The key to prevent damp off/various other fungus and molds on soil, is to make sure the soil drys out thoroughly between waterings, almost to the point the plant starts to wilt. Keep all plants in open air, turn a fan on throughout the day, Or even better, have it on constantly. This is the key with any medium. Provide the worst environment for pathogens as possible, while still providing adaquate environment to grow plants. Keep a dry environment as you could without harming the plants. While providing adaquate air circulate/heat control with a fan. Once you get this keyed in, you will experienc little mold/pathogens.

I wait until the soil at the bottom of the pot is barely moist and the rest of the soil is dry before I water my marginata (and I rreally soak it when I do), and it seems very happy, with a multitude of narrow shiny leaves above its two tall stalks. I use a moisture probe, but a stick or dowel would work too. Ficus love it, too, though I need to watch them closely to catch them before they get too dry and drop leaves. Of course this wouldn't apply to plants that really need swampy conditions, and if it's counter to what the pros say, feel free to ignore it. It's just what's been working well for me even in the water-retaining potting soil they're in. BTW, plants that are used to constant moisture seem to need some time to adjust to this kind of watering.

Hi all - I posted this in the wrong forum yesterday! I have a 2-3 year old ficus lyrata. The first year it was doing well but I decided to prune the roots last year and use regular potting mix. Below is the roots untrimmed. I cut off half the roots - maybe too much. 4-6 leaves shed after this but it shot up tall and produced 4 sets of leaves. It was trying to grow new leaves near the existing ones but they dried and shriveled up. I was bad in winter and didn't water it much due to fungus gnats. It then lost many more leaves due to my neglect. This year (it's spring in Sydney but cold atm) I decided to try the gritty mix (diatomite, decomposed granite which was very clay like and pine bark). I washed out all the old soil and did no root pruning because it looked ill. The roots had not grown much over the year - it actually looked like it lost roots or that it was growing gangly. There were heaps of these wire worms(?) in the old soil too. It looks like it wants to shed more leaves and I'm afraid I made it worse. Would really like some help as to what to do. Eventually I would like it to regrow leaves in the bare parts but not sure if this is possible. It has always lived outside but not in direct sun. It has a tendency to grow really tall. I would some day like to prune it so it isn't so tall and let it branch out. What can I do to make it healthy? Should I not water it too much at the moment? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks Sam

Thanks guys. I had them in closed zip-lock bags that I blew air into. I also have them on a heat mat for seeds. There is lots of humidity in there. The mix is a combination of peat moss and perlite. I just took them out of the bags, rinsed them off and watered them. A few are obviously dead and I pulled them out. A few look green though so there is hope. I took the bag off them for a while to let the stems dry a bit. I may cover them loosely again so they do not dry out too much. I'be never successfully rooted a citrus cutting. I have rooted other cuttings in water though like Vladimir. It really would be nice to get this down since I am trimming down some trees a bit...