Current temperature in AL, what's yours?
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
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Bark-Based Mix & Ammonia? -- Attn: Al, Josh, et al.
Comments (19)Zen, I didn't even know this was coir, haha. I was looking for ProMix and he said this was better and bam -- Id heard of it so I bought it. But honestly, I'm not against coconut coir; one of my favorite soils is by Gardner and Bloome, based wholly on coir. Some of my older pots are 5-1-1 based on that soil and I don't have any issues. Really it's such a small part of 5-1-1, I could probably use cotton balls and it'd work. But yes, generally, I like peat in 5-1-1 indoors because it seems to dry quicker than coir. Outdoors, it buys me an extra day when necessary, it seems. I've run out anyway and now have more Promix HP again. All is well again. Drew, I see what you're saying. Perhaps it does work with compost, but containers in and of themselves are kind of unnatural, too, no? Organic, in terms of not using harmful pesticides, is important to me, but if my sansevieria or columbine happen to grow in non-soil medium and are fed nutrients via my hand, I'm okay with that, too. I have mycorrhizae in the soil with Promix, and as you can see, I throw lots of stuff in the soil, haha. Josh, I must have missed this 55* stuff. Total oversight. I'm in Stockton and I doubt we went below 55 though I did wake up to 58 one day last week. This weekend, it's back in the 90s. I guess as a rule I will leave the organic stuff out. I really don't fertilize a lot, and just wanted to boost the soil a bit. DFish, I guess it's possible that pot just isn't draining well. I think I'll drill more holes in it before I attempt the pot again with new soil. Thank you!...See MoreAl, Im going to need your help with this one!
Comments (8)Because of the time of year, I would saw or prune off only the bottom 1/4 of the root mass. If you use a saw, be sure to clean up the ragged ends of the cuts with a sharp pair of bypass pruners (not anvil type). In the end, you want your root mass to look like the stays on an umbrella - the area immediately under the trunk will be entirely free of roots. You can't do that all at once, but you can get started. First, prune any roots that are abnormally formed with j-bends or are iobvious conflict with other roots, as well as any girdling or encircling roots. Prune off any roots growing upward or back toward the center of the root mass. Start hollowing out the underside of that umbrella, but don't remove more than 1/2 of the total root mass now. Repot into a FAST draining soil and keep the soil damp, not wet. Give it good light & try to keep soil temps above 65*. Humidity around 50% is great if you can manage it, but I know that's tough. Water the new planting in with a half strength dose of MG 24-8-16, 12-4-8, or FP 9-3-6 if you have it. Secure the tree to the pot so it can't move in relation to the pot. Further questions? Al...See MoreAl/s Container Gardening Forum
Comments (6)I have been growing Italian Cypress trees in peat moss (pic attached), since December, when they began to sprout. Yesterday, I transferred them to 5 gallon pots mixed with top soil, sand and clay. I understand what you said, that the combination is not porus. I have read that Italian Cypress grow well in clay loam. I will definitely water less, but how often for these little guys? I live in a climate where the temperature reaches 120F by July....See MoreWhat was your low temperature?
Comments (51)Here are some pics I took this morning. We broke the low temperature record set in 1970 this morning. Here's a Black Sapote on the NW side of my house. It sits under a large oak so that has been some benefit. It has been left uncovered this entire cold snap. The trunk is wrapped however. It is wilted with some tender growth and leaves blackened, but by and large it performed much better than I had expected. Here are my bananas. The banana in the center (that looks like all the other ones) was sprayed with Freeze Pruf. Here is my Glenn mango next to an 8' ladder. I had to tie the branches back in order to get it to fit inside the frost cloth: My Jaboticaba seems to have done very well in this cold snap (and did well during last year's cold too): All in all it looks like my tropicals/sub-tropicals will be fine. I have some damage on my Areca palms, my Carpentaria palms, my Panama Rose, etc. My pineapples look fine (maybe 5% damage). My black bamboo (Gigantochloa atroviolacea) has about 10% freeze damage (mainly on the smaller, thinner growth). I will have some minor limb dieback on my mangos, and my Muntingia tree (Strawberry tree) looks pretty sad but should be o.k. It is not very tall because the past two years raccoons have climbed it and snapped the tree in half:...See More- 10 years ago
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