark and peat humus. Again, I watered after planting and it was like soup. Nothing draining out of the pot. I used Al‘s mix years ago for my outside container plants and it was wonderful. We’ve moved since then and I don’t know where my grani-grit or Turface went. I don’t remember where I got these from in WI but I will have to search again. succulents are my newest obsession and I bought bonsai jacks gritty mix but my indoor succulents are not happy. There are zero nutrients in this mix And that makes me uneasy. My question to you is this: What mix do I use for my indoor succulents? (Mainly Echeverias, some Haworthia and some sedum and pachyveria). What mix do I use for my rubber tree plant? What mix do I use for my sanseveria snake plant? Im thinking gritty mix for snake plant and succulents? Please help. Thank you!

Hi again JAG2! Your wicking idea to draw up ground water sounds ingenious Thank you. The idea was actually from a friend of mine but I thought it was a great idea too :-) One thought I had is that the wick system draws water up. I wonder what effect this will have on Co2 in the rootzone? If I only water the top of the containers (eg. "soil drench") a few times a month will I be promoting Co2 toxicity in the rootzone? ...and I would love it if you would post back later in the year and let me/us know how that works out for you. I will definitely do this for you! Given that you will be joining your container to the earth, my above comments are not as relevant so don't worry about it. In what regard? Do you still suggest I use ProMix? Or are you referring to the auto-watering system? The only thing I am somewhat uncertain of is joining the container to the earth only via a nylon wick. [snip] From playing around with the concept of capillary action my only concern is that the wick may not be able to move water upward fast enough to replace what the container uses. Me too! ;-) So that's why I'm going to add at least two "wick tubes" to each of my containers. Another thing I'm going to do is "rain scape"[1] my containers. If all else fails I can hand water them from above (if I have to do it the old fashioned way ;-) ) I will be feeding with nutrients via. hand watering by soil drench about twice a month. I hope the soil drench once every few weeks will expel enough Co2 from the air pockets. How long does it take for the rootzone to become Co2 toxic (for lack of a better term)? Still, it sounds like you have thought this through pretty well and all that remains is some experimentation. Thank you. And thank you for your assistance, your further thoughts and opinions are very welcome! [1] "Rain scaping" (my own term, I don't know real title) is big in Ethopia where they simply make two "mounds" of soil about 5-20 feet uphill (does not need to be steep) jetting outward at opposite 45 degree angles from the container/plant. All this does is funnel the rain water towards the container/plant. In Ethiopia they make a little moat around the container/plant by encircling it with the dirt mount thus allow the water to gather and slowly be absorbed. Heck, it may be a good idea to put piece of "capillary mat" under my containers with about 2-3" extra on all sides. I can encircle the "moat" around the capillary mat which should help the plant absorb the rain water more effectively with less run off and wasted rain water...Yah, natural passive hydroponic outdoor container gardening! :-)

Hi Lynn: Thank you for sharing your experience with gypsum. EarthCo. also recommended gypsum for my soil ... never mind that I'm next to a limestone quarry, plus a gypsum plant. Bluegirl wrote in another thread on how she broke up her clay with gypsum. I have similar success using gypsum to break up my rock hard-clay. I get gypsum for $7 for 40 lbs. bag at my local feed store. It's quite acidic (has a higher % of sulfur), and burns my hand. So I always wear gloves when handle gypsum. The Encap sulfur sold at Menards $6 for a tiny 1 lb. bag contains a good % of gypsum .. I no longer buy that sulfur bag, since gypsum is cheaper, plus U. of CA at Davis documented that 1 lb. of gypsum is equivalent to using 5 lbs. of sulfur. I agree with their research. I put tons of that Encap sulfur on my clay ... did nothing, until months later, and tons of rain (at pH 5.6) ... then the soil finally crumble. With gypsum, it takes a few days to make my clay fluffy. Many sites and U. of Extensions alert that superphosphate harms the mycorrhizal fungi that help roots to obtain phosphorus & other nutrients from soil. However, Roses Unlimited recommended putting triple super-phosphate NPK 0-52-0 in the planting hole. So I put that stuff inside the planting hole of Queen of Sweden, plus sulfur. The flowering is 1/2 the rate of other roses without superphosphate. That's for 2 consecutive years. Last month I dug up Queen of Sweden, the root is woody & fibrous and reached down below. But there's an absence of secondary roots, or cluster-network. I didn't put superphosphate in Honey Bouquet, and when I dug that up, there's the fibrous brown woody main trunk, plus a vast network of secondary roots. Honey Bouquet gives 3 times more bloom than Queen of Sweden, at 1/5 the size. One of the danger of superphoshate is it also contains the toxic chemical cadmium, that would be poisonous is absorbed in edible plants. Plants can only utilize a small percentage of given phosphorus, the rest is quickly bound up with other elements in alkaline condition. When I use superphosphate in soluble form, as in MG Bloom Booster, it's really hard to dissolve. So I put vinegar in the bucket ... yet I still get phosphorus crystal stuck at the bottom. See below link of Australian Agricultural field study that showed APP (ammonium polyphosphate in fluid form) surpasses granular phosphorus. There's another Australian study that showed that the use of granular phosphorus over a span of 5 years did not increase their wheat yield much. I tested SOLUBLE Bloom Booster NPK 10-52-10, similar to APP, and the result was very good, if I use at 1/4 dosage. Too much chemical phosphorus can burn roots. Just a little bit helps roses with wimpy roots that can't acid-phosphatase, such as Jude the Obscure. Most roses don't need Bloom-Booster, they can secret acids to unlock phosphorus-tie-up in alkaline clay. It's the wimpy own-root like Jude the Obscure that has to be spoon-fed due to my alkaline water at pH 8. I use soluble fertilizer for pots, since pots leach out nutrients with our rain. In my alkaline dolomitic clay, no need for chemical fertilizer. My clay is fertile, with plenty of bacteria to fix nitrogen (air is composed of 78% nitrogen). I don't fertilizer my 26 trees, yet they are taller than 2-story house, plus lose leaves every winter. See picture below of my center garden, zone 5a Chicagoland: Here is a link that might be useful: APP fluid fertililzer surpasses granular phosphhorus This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Sun, Dec 8, 13 at 14:53

Thanks so much mblan13. I have a 1/2", a 1/4" screen and I *think* I actually have one of those tops for a reptile tank kicking around. My friend gave me an old style tank w/ the metal corners with a top like that. I wanted the tank for fish, but I think I still have the screen top. If not, I can make one easily enough knowing the measurement. I have regular screen door material too, so can make a screen with that for the finest stuff. I figured that rinsing would be a good way to remove the smallet stuff/dust, so I am glad you brought that up and will do that w/ the Gran-I-Grit. I did get one of my Gran-i-grit bags at Agway. Had one from the local garden center but Agway was cheaper. Was gonna get two there but they only had one in stock. I didn't know they carried Turface, though. The closest Agway is in NJ, though. Dollar for dollar, I am better off using my garden supply and the landscaping place for the Grit and Turface. I hadn't considered Opti-sorb. It may be worth looking at. I was going with Turface because I was under the impression it held up the longest without breaking down. I do have raging ant issues. Seem to get in every pot I have outside, so it may be the way to go. I'll look into it. If I can find it close by, maybe it would be the way to go. The price I was quoted for the Turface MVP was less than I expected, so I was going to go with that and stick to the Gritty Mix as close as possible. And good to know someone else is using the Frey Brothers stuff! Thanks so much for all the info, mblan13. I do appreciate it! merlcat