Desert Rose with Al's gritty mix
FLadenium
10 years ago
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FLadenium
10 years agoLoveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
10 years agoRelated Discussions
Perlite as Turface Replacement in Al's Gritty Mix
Comments (6)In Hawaii years ago in our fruit tree nursery we used cinder rock (pumice) in about the size range you are talking about with incredible sucess. We never in 10 years of growing used perlite in our mixes. It was way to expensive for our use. We also didn't have acess to pine bark except bark nuggets shipped in from the west coast, again way to expensive. We used soil (not the best choice but it worked for 1 to 2 year grow out cycles when it was used at less than 20 percent. The pumice was about 60-70 percent with soil, peat moss, and composted manures making up the rest with peat moss and manures being the least of the 4 main components. The CEC was great as I recall and moisture and air ratios were also very conducive to containered tree growing. I would watch for possible high salt (can be leached out if need be). Sometimes the ph was somewhat high but with acid soils and water it wasn't much of a problem for us. It may or may not be for you. I would love to have access to bulk pumice in your size range by the truckload if I could get it, but all I can find is lava sand and it is just too small in my opinion for anything but small container growing. I am not sure what LECA is? So I can't help as to it being better than pumice or perlite. I have used perlite quite a bit here in Central Texas and we have temps much like you describe and over several years of use I have seen minimal degradation or breakdown. The only problem I have seen is in overmixing breaking it down but not much once in the pot. I still have some pots from several years ago that has lots of perlite in the mix and they will be great for raised beds (not pretty but still completely functional. Maybe different deposits around the world have different enough properties that we can't make a apples to apples comparison. I can only speak from my experience with mostly Mexico derived perlite. Hope this is of some use for your situation. Good Luck and Happy Growing David...See MoreMy plants in Al's gritty mix!
Comments (7)Wow! They're gorgeous! I'm surprised at how small some of the pots seem; I guess some of these plants have compact root systems. What a relaxing place it must be to sit. I'd be sitting outside right now, but the sycamores have unleashed their fluffy seeds, and I'm sneezing. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the FoliagePro 3-1-2; I don't dare over-fertilize right now, as I started with the wrong stuff. I'd love to know Al's answer to my question of how finely divided organic fertilizer doesn't eventually make it out through the screen at the bottom. I won't use the alfalfa meal if it's going to clog things up....See MorePotting Mix? Al's gritty mix or...?
Comments (28)Well, yesterday I used the gritty mix for the first time. I put a persian lilac seedling in the gritty mix (3-4-2) and a spider plant in 1-1-1. I am a bit scared as to how often to water since within a couple of hours the wick on the bottom was dry. I watered again and this morning dry again, so I watered again. Is this normal? The summer heat is not here yet and I am a bit worried about watering. Also the spider plant does not look too good, it is wilted quite a bit. I plan on putting some vincas in the 5-1-1 and see how that goes. I totally understand the benefits of the gritty mix but...are the plants going to make it if I water once a day? Also when is good time to start fertilizing the new potted plants and how much. I also plan on moving my african violet and the peace lily in the gritty (1-1-1) but they will be inside. Please someone help and build my confidence up...:( Michael...See MoreMy Adenium needs serious help, please.
Comments (109)The best thing to use is actual soap (castile or other), which is distinct from detergent (ie: dawn and friends - if you look carefully you'll see they never use the word soap on their labels). Often you can find peppermint castile at many places, but there are other kinds of real soap as well. Detergent has been shown to have some effectiveness, and is often recommended, but it's not soap, and is more likely to contain chemicals you might not want on your leafs, and is likely less effective than actual soap at deterring/killing your pests. any kind of "insecticidal soap", like that sold by safer and others, is made of real soap and not detergent. I think it's likely the curling/misformed young leafs in your photos are caused by whatever is there, and if you don't address it will get worse. Leafs like that are usually caused either by pests or some kind of nutrient uptake issue caused by salt buildup in the mix [too much fert, not enough flushing], overly alkaline irrigation water, or other reasons. Daniel...See Morercharles_gw (Canada)
10 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
10 years agoFLadenium
10 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
10 years agoLoveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
10 years agoVikki
9 years agorcharles_gw (Canada)
9 years agoLoveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
9 years agodynofmb
9 years agodynofmb
9 years agoLoveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
9 years agoKadie
9 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
9 years agorcharles_gw (Canada)
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoKadie
9 years agoLoveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
9 years agorcharles_gw (Canada)
9 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
9 years agoKadie
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoLoveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
9 years agoKadie
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
9 years agoKadie
9 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
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Loveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia