Do newly propogated plants get Gritty mix too?
Comments (8)
rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
6 years agoI do not grow succulents from seeds - at least not yet. From what I read, many ppl start them in more soily mixes.
Have rooted many cuttings, branches/stems or leaves with very good success rate. I use gritty mix that is made of grit, coarse perlite and smaller amount of turface. I do not water cuttings until they start growing roots or plantlet or both. They are usually in less light to start with if growing indoors and slowly moved into best light I can give them, as they keep growing. If they were to stay in low light, they would grow very etiolated and weak.
If starting just 1 cutting, I use smallest pot for size of cutting. It could be 1.5" or 4" if bigger piece:
Some cuttings are left in a pot with original plant - that is usually when I don't plant them on purpose - leaf has fallen and started to grow, or I may not have pot handy and just stick the cutting wherever.
As mentioned, I do not water until they have roots and then just the same as any other plant - until water runs out of drainage holes. Subsequent watering when mix dries up. Cooler it is where plants are, less often they get watering. Cuttings with roots are no different than older plants.
Here are some rootles offsets of haworthia and alworthia, treated same as any rootless cutting: they do not get water unless they start growing roots:
Biggest pot is 4", having few cuttings in it.
I try to keep same plants in same pot if there are few, and not overcrowded too much. As they grow, they will fill up container and would need to be potted separately:
I will probably separate plants above in next mo or so - there is still some room there. They get subsequent repotting when they 'overgrow' pot - that could be year or few, depends on plant. I have some that have been in same pot for quite some time, mostly space limitations!
May I ask why do you use chicken grit and small gravel? - is there difference in size? any other reason?
Laurie (8A) thanked rina_Ontario,Canada 5aRelated Discussions
feeding plants newly repotted in gritty mix
Comments (30)Here is my feelings on this. "We" are kings and queens! The "knowledge" we chose/not choose to take in is another "limiting factor" to the success of our plants or their eventual demise. It would be a major "limiting factor" if I did not come to this forum and thank God I did, years ago! :-) We have the power to control the way our plants grow, their destiny, if they succeed, thrive, survive and ect. I couldn't agree more about Al. I thank God for this forum and for the fact that they completely know that it is people like him that keep these forums alive accurate, and our plants healthy. I can't even imagine how much anyone would have to pay a "plant police" to monitor these forums to make sure that false , unreliable, unproven and bad information is dispensed to the eventual decline of our containerized plants. I am truly grateful for this. I have tried for YEARS to no avail, to get anyone knowledgable enough to help my plants thrive, let alone survive. There are many more people in my midst just waiting on the wings of to free their plants, bound by all the false narrow minded information, mis conceptions, commercialism, of thousands of hurtful ferlizers, crappy mixes, constant attack by pests, suffocation by salt and toxins, the bagged soils,greedy money making racketed plant industry and so on. The plant industry has no hold on me or many others at my expense to keep me replacing more and more. I am ever so grateful for anyone to whom takes the time to show me how to make good even better! Here are my two top teachers: Al and Rhizzo, since I take great respect in educated teachers, if one would take the time to read their profiles, in the plant/pest world of science very seriously. Then I follow, appreciate all my friends that support my decision based on science, positive feed back, results, and great ideas that I see work, to make my plants thrive to their best potential.. Marie: I am proud of you for staying focused on the issue at hand, and it is that of what concerns you most on this thread, "feeding your plants in the gritty mix"! All those that grow in this mix will be right here to help you and give you whatever you need to be successful at it. Mike...See MoreGritty mix problem. How do I tell if the mix is too wet ?
Comments (4)Nguyenty - it looks like your Turface has already been screened? The #5 gravel looks very good - about the same size as the granite or cherrystone I use. You're better off with the granite fraction being a bit too small than the Turface fraction, because the granite holds so little water comparatively. I think what I would do is use it as is. I wouldn't fertilize at each watering because I suggest you DO water in sips, with an occasional flush until the roots have colonized the soil mass. At that point, with an established planting, it becomes less likely you could over-water. I would also suggest you insert a wick through the bottom of the pot at the perimeter (if plastic), and after flushing the soil or watering, tilt the container at a 45* angle with the wick down. This changes the shape of the soil that CAN be occupied by perched water to an inverted triangle, better said - a triangle standing on an apex - and reduces the volume of excess water a planting CAN hold; and, the wick increases the effectiveness of the strategy significantly. ..... not lecturing or being snotty. Think of it as a reminder to anyone following along ~ The reasoning behind the gritty mix: it provides a soil with little or no perched water that retains it's structure indefinitely. If anyone is going to build a soil similar to the gritty mix but lacking these two properties, there is little sense in going through all the effort when something like the less expensive and easier to make 5:1:1 mix would serve as well. Really glad to see you made the effort. I hope you let us know if in the end you think the dividends justify the diligence. Al...See MoreGritty mix holding too much moisture here in Florida?
Comments (10)My experience here in hot arid Fresno has been somewhat the opposite. We've had little rain since I've bare rooted six (so far) new citrus, each during spring flush, into 15" containers with gritty mix. I have different trees in different soil (Turface, Napa Absorb, Playball, Axis) but they seem to behave the same. All were dust screened and I even sifted turface into two sizes (large+small) so I could vary a mix if needed even beyond varying the granite. Instead of using an equal Granite part, I removed 20% of granite and replaced it with Turface. A .8:1.2:1 instead of 1:1:1 so it would hold MORE water. My granite is a tad smaller than gran-i-grit in theory drains a bit less. I found it VERY helpful to do basic testing before I put the citrus in the mix. Most importantly, I used the containers I was to grow in, filled them with the mix, and simulated a watering. Then scooped one out after one day, another after two days, etc. to see the moisture levels. Later I varied it while in direct sunlight vs. shade and with significant daily "overwatering" ie. rain. For kicks, I put the mix in a bucket without holes and after about a week it became smelly rotten just like anything else would. MY SOLUTION I'm putting an extra layer of sifted bark fines to use as a mulch. Not too much, just one solid layer so the mix isn't visible anymore. Then I sprinkle a bit more turface on top and a thick ring near the outside edge to help keep slimy kritters out. This significantly improves the moisture consistency between the shallow vs. deep layers of the mix -- although it is still clearly different. Here in Fresno with very low humidity, when temps run in the mid 90's it needs water every day+half. When temps are in the low 80's it makes it two+half days. I can push it by adding one more day to each, knowing the bottom portion of the container is still somewhat moist. I have a similar experience with the above posters because of the *obvious* difference in moisture levels with the gritty mix the deeper you go. The top 2" or so would completely dry out-- so dry that dust would fly off in a breeze and it reverts back to it's original dry coloring. Yet the bottom portion would still be moist. However, where my experience differs is I require water nearly every day. I was initially shocked because without the mulch layer, when the temp hit 100 degrees, my 15" test pot was almost completely dry half-way down after 24 hours. I still keep one "baseline" container full of mix and water it just like I do the citrus, just in case I need to see exactly what the moisture is like or if I want to test adding more/less of a component....See MorePlanting newly propagated very small succulents in Al's gritty mix??
Comments (10)I've found a little patience goes a long way when it comes to repotting succulent babies. Instead of wondering if it is time to repot I generally wonder when I can find time to repot the babies that should have been repotted 4 months ago. Interestingly, survival rates went up when I stopped rushing them....See MoreLaurie (8A)
6 years agorina_Ontario,Canada 5a
6 years agoChicken grit is not a substitute for turface, but could be used alone - each ingredient can. Particles of any substrates used should be as close in size as possible. So mixing small grit and larger gravel doesn't really help. Try to get more uniform mix, it will work much better.
How small is the grit? It may be god size. Here is photo of some of the grit that is smaller size - I use it mostly for rooting and very small plants. There is also little bit of perlite (I am adding quite a bit more) and some turface. As you can see, they are quite close in size:
In second photo, particles a little bigger. There is hardly any perlite there yet, but it will be of same size as the grit:
You can use just C&S soil and (coarse) perlite mixed 1:1. I don't use that mix but many do and are very happy with its performance. Here is a photo of it borrowed from Crenda - Thank you Crenda!You could use grit+perlite; you could use grit+perlite+pumice; you could use grit+perlite+turface...and many other combinations, of many other ingredients/substrates. I have potted succulents in grit only and also perlite only - they are both just fine, but grit only pot is quite a bit heavier and needs to be watered more often. Perlite only is very light. So those are bit of extreme, but work well anyway. I use mix of equal amounts of grit and coarse perlite and add small amunt of turface (between 10-20%). Turface retains more water than grit & perlite, I would not use it 100% alone. I use lots of perlite - many don't like it and use pumice insted...but I can't find pumice easily and inexpensively, so perlite it is. It works really well.
Aquarium gravel could be used too. Much of it is colored, and it is more expensive to buy. I got some (about 2gal) free from freecycle/kijiji but it is colored green and quite large, so I use it sometimes for top-dressing. I also have very small amounts of smaller a. gravel (also recycled so it was free :) that is pink, blue and light green, some grains are occasionally visible in some of my photos. It has been mixed well with other ingredients since I reuse mixes if repotting: depending how it 'looks', I usually rinse it, occasionally adding some bleach, let drip-dry in colander and it gets mixed in again.
All of this may look quite complicated - but it really isn't. Do not get totally obsessed about it. It gets easier and simpler - eventually.
Laurie (8A) thanked rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
SpanishFly - (Mediterranean)
6 years agoMy coarse grit I buy at a builder´s merchant - called granitos here - they use it as a type of pebble dash. €2 buys a bag I can barely lift.
The wall of my house
Laurie (8A) thanked SpanishFly - (Mediterranean)
Stush2049 Pitts. PA, zone 6
6 years agoLaurie (8A)
6 years ago
Thank you guys.
Rhina and Stush, I have to find a feed store, that sells the larger chicken grit. My feed store has only one size, small, which I have. The tractor store sells two sizes but it is 7.95 for a 3 lb bag. I have found turface about an hr away, in typical Seattle traffic, so going to the dentist is more fun, but I am going to go up there this week.
I have downloaded and saved your care and soil information. It is all going to be so great to refer to.
The photos above are some small Agave I was given in Mexico, in November. They were the last thing I expected to take root, but every one of them did. I am so delighted. The pot is a tiny cappucchino cup, with a large hole drilled into the bottom. The other is a San that was sent to me that has been dying for nearly two years. It has pups!!! Boy, it was torture.
Thanks so much for the great help. This is my favorite cactus forum, all.
Thank you Spanish Fly, that is the perfect size for me. I
I have done ok, with putting pretty good soil together for excellent drainage, but need to choose one or two recipes so the plants can be on similar schedules.
rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
6 years ago
SpanishFly - (Mediterranean)