Watering + Gritty Mix + Haworthia/Gasteria? Overwatering?
Comments (13)
rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
7 years ago
mesembs
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Gritty Mix; Watering in Summer; Michelia Alba?
Comments (2)IMHO...I am not a big fan of gritty for many applications. The potting mix is very heavy if it is sizeable. I used it on my deck for a lemon tree in a terra cotta pot. I found I needed to be watered every day. The standing water in the saucer all the time presented problems. The constant watering was a pain and water dispersal (saucer) kept my supporting beams wet (not good). There are apps where it can be great...just too much work for an old man that has much other gardening to do......See MoreWatering Gritty Mix
Comments (14)My plants are on 4x8 sheets of FRP panel and tightly packed, so it's a long reach to catch the plants in the middle. The longer Dramm water can works well for that, and the nozzle I use allows only about a 1/8" stream of water that I can be pretty accurate with. I make sure I cover the entire surface with the water stream, and usually stop watering about the time water starts to exit the drain. By the time I stop watering, usually about 10-15% of the total volume of water I applied exits the drain and collects in the saucers under each plant. All the plants are on pieces of 1X1X1 plastic channel, so the pots suit 1" above the effluent in the collection saucers, and all the water in the saucers evaporates during the interval between waterings. Planto - you didn't really give bad info - more like info that really doesn't apply to soils that don't support perched water. For all other soils, your observation (don't water on a schedule) was right on. I actually LIKE it when people speak for me. That means all I have to do is maybe add a little qualifying info here & there, or softly correct something that might not be exactly accurate. I love trying to help others increase their proficiency, but it's still a lot of effort. I'm not complaining, it's all good. When you or someone else answer soil questions, it frees up time for me to answer mail or cruise forums I might not have time for, otherwise. Kwie - watering on a schedule doesn't necessarily mean all plants are on the SAME schedule. 90% of my indoor plants get a drink every 4 days, but about 10 plants in really tiny pots get watered every 2 days. I use a lot more fertilizer than Dyna-Gro suggests, but remember I'm growing under lights. I use 1/2 tsp/gallon of RO water, using that to flush the soil every time I water. JR - particle size makes a big difference in how much gas exchange goes on and how much y6ou'll need to water. For instance, I use 1/8-1/4 bark, #2 cherrystone, and screened Turface. If I changed the bark size to 1/4-3/8, it would prolly cut my watering intervals in half - a significant change for a seemingly small change in o/a particle size. Al...See MorePossible to Overwater with Gritty Mix?
Comments (18)Mike - You asked about the lighting. My trees are in the sunroom, which has a full south and shaded west exposure in Connecticut. We have a small propane stove in the sunroom which gets turned up early in the morning briefly while we eat breakfast. Sunroom has a ceiling fan. It gets fairly cool in there in mid-winter during the night, maybe down to upper 40's at the very coldest. Sun warms it up in the daytime and we usually leave the door open to the house. The worst times for citrus in my experience is very early spring, when the room would be pretty cool at night (50's) but then get quite warm on clear bright days due to the sun (80's+). This was all before I discovered this forum and still used MG soil. Al's gritty mix has been nearly miraculous so far on my new Four Winds trees. If I only water when my dowels tell me to, would you expect any problems in early spring? Thanks again tanksalot Stan F....See MoreWatering Hoyas in a Gritty Mix
Comments (1)Hi, Corey! I think it'll depend on the particular plant, the time of year, and the humidity/temperature. During the Summer when the plants are outdoors, I water copiously and never worry about a thing. Now that the plants are back inside, I water a bit less often but just as thoroughly. I don't let my Hoyas dry out completely. Josh...See More
ewwmayo
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoWhat are the ratios or percentages of your soil mix? I'm just curious.
I'm watering my succulents every 6 days for the past month because I've been a bit busy with work and other things. It's one day longer than I would like, but it's hard to make time to water and fertilize.
Also have some new additions to my collection and I'm being a bit careful not to over water them before they are properly established.
I think I can water all my plants in just over 1 hour now? Been able to tweak how I do it here and there to make everything go faster. Getting the right trays to move pots around helps a lot. I have 244 succulent pots now, if I counted correctly!
Here is my past month's watering data:
Rina should be able to confirm that my Haworthia, Gasteria, Mesembs, and other succulents are not dead even though I water them this often. Or maybe they were just a bunch of really clever fakes. =)
TheSucculentCity thanked ewwmayorina_Ontario,Canada 5a
7 years agoTheSucculentCity
7 years agoTheSucculentCity
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoI'm going to grab some more akadama and pumice today. I think the akadama would be similar to turface in water retention. I really am not looking forward to re-potting all of these, but I am concerned about my ability to continue watering in this method. I currently have to take everything outside of the rack (not enough vertical clearance unless i take off lights) and water them in the sun room. Issue is that the sun room will start dropping to whatever the temp is outside, anywhere from 0-30F in the next few weeks. If I'm going to re-pot, I should probably do it now.
The other issue is that the rack setup only allows me to fit (2) 19" trays horizontally. I have room for about (15) 4" in front of the trays, but picking those up, placing on tray, and moving adds to the time.
That's kinda what I'm dealing with here. There's no way to put those outliers in one tray and just pick them up.
rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
Pagan
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agorina_Ontario,Canada 5a
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoTheSucculentCity
7 years agoewwmayo
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoInfrared gun-style thermometer for $20 at the hardware store works great. And $10 household one with 24 hour high lows.
Left one is my basement, right is my loft. Interestingly, I think my basement may be a little on the chilly side for plants (but nothing is down there).
If you're going to repot, try a couple first only? If you do all you'll lose your reference pots, which makes things harder. Again, just adjusting the problem pots is easier.
TheSucculentCity
7 years ago
ewwmayo