Newbie Needle Question
Merrygardener
9 years ago
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dancingirl_gw
9 years agoMerrygardener
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Newby Questions on container soils / Newby mistake
Comments (6)Hi Tina! I have 2 very close friends in Round Rock! They are the Godparents of my daughter, we visit them often. I love that town, what a great place to live! We have actually been looking for work out there, we'd love to make a move! Anywho, since I'm already here, I take a crack at your questions. 1) You've won half the battle if you have already locally sourced the ingredients for the gritty. The plants you mentioned will be quite happy in it, go for it! 2) Sure! Please understand that the 1:1:1 ratio is not set in stone. You can adjust the proportions of turface and granite to suit your needs. For example: A 1.25(T):1(B):.75(G) with retain more moisture than a .75(T):1(B):1.25(G)....got it? If you want your full sun plantings to retain more moisture, just adjust your mix...it's all up to you! 2a) I would be doing you a disservice if I told you anything on this. There are so many factor involved, you really will have to figure this out on your own. However, these are very porous, well aerated mixes...you will need to water them frequently, I'll just say that. 3) For the most part, most folks around here only suppliment there container fertilizer regime with CRF's, if they use them at all. It is highly suggested that you use a soluble fertilizer with these mixes, such as Miracle Gro 24-8-16 w/ micros or Foliage Pro 9-3-6. 4) The gritty will work for anything! However, for short term plantings many folks opt for the 5-1-1, due to it's lower cost and ease of construction. The 5-1-1 is also great for very vigorus growers that will need to be repotted often. The 5-1-1 can also be modified to suit your needs, for example, replacing the peat with turface will yield a more durable product, or doubling the peat fraction will work well in a raised bed, stuff like that. Those are all very brief answers, tip of the iceberg. Keep reading, you will find that many of your questions have been asked and answered, you just gotta find them. Post back with anything that your stumped on. Happy Friday Y'all! PJ...See MoreNewbie composting questions
Comments (5)How quickly the temperture of your mix rises depends very much on the ratio of that mix. If it is fairly close to the optimal 30 parts Carbon to 1 part Nitrogen, and the moisture level is just right, the temperature will increase within a day or two at the most. If that does not happen, it is not necesssarily really bad since that material will get digested anyway, just a lot slower. Your mix should be about as wet as a well wrung out sponge, that material should not feel wet, just damp. Too much moisture will not just slow the bacteria down it can stop them. Not enough Nitrogen will also slow the bacteria way down. But mostly what I see is the compost pile simply is too wet, although sometimes the material is simply too large for the bacteria to work on....See Moreanother couple of pine needles (as mulch) questions.
Comments (11)Calliope, the pines I mentioned are a windbreak which the owners can just ignore, as they have several acres of them,, so they probably won't be happy for someone taking them, it won't affect them much. They may think I have lost my marbles if I ask for them. It bothers me to have my Chestnut oak mulch ring 2/3 done, and the unfinished area so bare-looking, with a mostly decomposed hardwood mulch pie shaped slice. Well, I made it enourmous. I think I will just rake up from our white pines to finish. I think next fall I will put an add in the paper or a local trade/buy catalog for pine needles and pay $1.00 a garbage bag-ful. I won't have to keep checking the public leaf dumps (2 of em) and I can still use leaves, which are always plentiful at the leaf dumps. I can get my quota of them easy that way. I will of course gather them up if I can find them at the leaf dump. My mom's brother works at the township shed, where they collect leaves at one site, but he is too important to help me with collecting needles and leaves. They burn them instead. Or I need to get there soon after they are dumped. All I asked for is a heads up when there is a good pile of them, Well, I will use ours to finish the chestnut oak circle, and tackle others next spring, if needed. I don't mean to whine, although I have....See Moreneedle question and yucca ID
Comments (2)I dont think you will have a problem digging up the needle palm because you have a lot of room to make sure you dig as far out from the rootball as possible. Try not to damage any roots because root damage will set it back, but they will recover from root damage. Might take 2 years to fully establish (just like if it was newly planted) after that it should grow fast! Nice yucca! Not sure of the species, but it looks great. Almost reminds me of a ponytail palm! -Alex...See MoreUser
9 years agosheesh
9 years agoMerrygardener
9 years agoblubird
9 years agocarolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
9 years agokathyg_in_mi
9 years agoLars
3 years ago
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