Just a few questions

14 years ago

Its rainy season in south florida and my bromeliad pots on my patio got soaked through and has been for a week or so. i know its not a good thing, so i dumped out as much water as i can but the soil is still soggy. should i not keep water in the cup while i try to dry the soil? do i need to worry about the soaked soil or does anyone have tips on a speedy drying solution...

...Also i have mushrooms growing in my pots. Is that bad? Good? should i remove them when i see them? some are white and some are a brilliant yellow.

...May be a silly question but can you plant an epiphyte in a pot?

Thanks for the help, i am new at this.

Marla

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Comments (5)

Minxie
14 years ago
Many of the bromeliads in your pots are epiphyte. Good air circulation should help dry the soil out
sdandy
14 years ago
Hi Marla, welcome to the forum. If you stay around long enough you will learn all kinds of stuff here. But to your question/problem. If the potting mix is fairly heavy and not drying out well, just pull the broms out and shake or pull all of the soil off (at least for tank-type bromeliads). You can either put them in better draining mix or just leave them out of soil for a while. Often times I leave plants just sitting in an empty pot for months when pulling pups or getting plants from others. It might not be ideal for their roots, but most aren't completely reliant on roots anyways. It sure helps keep them from rotting from the base. Just one thought/method. Others will probably have other suggestions. A more passive idea is to set the pots on small rocks, pebbles, or something to lift them off the ground so the bottom of the pot can drain freely (and definitely don't have saucers under them).
-andy
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neomea
14 years ago
Hi All

We have similar weather in summer with lots of rain and humidity (nothing gets dry very quickly) and fungus grows wild, the mushrooms I have had in my pots didnt do anything to the plants. What I do these days with the more epiphytic numbers is: I place them on-top of the soil and not in, then I put stones around to hold the plant upright. They root just fine.

Havent had a rotter since...

Dennis
coffeemom
14 years ago
I share your pain. It rained everyday here for 2 weeks. I brought a bunch of crypts under cover when my Elaine rotted. I pulled 2 black chantini from the garden because they grew under the roof drip line. This post reminded me to go pot them up.The local Brom society recommeds 1/3 peat, 1/3 perlite and 1/3 pine fines.

Don't even get me started on mosquitos!
vriesea
14 years ago
Hi Marla, only just read your posting as i have only been here for a while ,Aniesam and I live in a high rainfall area and this last 6 months my plants have been halveway flooded 6-8 times ,have lost 2 small pups only,but we grow in a bark mix (composted)thats meant for orchids so its free draining yet holds moisture , a good test i did in my orchid days (for Cymbidiums)was to fill an 8 inch bucket pot to within 1 inch of the rim ,then using a shower type fitting on the hose you turn the hose on to medium flow and try to fill the pot,if you can make the water flow over the pot the mix is to dense and will root the roots during prolonged rain, if it does not? well its free draining,make sure you use pots with side drainage as well and yes if possible use pepples etc to get pot of the ground,the fact that you grow "mushrooms" in the pots is a sure sign its not good for your broms ,most peatmoss today is of very poor quality and goes muddy ,i would not use it,any mix recommended for orchids will do well as they also need aireation round the roots,trust this may be of use .

Just a few questions

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Minxie

sdandy

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