Sorry... that second pot bottom photo should be the saucer, which has a nice population of fungi growing in it! Wrong photo posted.

I would guess that the saucer was a major part of the problem by keeping moisture in the drain hole. Do you have to have saucers under all your pots? I have my pots all on benches where they can drain freely. We have all had some sad experiences like this one though. Live and learn (we hope). Jack

I managed to kill my first planting in the gritty mix. I couldn't feel any moisture, so I watered again. I forgot the "stick" technique to test for moisture.

Even the gritty mix can retain a lot of moisture. Many of us are used to giving teensy amounts of water. When I swtiched to the gritty mix, I watered heavily thinking it would dry up quickly. It doesn't necessarily do that, depending on your root volume, ambient temp, amount of sun, humidity, etc.

So, no matter what soil mix you're using, Jodi's suggestions to look at the visuals are very important. Also, find a way of checking for the moisture by the root zone (and your finger is probably not the best method!); at least in my experience, that can make the difference between live and dead plants.

FWIW, I usually recommend that the ingredients for the gritty mix be screened through insect screen so there are no particulates under a heave 1/16" in it. This practically eliminates any chance of there being perched water in the soil, which is one of the primary attributes of the soil. When you screen, you almost have to WORK at over-watering.

I have about 200 plants of all stripes in the gritty mix, so you can see what kind of work it would be to check each one before I water, so I water on a schedule - daily, in the summer - and for a few plants in small pots, twice daily. Before you gasp at the idea of someone watering on a schedule, consider that it's the perched water in soils that gives you fits, so as a soil approaches the point where it holds no perched water, you actually CAN water on a 'reasonable schedule'.

I've posted this before, but the best way to water is to water once so the soil holds (about) all the water it can w/o any water drainiag from the pot. Return in a few minutes and water a second time so at least 10-15% of the total volume of water (both applications) applied exits the drain hole. This flushes accumulating salts from the sail. If you cannot water in this manner w/o risking root rot, your soils are too slow to ensure that plants can grow to their potential within the limits of other cultural limits.

This is another area where clay has advantage over plastic pots. Water moves out of the soil faster in clay, so air returns to the soil faster. This can allow you to use to better effect, some soils that would be too water retentive in plastic pots.

Al

Actually, that's my first rendition of a better medium than just plain bagged potting soil... but it's not gritty enough. It was all I had before I located everything I needed to build what I use now.

If you look at it closely, you can see that it still contains potting soil, and probably more than half of the particles are way too small, rendering the larger ones useless in the scheme of things.

Here's the actual saucer...
{{gwi:56896}}

I must use saucers because all my pots are indoors, and most are either on windowsills, or on shelving units. If I leave them without saucers, I'll ruin the wood.

The saucer allowed the pot to drain ok... the problem was watering before I needed to, and leaving a bit of excess water in the saucer.

I need to take my own advice! I need to get everything into a more consistent gritty mix, and I need to use the skewer method to test for moisture in some of the taller or larger pots.

I'm slowly working towards getting all the plants and bulbs re-potted. I still have about 20 pots to go, but I'll get there! Then, I can water as Al recommends... and there won't be such a risk of rotting bulbs! I've got all the ingredients now, so re-potting is coming along.

Thanks for the responses, everyone! And, thanks, Al!

I just wanted to show what can happen in this situation... and how the feel of a medium can be deceiving.

Thinking that the gritty mix doesn't hold much water is a common misconception, even in spite of my/our frequent reassurance that it does. When Mike first started using it, he was nigh frantic because the top of the soil seemed to dry out so quickly. Just because the top FEELS dry to the grower, doesn't mean that the plant doesn't find moisture there. Your sense of touch registers 'DRY' when there is still about 15% moisture available to the plant. Additionally, we can see by what others relate that when we only THINK the soil should be dry because it's dry on top, there is a moisture reservoir deeper in the soil that provides water in vapor form, which plants are also able to access. Assimilation of water takes place on a molecule by molecule basis - plants don't drink. ;o)

Al

Just wanted to clarify my post above. I killed my first plant using gritty mix that wasn't screened. And then I still killed my first plant using gritty mix that was screened - very carefully and thoroughly.

As Al just posted above and I tried to say above, it holds a lot more water than you think. If you are not using a method to check if water is still at the root level particularly if in an environment such as my house in winter (cool temps, less direct sunlight, less evaporation, etc), you can easily and quickly over water and kill a plant.

Yes... and because I'm in a northern zone, I grow most everything indoors, all year. My collection of bulbs never gets moved outdoors. Not only would it be not very practical, but I'm paranoid of losing my bulbs to a Narcissus Bulb Fly infestation.

Even with the heat running, and two ceiling fans going, and sunlight plus the artificial lighting, moisture does stay within the pots for longer than you might think. The humidity level is very low during winter, and I use mainly clay pots... but even so, careful checking is in order.

Al is so right!

Wished I would of made my gritty mix exactly the way he explains us to do so..

Unfortunately when I first started using the mix, I too did not strain correctly, leaving me with a less than desireable mix than I could use with my watering habits..It was still better than anything else out there you could buy, but for me still held to much water being a heavy handed waterer, even in smaller pots, in clay mind you.

I must of thought at that time that skipping a step here or there is not that important...Wrong.
Then I too starting using the wooden dowel on most of those and this definately helped..What I visually thought was dry was in effect still very damp just a couple of inches under towards the root zone..
Unfortunatly, the small root plants that still had to fill their containers were the ones that not fair that well, when the top couple of inches dried out..lesson learned.

Now, after expereince with using this gritty mix, Al's patients, and making it correcty as directed, I no longer have to use a wooden dowel, but still do as back up for my larger pots, and my smaller pots I can water everyday, even now, and not a rot issue, nor over drying one..
In fact I like the thought of watering my smaller ones twice a day, it is fun for me.

Oh, what happens if I have to go away for some time? I can have ANYONE, even one who has never touched a plant before water them everyday, and they will be just fine when I get back home..:-)

A lesson learned for me too...

Thanks for this thread..

Mike;-)

I think when I finally am able to obtain the MVP and add it to my mix, and I finally get everybody out of the old soil and into the new mix, I'll stop having any problems.

I'm happy to share my failures, as well as my successes... and if it helps one person, then it was worth it.

As I tried to state in another post, there are many elements to growing successfully. Good light, warmth and air movement will provide strong growth which enables the plant to deal with our mistakes. In winter, many indoor plants slow down or stop growing. Light is weak and short, the rooms cool.

I have no experience with your bulbs although I have grown the supermarket variety many years ago and was able to rebloom them. Perhaps your room is too cool or underlit, slowing growth which would cause the bulbs not to take up water as quickly as in a warmer/brighter environment? Saucers under plants are fine as long as you check back later and empty them. Possibly adding bottom heat if your room is cool would help.

There are so many variables to growing, one must learn their indoor climate and how to adjust it to meet the plants needs. There is no 'one' answer to the problem you had. But if light and warmth are not optimal then cutting back on watering would be wise.

Good luck,
Jane

There was another post a while back that touched on the issue of watering & watering tips. There was a lot of good information in it. You'll find it here.

Al

Oh, I know what I did wrong... and it's completely my fault... and it wasn't through lack of knowledge, either! That's the worst part!

I know what to do and how to do it, so I can't claim ignorance! And while the environment the pot is in is probably not optimal, it's as close to optimal as I can possibly get it, as far as indoor growing is concerned.

No... this is a clear case of my own laziness and my propensity for babying my plants... erring on the side of watering versus erring on the dry side, the latter of which I SHOULD have done!

And I SHOULD have re-potted those bulbs the minute I got all the ingredients for Al's Mix! (I've been slowly moving everything from their old soil to Al's Mix.)

I take full blame for this dead bulb. It's not the first bulb I've lost, and I'm pretty sure it won't be the last. I hope the other two survive to flower, though... I'd really like to see the blooms in person.

Al use to tell me, I was heavy handed on the watering, and lay off the watering can...lol

He was right! I still have to strain myself back from watering, at far less times though.

I also think the wooden dowel thing was a ploy to get me use to the griity mix, until I could finally stop using them once I learned when to water...lol

It took a while and I have finally come this far. With the more forgiving gritty mix, I can finally avoid the rot thing, and mass muder of my plants...Still getting use to the 5.1.1. mix though..:-)

I also take full responsibilty in my past failures, and ditto that Jodik..By the way, your pups must be getting huge by now...A recent picture is in the workings?

Thank God for a plant guru as Al, and for the many others on this forum..My plants will also be in a debt of gratitude for him and everyone else here!

Mie..:-)