Newbie question about Mircle grow

11 years ago

Hello,

Last weekend I planted 2 trees and wondering if I messed up on #2.

On Sat:
1) A Yoshino Flowering Cherry bought at Lowes on Sat. Friend helped me with this one. He used the existing soil from the pot but surrounded it by Miracle Grow moisture control. We could not find the second tree I wanted at lowes so his mom gave me 3 very small trees. They are called Japanese plums otherwise known as Eriobotrya japonica . Because they were so small, my sister told me I should grow them in pots till they get bigger. My friend was not so sure about that so I cut it down the middle and planted the largest one but used 95% Miracle Grow.

Well tonight I was online and they have more detailed instructions and Miracle grow says their potting soil is only for pots , not in the ground.

My ? is this: How critical is this? Should I dig up the plum and replant with just dirt from the ground or basic top soil?

I do thnk the Yoshino Flowering Cherry appears to be doing well. It's been in the ground less than 1 week and found the first flower tonight!

So what should I do about the plum? The other two smaller ones are in pots with MG.

Thanks,
Fletch

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Comments (5)

allen456
11 years ago
You messed up on #1. Planting holes should be backfilled with the soil you remove when digging the hole.
Kimmsr
11 years ago
This company produces both soilless mixes meant for conatiners and something called "garden soil" that is meant to be mixed into the soil you have, two different products. However, many people do mix the soilless potting mixes into their garden soil to add organic matter since the potting mixes are a mix of peat moss, coir, and/or finely shredded bark. Nothing wrong with doing that except using products from this company is quite expensive.
Whether "you messed up" or not depends on the soil you planted in and the amount of this "soil" you mixed into the planting holes. Amending clay soils with organic matter cna make that clay soil into something that allows water to flow quite freely while the soil outside that area is not and will not allow the water to flow so it accumulates in that planting hole and can drown the plant. In snd, however, amending the planting hole with organic matter aids in holding moisture and nutrients around the plants roots so that plant has a better chance of growing.

This post was edited by kimmsr on Thu, Apr 11, 13 at 6:38
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toxcrusadr
11 years ago
The conventional wisdom is indeed shifting to not amending tree holes in many circumstances. Having said that, millions of trees have been planted all sorts of ways over the centuries, and most of em did just fine.

If you're in very heavy clay, and the tree is not in a high spot, there is a higher risk of drowning the way you did it, but it's not black and white.
fletchb
Original Author
11 years ago
So the bottom line is I did not really do it right but should be ok?

FWIW the Yoshino cherry seems fine. In less than a week, it has already sprouted 3 flowers. This pick was taken tonight. Thursday or Fri night I found the firs one. So it must be ok even if I screwed up a bit.
Kimmsr
11 years ago
Without knowing the answers to a whole host of questions about your soil and environment there is no real good way to answer your questions. Perhaps this link will be of some help.

Here is a link that might be useful: About the bathtub effect

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Newbie question about Mircle grow

Comments (5)

allen456

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Newbie question about Mircle grow

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