Growing Medium for Potted Figs
oxankle
16 years ago
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agooxankle
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Best Pot Size & Growing Medium for Draceana marginata
Comments (16)Hi Al. I have to use my phone for Internet. DM is auto-corrected from DE - diatomaceous earth. Sorry about that. Yes, I bare-rooted it, washed the roots, and spread them out in the pot. It is all grit, no soil, no bark. I don't have a place to sift messy bark fines in my tiny apartment, so you and I discussed it and left them out. I use exactly the method you describe to get the excess water out of the bottom of the grit after I water this plant. (It seems an enormous pot to me). I don't do it hard enough to get more than a couple tablespoons though. I don't know why I hadn't thought to do that when it wilted. I have done the dowel test though, a number of times, and it comes out dry. I use meat skewers, which are actually bamboo, but that should make little difference. If I leave the skewer in the grit and just pull it out when I'm testing the wetness, the skewer is always damp. If I just shove one into it for a few seconds to test it, it comes out dry. I don't know the optimum amount of time to leave it in. Suggestions? When it wilts, I water it, so I don't know if it would perk up on its own overnight. That's an interesting observation though. With soil it's easy to tell why something wilts. I've been watering it every two days since it last wilted, so I'll return to the previous twice weekly schedule and see if it releases any water with the shake test before watering it again. It is growing surprisingly fast. I cut a broken leaf off of it just a week or so ago, and I'm surprised to see the leftover stub has grown about 1/2 inch. That seems a lot for a Draceana in mid-winter in this climate. All but my succulents, Sansevieria, and Beaucarnea have been growing quite fast all fall & winter though, despite the cold and gloom here. The only exception was a pothos in straight DE, but that took off after changing to 2:1 mix. Thanks for your help, Al. I'll let you know if I get any water out of the pot in a couple days. In case anyone's following this, the thread Al's referring to is below. Here is a link that might be useful: Draceana and increasing disenchantment......See MoreSize pot for growing figs
Comments (19)V said: "I (and some fig experts on the Ourfigs.com forum) put eight 1 inch holes around the bottom as close to the bottom as possible and I have not encountered problems ...." Why as close to the bottom as possible? Because drilling them above the bottom is a problem. And as far as drainage is concerned, 1 hole is as good as 8 or 100. I assume the experts are expecting the extra holes to facilitate gas exchange, which also serves to compound the issue of the soil drying down too fast. Either way it's hard to justify the holes by way of efficacy. Whenever the oxygen supply to roots is limited, even for periods of time as short as a few hours, there is a resultant loss of potential in terms of growth and vitality. It is as undeniable as the conclusion that breathing through a drinking straw while attempting to run a marathon will limit a runner's ability to perform; and, arrival at the conclusion no damage is done because the damage is not conspicuous is a logical error - a causal fallacy in reverse. The damage isn't conspicuous, therefore it must not exist. We know with 100% certainty that perched water in a container is indeed a limiting factor. Drilling holes through the sidewall, above the bottom of the pot, adds to the volume of excess water in the pot after a thorough watering. How can it NOT be limiting? That the excess water is used rather quickly only suggests that the extent of the damage is limited but not eliminated by the short duration of soil saturation. If you carefully read what I said, you'll see I affirmed that holes drilled only through the side of the pot (with none in the bottom) should be avoided unless the bottom of the holes are tangent to (touching) the bottom of the pot. Even if the bottom of the holes through the pot's sidewall are 1/8" above the bottom, the pool of stagnant water which has no path by which to exit the pot is a perfect place for anaerobic fungi to gain a hold and wreak havoc with root health/ function. There is a reason you have never seen a container available for sale that has holes only in the sidewalls well above the pot bottom. Like orchid pots, they all have holes in the bottom. Even nursery cans in which holes are punched through the sides have a small portion of the bottom removed directly under the holes ..... for a reason. Al...See MoreSoil mix for container figs?
Comments (2)The link below should provide you what your looking for. If not search the forum as this topic has many threads. Here is a link that might be useful: Growing medium for Potted Figs...See MoreGrowing Fig tree in a pot
Comments (2)I've never grown a fig in a pot inside. To get maximum fruit, they need sun. Not sure about fake sun with your track lighting. Tiger Stripe fruit is much better than Brown Turkey, but it can grow to be a big tree too. All figs can be kept pruned to a certain size. Some trees have two crops. First crop is on old wood. Second on new wood. To prune your tree, let it fruit. It will go dormant in winter. That is the time to prune. If you prune off too much old wood, you will lose your First crop AKA Breba crop. But by pruning, you will encourage a lot of new growth and that is where your main crop will happen. Good luck to you!...See Moretapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)