Repotting to 'faster' soil
joel_bc
16 years ago
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greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
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Comments (12)I suppose it's more difficult for those without the space to grow an actual garden using the ground, but I have found that organic methods work much better where Mother Nature is more in control, and a more inorganic approach works well for the confined spaces of containers where we, the gardeners, are more in control. Even so, we do have more control over which fertilizers we choose, the water we use, the soil, etc... Science tells us that warmer water freezes faster than cold water... and I would not dump hot water on any of my plants. I generally use tepid, room temperature, un-softened water on my container grown plants. I would agree with Tapla... the basics are important to learn... and then comes the more involved knowledge as one gets used to the general ideas of growing in containers. I find that "Container Soils - Water Movement & Retention XVI" is a good place to begin reading... the thread has been bumped to the front page within this forum....See MoreAlways wash off old soil when re-potting?
Comments (13)For veggies and annuals, like JoJo I just shaggle some of the loose soil off, and pop in into the 5-1-1. However, for anything long term, like houseplants, I'll bareroot the thing, wash the peat soil off, and repot. Anything going into the gritty mix always gets washed of ALL soil. Leaving any substantial amount of the old, cruddy peat soil around the roots creates a little patch of soil that has different properties then the rest of your mix, and can create problems. The 5-1-1 mix naturally dries out faster, but the wad of peat on the roots may still be wet. As for the timing thing with trees and shrubs, well, that's up to you personally. In your zone, it is a bit late for repotting, but in my opinion, I see no benefit in leaving them in a crumby mix any longer then they have to. For me, here in zone 4, things are not too far along, so repotting now isn't as detrimental. Joe...See MoreDo you repot your hoyas from Exotic Angel plants? (remove their soil)
Comments (9)Nan, if you can repot EA plants into your own mix, that's ideal. But it is so difficult, because most of them are a crap-load of rooted cuttings and it's really hard to do it without damaging them, setting them into distress. If you leave them in the original soil, they will do well for about 18 months to 2 years. I would grow them in the original soil then in the spring of the following year, I would repot them carefully into your own growing mix. However, before you do this, I would take some cuttings and get them going so that you can replace the plant if necessary. If you need any advice on rooting, just contact me through this site. Best of luck! Denise in Omaha...See MoreShould I repot Croton and Rubber Plant now if soil is less than ideal?
Comments (7)You can pot up anytime, though very late spring to early summer would be ideal. I'd wait until mid-June to do a full repot, which includes bare-rooting and root pruning. Plants have natural rhythms (search Circadian and/or endogenous rhythm). Over the course of the plant's rhythmic growth cycle, their stored energy levels and their ability to create energy/food waxes and and wanes. In most cases, to repot (as opposed to just potting up) a plant when its energy stores and ability to create energy are both on the wane is to ensure a much longer recovery period. Repotting and root work is a heavy hit for the plant. It draws down the plant's energy reserves much faster than would occur if you repotted in June, when both energy stores and current photosynthesizing ability are reaching peak levels would be at peak. Since a plant's natural defenses are a byproduct of it's metabolic rate, it's not difficult to see how a significantly weakened plant with compromised ability to defend itself, combined with a longer recovery period work in concert to make the plant far more vulnerable than it would be if you were patient enough to sync with the plant. Ecclesiastes 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: Your plants aren't in danger of serious decline due to root congestion, and they are small enough that, even if the soil they're in is VERY water-retentive, you can use a work-around that requires no special tools, materials, or knowledge, other than an understanding of how to put Newton's First Law of Motion to work on behalf of your self and plants, which I'm about to describe. When you water, water to beyond the point of saturation. The entire soil mass should be at maximum capacity and a good measure of the water used in your watering exercise (at least 15-20%) should have exited the drain hole. After the pot has stopped draining of its own accord, hold the recently watered planting over the sink and move it up and down. You'll soon see that on the reversal from downward to upward motion, quite a bit of water exits the drain hole, and the sharper the reversal, the more water exits the pot. An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion [the water in the pot] stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. When water ceases to exit through the drain hole, you'll have removed ALL perched water that has the potential to be of any consequence. Last, but not least, we all have a 'nurturing bone' - we like to take care of things. Knowing that you're planning for your plants' future in a way that allows you to take advantage of its strengths and make allowances for it's weaknesses for no reason other than it's in the best interest of the plant, offers the grower a much greater sense of personal gratification than an approach that lacks that planning. Al...See Moretootswisc
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agojoel_bc
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agojoel_bc
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agomeyermike_1micha
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agoseaecho1
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agotootswisc
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agomeyermike_1micha
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agojoel_bc
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agosasha_one56
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
16 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)