Fast draining mix (Gritty or something similar) for Hoyas
themockturtle
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
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Danielle N
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Can you mix plants w/different water needs in gritty mix?
Comments (6)Good Morning! Thanks for all the input! Al~ I had to laugh at your post! I was so tired last night that for the life of me, I could not remember buying a Euphorbia.(I'm used to thinking succulents when I see that name) I had to go out and look. LOL! Yes, that is the plant I just got. ;-) And I was thinking of giving it to mom, which means it would be in with petunias and mums and maybe a Lobelia or 2. I wanted to add the zinnias to the back to give it height. I was thinking along the same lines as you Al, but just thought I'd ask. For myself, I wouldn't worry, but I want it to be nice for mom. ;-) It makes sense that as the PWT drops so would the need to separate plants. I totally agree with looking at this with the same "raised eyebrow"! I have basil seeds sprouting in a 10" pot right now! lol.. so that shoots the "overpot" theory all to heck. lol. Now I would have never thought about the dry dormancy. So thank you for that! I'm aware of it where succulents are concerned by never would have thought about it with flowers and such. ;-) ""I should try an experiment where I grow something like one of the Coleus varieties that will tolerate some sun, in the same container with a number of succulents. If I remember, I'll do it this summer - just for grins."" LOL! Your starting to sound like me. I do alot "just for girns" and you can't forget the giggles. lol. ;-) Jodi~ I agree we are open to more options when using the free draining mix that we do! And I take tag/growing instructions with a huge grain of salt! Now that we have the internet, I much prefer to look up the growing care! And will gladly accept the help and advice of a few close friends. ;-) I'll try and get a picture this evening of the herbs I mixed. Al, we'll have to remind each other to get back here and post pics of what we experiment with. ;-) A Very Happy Easter to everyone! From me and my rock bunny. ;-) JoJocolor>...See MoreAl's gritty mix (the actual 'mixing' part)
Comments (9)As regards the nature of the soil "well-drained gravelly loam" maybe a better word than light. As even in a 16 gal container it is fairly heavy. As the soil is well drained I need to water every day or every second day, in Honolulu's climate or the plant suffers drought immediately. Cape Gooseberries (Poha Berry in Hawaii) are also a white fly magnet and requires spraying with either Horticultural Oils, insecticidal soaps, or Neem on leaves agianst nymphs or for adults Pyrethoid insecticides, which I do not use, however if you do please check label to make sure they are ok for fruit. The following description is taken from this site: "http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/cape_gooseberry.html" "Soil: The cape gooseberry will grow in any well-drained soil but does best on sandy to gravelly loam. On highly fertile alluvial soil, there is much vegetative growth and the fruits fail to color properly. Very good crops are obtained on rather poor sandy ground. Where drainage is a problem, the plantings should be on gentle slopes or the rows should be mounded. The plants become dormant in drought." Very little fertilzer is needed for this plant maybe only a sixtenth of most plants requirements. In some area of high wind born dust maybe no fertilizer at all is OK as in windy parts of Hawaii. Plant in the September if you live in a sub-tropical climate, and ideally never grow for more than two seasons before replacing with a new plant. I grow mine at a 1000 ft up in Honolulu, if your area is tropical you may need to go to 4000 to 6000 ft. up. Taken from this site: "http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/cape-gooseberry.html" "Propagation: The plant is widely grown from seed. There are 5,000 to 8,000 seeds per ounce, which are sometimes mixed with pulverized soil or ashes for uniform sowing. High humidity is required for good germination. The plants can also be propagated from 1 year old stem cuttings treated with a rooting hormone. Plants grown this way flower early and yield well but are less vigorous than seedlings."...See MoreIs Al's gritty mix or 5-1-1 mix really any better than other mixes?
Comments (32)@Nil13 made reference to the Whitcomb 311 mix, which is an earlier historical attempt to create a more coarse potting soil for container plants. I think it is extremely helpful to read a document written by Carl Whitcomb that explains how he came on this formula by accident. Essentially what happened is he accidentally left nine test pots under a bench and everyone forgot they were there. They had successfully nearly killed all of their test plants by watering in a normal potting soil mix and the unwatered plants started to do very well. What I have started to realize is that any plant can do well in many different soil mixes, if you are able to carefully control the watering. This explains why so many people on this forum claim gritty mix is not as good for their succulents as their (fill in some random horrible soil with lots of small particles) mix. Inevitably those people are growing their plants indoors. They have enormous experience with their plant type and they know exactly when to water the plant. So that is the case of a very skilled gardener compensating for a very bad soil. What gritty mix does for me is let me grow succulents outside in very abusive weather conditions, without the plant dying. A plant can get a week of rain and it will still drain well. During Summer, gritty mix will tolerate a bit of overwatering, although you still really need to pay attention to not overwatering. Whether you make your 511 mix with perlite/peat, or with two parts Turface, or with lava and pumice, is probably in the big picture not going to be the deciding factor in whether your plants grow well or not. Success can be add with any of those mixes because the size of the particles allows the roots to breathe and prevents capillary action of water from bring the perched water table to the top of the pot and drowning the roots. Fine-tuning how you make 511 is a question of matching the plant type to the moisture retention of the soil and to the watering habit and climate exposure. Any 511 variant is going to do better than almost any commercial potting soil because of the larger particles used in the majority of the mix....See MoreIs my pseudo-gritty mix draining properly? With pics
Comments (2)How soon after watering did you take photo #1? - maybe too soon, and the mix didn't have a chance to loose most of the excess water? Raising the pot is good idea, but if there was lots of excess water, it could be re-absorbed back to mix in pot. Best if you let water drain for about 1/2hr, and put in a saucer when no more is dripping (try tilting the pot - more water could be draining out). IMO, mix looks OK. I can't see any 'dust', is there any that you can tell? I often sift using only old kitchen strainer and use what remains in it. Some oil dry may not be very stable and turns to mush fast; you could do a 'freeze & thaw test' to check yours to make sure. That pots looks quite large to me - maybe you over-potted?...See Moregrubworm
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