I'm not familiar with this 5-1-1 mix, and I just repotted one of my plants in some, so I will be really interested to see the answers to your questions. But, after pulling your plants out of the pots, and seeing how wet they were, perhaps you can better understand why I have been trying to explain how and why to test the soil moisture before watering. Testing doesn't work the same with a coarse mix like 5-1-1, so I'll be experimenting with that.

Hi Tiff!
Congrats on the re-pot! I'm sure you'll see things improve. You had a couple of really big pots there, so that's probably how you came up short on the mix. Overall, you and your plants are in much better shape than you were a week ago.

Q&A;
1) Basically, 1&2 can be combined. The best indicator for me has been the weight of the pot. I know what it weighs after watering, and after several days, I know its dry weight. A skewer stuck into the pot should come out dry and clean before re-watering.
With 4' and 6" non-glazed clay pots, I'm averaging 3-4 days between watering. With the larger plastic, you may go more. You're hands-on so it wont be a problem for you.

3) I water in the sink and leave them there for awhile, then I tip the pot to a 45* angle to allow excess water to escape. NEVER let water sit in the saucers..

4) The roots are going to cling to the new mix. New roots are going to fill in the pot. I've noticed alot less 'wiggle' in my plants after a couple of weeks in 5-1-1.. You've just begun the waiting game.

5) I haven't potted up or repotted yet (using 5-1-1) so hopefully a veteran will come along with the answers.

6) Fertilizing- To date, I've been using a weak solution of MG 24-8-16 Plant Food. (Remember when I said to memorize the numbers 3-1-2?) You'll see several variations of this.
I use this with every watering currently.. and I'm still waiting for winter instructions involving dormancy etc., before I change the routine..

What a long strange trip it's been Tiff...

Toni.. Saw you in another thread but lost it in the shuffle!
I'm good thanks. Plants are good. Whacked Jade, "Labrat" (which was a tiny stem that I didnt have the heart to throw away so cut it down to a stem, thickened up somewhat and is showing New leaf growth after 2 weeks.) Now its a keeper!

Charlie

Uh-Oh. Looks like I might have over done it. No one is responding to my post. :( Thats ok. I am sure everyone is tired of hearing from me after the million posts I made with in the last week.
I will come back a bit at a later time. :) Thanks for all your help so far. The plants look so much prettier in the mix by the way.

No, not at all. I've heard nothing but good about these soil mixes, just haven't tried them, but wholeheartedly subscribe to the principle and goals - to improve drainage and oxygen within the root zone, to eliminate the excess water. These recipes have legions of followers and if I was unhappy with my plants, I would attempt to find the ingredients and use it myself.

FWIW, I've killed a lot of plants via various methods, but can't think of any instances where repotting was even a primary factor. Almost always, repotted plants are extremely happy, relieved. Especially when put into a more "comfortable" soil. Confident you'll have good results!

Now it's all about light, occasional inspection for pests, and possibly about supplemental air movement, depending on how your home is heated.

Hi Tiff..
Don't worry about a lack of replies.. there's alot of action on here. Threads can drop pretty quickly..
You should be very happy with that mix. Watch how everything perks up.

Charlie

i started my notebooks today. i even went as far as to make a diagram of my rubber tree. it only has 6 stems so it wasnt bad, i then made a list of how many leaves were on each stem and noted any new growth Yes, Im OCD.

Didn't you say you had a 4 month old baby? Hope someone's feeding, watering and repotting him/her while you're busy with the plants.

Maybe Flora's kidding but I've thought the same thing.

You're diagramming your plants? You sound like you're not kidding, guess you don't think you have enough to do. Perhaps a camera could document your plants' development more easily? I can't tell if you're joking or not about the OCD.

Just my two cents & opinion, but if you keep it up at this rate, you may well ruin your pleasure for the whole hobby if it all has to become chores, chores & more chores. Maybe I missed something?

We didn't all learn this stuff overnight, time & patience are as important ingredients as sun, water, mixes & fresh air.

If Flora is kidding maybe she should have ended with a smiley face or some other words indicating she was kidding. Remember this is written communication and is very easy to be misread somehow.

You are also apparently missing something. 1. I said I made a diagram of the rubber tree. The rubber tree has 6 stems. Thats it, 6 freaking stems. So I simply made 3 lines on the paper in one direction and 3 lines in the other direction. And all I did was count the leaves. The plant is small and each stem has no more than 7 leaves on it. I made note of this so I can see the growth rate of the rubber tree. I recently cut many leaves off because of something that happened to them from misting. Again the plants are all starter plants. Something you would have known had you read the other threads. Otherwise neither of you has any reason to question what I do with my plants or most importantly question the care of my children.

What give either of you the right to question what I do with my plants or my kids? Should you be concerned about my kids...call the children and youth crisis center. As a matter of fact, I can give you the number. My mother in law is recently retired from working with CYS.

As far as my plants...really. Who care what I do? As mentioned, they are starter plants. I want to track the growth rate of them. So what. That is my perogative. I also did take pictures of them. So thanks for the suggestion. Im on it. It isnt a chore and I dont see it as I chore. I do have an OCD issue for tracking most everything I do. It is who I am and it is whatI enjoy. Why does anyone care? No one says anyting to the people who have over 150 plants..seems excessive to me but to each his own. If that is what they enjoy, then so be it. I am happy for them and want to hear their expereinces on all of them.

What the heck is wrong with people anymore.

Charlie. I dont think I like it here. I dont need this kind of garbage when all I want to do it take up a hobby that I personally enjoy all by my self. FOR ME. Not my kids or my husband...for me. I will be darn if I will be judged by anyone for anything I do. I would be interested in keeping in touch with you through another medium though. You have helped me so much and I am so grateful for that. I enjoy talking with you and several other ppl on here. But the above threads arent worth my time here.

Tiff

Tiff, you've gained a lot of information in the short time you've been a member of this forum. Many people have shared their time and experience with you...willingly and repeatedly.

But you have to understand that this community is like a family....we don't all get along all of the time. For the most part, we're a congenial group. Occasionally, I'd like to rap a few knuckles or pinch somebodies heads off, but those times are rare.

I'd hate to see you burn your bridges here when you seem to enjoy it so much. You've got a lot of potential as a plant grower. I hope that you can just take a deep breath and let hurtful comments just wash over you.

Now, flora...our sweet, smart, British friend. Do you need your knuckles rapped? :-)

Rhizo, perfectly said...

If it were not for advice like yours when I first met you years ago, I would have missed out on all the good people I have gotten to know and more so my plants.

Tiff, I would say 99% of the people here despite their personalities, really want to see you succeed, and the other 1 %, even more:-) It was something I had to accept in order to do what is best for my plants. Press forward and enjoy this ride with its up and downs. :-)

Mike:-)

I know what you are saying and I am not burning any bridges. THere are a handful of people here that have helped me out tremendously and I would keep in touch with them.

I am just in total shock ANYONE on HERE would even make a statement like that. I am really taken back to be honest. All I want to do is grow plants. There are many other avenues where I can get information without someone rudely commenting on my personal life.

I like it here and would like to remain. But I dont need this garbage. Who does that? What posseses someone to even go there. All out shocked is all.

Mike...lolololol

Tiff...it doesn't pay IN ANY WAY to hold grudges. It's a totally self-defeating behavior. I'm thinking of you....your spirit, your sense of self. But, it's also not good for the spirit of this little community if you are going to be angry and bitter. Try to shake it off and leave it behind, if possible.

Just my $.02 worth of opinion. I won't say anything more on the subject.

With all the drama on this post, I'm not sure anyone is going to pay attention to my new comment/question. BUT I didn't think my question warranted a brand new post when the top of this thread was dealing with my issue!

I just finished repotting all of my plants in the 5-1-1 mix. Between a mealy bug scare and some gnats around the house but especially around the houseplants(Our whole TOWN is filled with gnats lately. It is gross), I decided that it was time to repot.

I'm glad I did, because some of the soil was unbelievably wet. I discovered some really healthy roots in almost all of my plants--YAY!, and I found my parlor palm's roots were awful (RIP Parlor Palm!). I'm generally happy with my first batch of 5-1-1 mix, though my bark selection was a little thick so I had to pick out the oversized pieces.

Anyway, my question is about the "wiggle" that Charlie (DeadheadRI) mentioned earlier on this post. With the exception of my arrowhead vine and my peace lily, all of my plants are extremely wobbly. Do I need to add any support, or should I just wait for a few weeks and let them straighten themselves out on their own?

Thank you!

I have the same issue after repotting most plants, especially since I try to NOT pack down the soil. If I put them in a spot where there's little wind, they've usually firmed themselves up within a week or two. As long as they're in the right direction, everything should be fine. If something's leaning, it may or may not stand back up, hard to say without knowing what plant.

In most cases with mine, I actually press firmly on my mix so that there is stability for all my plants.
The only time I have a wobbly issue is if the plant is very tall and top heavy, ir if it has a ver shallow root system.

In this case, I use a stick to support my plant.

Mike:-)

If you're looking for fastest reestablishment in the new soil, securing the plant against movement (in relation to the pot) is very important. The roots that do most of the work are almost microscopically fine, so every time a breeze blows or the pot or plant gets jostled, large numbers of these roots are broken and the energy it took to grow them lost.

Sometimes, you can pack some temporary stones or other objects around the plant until it gets established. I like to tie the plant securely in place with jute. Put your imagination to work. ;-)

{{gwi:828}}

{{gwi:6990}}

Wire hooked into the drain hole:
{{gwi:3253}}

{{gwi:3269}}

{{gwi:104497}}

Al

Not as nice/tidy as Al's, but here is my attempt to secure plant after repotting:

Macramazing!!!color>size>

{{gwi:12455}} Al

Thanks purple, meyermike, tapla, and rina for your tips (and pics!!).

I'm amazed by how much my wobblers have already straightened out one day after repotting. My worst wobblers are tiny (my jade & succulents the worst offenders). Inspired by all of YOU, I've created seashells barriers around each to keep them propped them up for now. (I have lots of extra seashells around the house--more seashells than stones anyway!) Sorry, no pics from me this time around! Leaves keep getting in the way of the seashells!

Also, I watered for the first time, and I was AMAZED how quickly the water ran through the 5-1-1 mix. I can tell it's already working its magic! Brought my office plant (philodendron scandens) home for a repot this weekend. Can't forget that the office plant needs 5-1-1 too... :)

Oh, dear. Looks as if I've run up against the old transatlantic humour mismatch again. Do you have the expression 'pulling someone's leg' in the US? I suspect not.

Tiff - I do have children and when they were 4 months old I was lucky to have enough time to get washed and dressed each day. They didn't sleep much in the day, nor yet at night. The plants got watered because you can do that one-handed and half-asleep. They certainly didn't get repotted. I was just amazed you have the time.

It really isn't worth getting het up about what a total stranger says on the web. Chances are you've misunderstood the intention. Even if you haven't, and you consider the person to be stupid, which you made abundantly clear, why bother putting all that energy into a response?

Life is too short.

Here's an emoticon for you. ?-(

F - I hardly ever get involved in other peoples' issues, but as hard as I try, I can only find 1 way to interpret your remark upthread; but it is what it is, and was pretty much forgotten. Your comment came across as very personal, and a bolt from the blue, actually ..... and it surprised a lot of us. Even if a person secretly held in their own heart that the remark was appropriate to the situation - it still would have been inappropriate as an utterance, none of their business, and a hasty, uninformed decision .... so why keep the pot boiling? From what I've seen of you, that's not in keeping with how you usually present yourself. Just sayin' ....

Al

Al - I really believe there was a total mismatch in humour. Here my comment would have been considered harmless banter and no cause whatsoever for such a massive reaction.

I do not intend to keep the pot boiling. It is just that this was the first time I saw the response from Tiff. I merely attempted to explain to her what I meant. I seem to have failed, so I will now leave it since this appears to be a case of culturally-based mutual incomprehension.

Well said, Al.

Tiff, there are a number of rude folks here, and they are to be utterly ignored.
You'll figure out who they are in time.

Josh

here is what my 4 month old has to say about the whole stupid situation...he was 10 days old here...

Luckily I haven't encountered anyone so rude I must ignore them. Certainly not Flora, who I believe when she says her remark was just a joke that missed the mark. A while back I made what I thought was just a joke about plant care and thought I'd be in the dog house forever.

Tiff, hilarious pic! My daughter was born with a lot of hair like that. They used her for the baby-bathing demo for the new moms that day.

Rina, wow! I usually just lean a plant against a wall or another plant for a few days. That's way high-tech!

Rachel, that seashell thing sounds like something I'd do, and have done. What cute little babies you must have for seashells to prop them up. What kind of shells?

Yeah, I probably went overboard with that "macramizing" (that's right on funny, Al!)-type of securing plant; but since I wanted to keep it outside for a while I wanted to make sure it's firm in the soil. I usually use larger rocks to support newly potted plant, but this one was too big for that.
Better sure than sorry, right?

Rina

omg! thats just soo wrong lol

Tiff, Flora,,
FWIW i did the xact same thing here recently (i gotta find it again...)
one a dem 'ailing jade' threads,,,,

In a moment of 'brilliance', i thought i'd toss in my 2 cents and move on,
i replied with a quick, 'sharp', (in hindsight, possibly condescending?) reply, that (again, i 'thought') was being 'clever', and basically reiterating what others were replying with, and (likely) had through-out the history of this forum...
Dont Overwater! blah, blah, blahhhh,,,
forgot the 'smiley', or the 'J/K', hit reply,, thought, 'oh they'll know-what-i-mean'.

I honestly dont know what the OP thought of the rely, but one member immediately 'chastised' me for it on the open forum! (least thats what it 'felt' like at the time)
oops! what had i done? well, i felt bad, but it did get me a little hot-headed too after that,, i got kinda 'defensive',, i thought, 'who-are-you, to-tell-me'?? ya know?

We can be so elloquent here sometimes, Al, Toni, Laura, Purple, Mike, (really good writers) but sometimes we just wanna toss in a quick thought, ya know, between wash-loads, diaper-changes, or repotting chores,,,

And for the life-of-me (since i got a PC, and been on the forums) i cant figure how anyone as thick-skinned as me (you's too maybe?) can suddenly get all sensitive about one little thing all the sudden, but we do sometimes.

We're all humans, emotional sometimes,, some days i bite my tongue, wont say anything, i just read and learn, or amuse myself at the 'banter' of the Regs, and then somtimes i just cant help myself, i just gotta participate,,,
I wanna Learn AND have fun! ...w/out sum foo tellin me 'oh thats not helpful'...

well, Yeah! maybe Not!? thats just my thoughts,
i mean, i wanna help (if i can) but theres soo many better equipped members onboard here, I Know someone (usually Everyone) is gonna get the 'solution' out there,, if i have time i'll type out an in depth reply, cross-referencing all the appropriate links, and noting the sources for further study~,,,

but sometimes i got bare-roots sitting out, or the kids started screaming, or maybe its tea-time? who knows? why did i even take a moment to peek in on the forums Anyway??
Oh! thats right, i have questions about the gritty mix/repotting too, Dangit! ...i'll come back after lunch (starvin here), I'll see you kids in the 'garden', Pls try n play nice till i get back! :)

ps: that 'minds me i need some rocks for the 'wobblies',, what ive usually done is just overfill above my (intended) soil line, then just before each subsequent watering, i'll tip out a little soil till it gets back to where it should be, assuming the plant is 'stabilizing' itself, that seem okay?

Purpleinopp: I'm not a shell expert. My husband and I were married last year in Myrtle Beach, so before and after the wedding, we compulsively collected shells, people gave us shells, we used shells as gifts to bridal party (but ended up with extras), etc etc. We have shells all over the place!

I'm mostly using shells in my jades & succulents. The biggest jade is probably about 3 inches tall and it is struggling the most from the repot. I have one leaf that I think is rotting :(

In my jade pot (which has 4 of my 5 jades), I have a variety of round flat shells and curly tube-like shells. I used the curly shell between the edge of the pot and the plant, and the round shells in between plants to add stability.

In my succulent pot, I used more of the curly shells for the same reason. I don't want them leaning over the edge. I want them straight as possible. They aren't wanting to lean inwards so I don't have any shells there. There are 4 alpenglow / vera higgins / graptosedum, and the tallest is about 2 inches. The smallest about a half inch.

Rina, congrats on your beach wedding! Cool stuff!

Sounds like you have some tube worm shells, and if you were in Myrtle, some cockles are a safe assumption. The round, flat ones sound like clams or mussels. If they had ridges, I'd guess scallops. Can't get enough shells, been collecting them my whole life, they're all over the house and I have a few books about them.

One rotting jade leaf doesn't sound like a problem... unless it only has a few. Finally found one of these small enough to suit my budget last year and it's grown a lot. The urge to see how easy it is to propagate got me and now there's a little chunk I cut out of the middle in a separate pot. Both are in full sun outside. Sounds like you like yours as much as I like mine!

Tiny cuttings are cute and fun, but in general, I do have better luck with bigger ones. Cool how jade seems to have enough power in such a small piece to start fresh. Seems a lot like Sedum, which I have a lot more experience with (as a yard plant.)

Purple

It is rachelthepoet who had a beach wedding...Rina

Hello EVeryone,

Beautiful picture of your gorgeous little one Tiff!!!

What a beautiful little angel and i know you are a wonderful mother... : )

Here is a pic of some of the ways i keep my trees from moving around..

This Port. was just repotted and i didn't prune the branches yet.. but, i tied it down with little clamps..
{{gwi:104500}}

i also use seashells too! LOL.. Great way to keep some of my cuttings stable!!
{{gwi:6502}}

Conch shells work great!! : )

Love living close to the source!!

Take care,

Laura

Oops, thanks for straightening me out, Rina. Excuse me from both I ask.

Laura, that's a pretty snazzy setup for your little tree. Nice! Love the pool, wow!

Plumeria cuttings? Those may be whelk shells. Conch isn't usually found as far north, and have more pointed tops, the opening flares out. Whelk just kind of end with a straight edge, but the openings are down in that pic. What do you think?

Purple

no problem (my wedding was many, many moons ago; not on the beach but in Vienna, Austria)...

Laura

What is the reason for the paper 'sleeves' (looks like paper towels/TP rolls)?

Rina

Again, Thank you all for your kind words. I appreciate it. You all are so sweet!

Tiff... Sooo precious!! You are more than welcome!! : )

Purple.. Thank YOU!!! : ) I have always wondered..some say Whelk and some say Conch..so i googled the difference.. LOL . The pic shows what i find here in VB and at the Outer Banks.. it said..."whelk Conch" it did say that conchs are more in the tropical water..so im not sure. I have collected them since i was a little girl and have a large collection of shells. Do you collect shells?

I also have black and dark grey ones. Love those shells, but we always only collect the ones that are not alive. We always throw them back to live another day!!

Those are Plumeria cuttings.. good eye!! : )

Rina.. LOL.. Those are TP holders. I use them on the cuttings in the early summer when the temps get hot in the spring to stop the sunburn on the stem of the cutting. Once they grow their leaves, they protect themselves.. I just have to help them a little in the beginning here in VB because the temps can get so hot in the spring. Trees are not ready for the heat.. The stems can and have been burned.. This is the way we protect the stems..

I have my grandson here now.. love him to pieces!! " ) He is only 4 weeks old.. sigh. Im in love...

Have a great night!!

Laura

I was wondering about the TP rolls, too!

Oh yes, there's thousands shells all over the house. For years we went to Holden Beach, NC for Christmas. When you're the only people on a barrier island, the shells are ABUNDANT! There are still shells from NC that are packed in boxes in my shed. Tons of big cockles, olive, clams, scallops, venus clams, baby ears, kittens' paw, jingle shells, turrets and augers, so pretty!

Also have shells from vacations in Norfolk VA, and Hilton Head SC. At HH, I found a lot of sand dollars caught in the tide pools.

Then there are the FL shells, oh my. Every piece of clear glass I can find is filled with them, and we've found a TON of great ones on Cape San Blas, just SE of Panama City. We like to camp at the state park there and took a golf cart once and made it 7 miles down a sand path to the end of the island. Wow there were shells in the bay! You're right about throwing the live ones back in, most of the really pretty shells in FL have marine hermit crabs in them (which are not the kind kept as pets, marine crabs need an established salt aquarium.) We found a ton of purple urchins, horseshoe crab shells, big scallops with pink and purple stripes, and others whose names escape me at the moment, pounds of them.

My favorite are the tiny coquina shells though. After many years of picking them up, I still have only a small jar full but we add more often, it's only 90 minutes to the beach from here.

An especially good haul from a camping trip last spring:

Purple:

wow! what a haul! I have never been able to collect THAT many seashells! I'm sure seashell collecting is going to become one of our favorite past-times as we vacation. You really know your stuff!

Sometimes I think it's a shame that we live in the mountains- 5 hours away from any beach! I joke when we are out shopping or when we visit someone's house that we have the only beach house in the mountains--everyone else decorates with bears, greens, trees, and lodge decor. We have seashells, sand, and beachy blues!