Is red lava rock good for plumeria?

12 years ago

Hello all,

I am not a regular poster here but I do come often, read the posts and enjoy everybody's picture and advise.

I discovered plumeria about 3 years ago. A very nice person gave me few cuttings of JM and I was not successful in rooting them. 2years ago I tried again my luck at rooting plumeria. This time I was successful and I end up with some nice named plumeria. Last summer I was fortunate to see 3 of them blooming but about a month ago I discovered that all of them were dead/rotted. I checked them almost everyday and they looked hard and green but they were rotting inside. When I discovered them it was too late. As an inexperienced plumeria gardener I think I kept them too wet for the winter temps. I was devastated that I lost all of them (over 20)and could not save any. Three years later I am back to square one.

After my ordeal with my plumeria I started a few seeds. Now they have 2-3 leaves and wanted to plant them in a grit mix like I saw in one of Laura's posting. I went yesterday to a garden supply store and could not find gran-i-grit and turface but I found pine bark and a combination of pine bark and red lava rock called rhododendron mix. Is this mix good to plant my plumeria seedlings until I find the other ingredients?

Thanks for reading.

pat

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Comments (6)

Loveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
12 years ago
Hi Pat,

First of all i would like to say that im so sorry for all of your losses on all of your babies. i know it can be very frustrating, but you have a great attitude and you are willing to try again!!! That's what it's all about. We all learn from each other and then to take what we can use and apply it to our own way of gardening.

I checked the pine bark and red lava rock called Rhododendron mix out. It does has fir bark in it as well and it looks great to me. You will be fine usuing this mix to start your seedlings as they will do fine. They will have great airation for the roots and i feel that when you do find other ingedients, then your seedlings will have benefited from this type of mix that you have here. Remember, its all in what we can find in an around our area. The man reason for the mix is to give the roots plenty of space (good aeration and to reduce the perched wated table.

You live in California and you all have some wonderful ingerdientes out the especially at OCFS in OC.

What you bought will work fine. Then if you want to search out someother type of mix...then we can help you find what you are looking for... : )

Enjoy your new babies!!

Congratulations!!!

Oh...Welcome to the forum!!! : )

Laura

PS I can always send you a sample of the soil to you and you can see for yourself it you want to continue the search and or split the test tress in your mix verses the gritty mix. If you are interested...email me and i will be glad to send you some. I may be heading out there in April anyway, but you probably can get it sooner if i mail it now!!!

Good Luck..

Laura
jeepman69
12 years ago
Pat,

I too have been trying to find the grit and Turface. I did manage to find all of the ingredients, the grit I found at a feed store. I also have included a link for the Turface, you can use the link to find suppliers by state. Good luck with your fresh start.

Here is a link that might be useful: Turface Information
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tdogdad
12 years ago
Figara- ;you live in calif so you should be able to find Pumice, Kelloggs Big R and Turf n Tee. Mix equally for a great soil mix. If you are within range of Orange, all can be picked up at Orange County Farm Supply. A bale of Big R is about $7.50, two big bags of Turf n Tee total 23.50 and a big bag of pumice about $7 which makes about 6 bags of mix at under $7 a bag. People out east can't seem to find pumice or good redwood products. This mix is used by a number of professionals as well as many collectors in the west. If you go to OCFS ask for Chris Roy, owner and plumie man (SCPS member too). Good luck. I was just there yesterday buying a van load of mixes and fertilizers.
houstonpat
12 years ago
I use Red Lava Rock at the bottom of my plastic containers then fill in with pea gravel. I follow that with a blend of quality potting mix and 30% perlite. Top layer 20% perlite added. Sharp drainage is critical for success of cuttings and small trees, however you get it.
figara
Original Author
12 years ago
Thank you everyone for your reply.
Laura you are so sweet to offer a sample. I'll try to locate the other 2 ingredients around here first and if i am not able I'll let you know.

Tdogdad I do not live in Orange I live in San Francisco Bay Area and thanks to jeepman69 I've been able to locate close by a store who sells turface. I'll call them to verify if they have it in stock.

Hustonpat your plumi is so beautiful thanks for the info.

Can I replace gran-i-grit with other pebbles/small rocks same size as turface? Is it a reason behind using gran-i-grit and not other pebbles/ small rocks?
From what I gather the ingredients have to be approx same size. Am I right?

These are my babies...it is going to be a long wait till I see some flowers but I like to start things from seeds.

here were my rotted plumi :-(

and some of the flowers I got to see...
Jeannie Moragne

noid pink

Thanks,
Pat
Loveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
12 years ago
Figuara,

You can also use # 2 Cherrystone in place of Gran-i-grit. The size is quite important to keep the mix fron breaking down and having the smaller particles causing draining problems along with Perched water... A free flowing mix will add in the areation of the roots and give the added health benefits to the plant and trees as well. It all starts with healthy roots.

You could always use Coarse Perlite as well. Some have used this as part of the mix...

Here is a Link that you may find helpful.

Finding the Fir Bark & Turface is a good start!!

Good luck!!!

Hope this helps..

Laura

Here is a link that might be useful: Container Soils - Water Movement & Retention XIV

Is red lava rock good for plumeria?

Comments (6)

Loveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia

jeepman69

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Is red lava rock good for plumeria?

Comments (6)

Loveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia

jeepman69

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tdogdad

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figaraOriginal Author

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