You're using the dowel correctly. Water when it first comes out dry. I will begin fertilizing per your recommendations--additional info to ensure I am using a good fertilizing regimen would be helpful. I'm not sure how often I should fertilize, and how that will change when the plants go dormant, and when that may be...I would expect that in October they would be at the end of their growing season, but they have both put out two new leaves in the last few weeks. They won't go completely dormant, but they will become largely quiescent or at rest but growing slowly. How fast they grow depends primarily on light levels, temperatures, and nutrition. If you invest in a container of Foliage-Pro 9-3-6, you won't need anything else. Did you read the link I left above about how to deal with water-retentive soils? My plan would be to flush the soil thoroughly asap, then fertilize with a full recommended solution of the FP 9-3-6. It makes more sense by far to tie your fertilizing frequency to your watering frequency. If you continue to water in sips for the winter, flush the soil every 6th time you water and fertilize right after with a full recommended dose. Using a full dose when the soil is still saturated means there won't be a full strength concentration in the soil solution because of all the water already in the soil. People that simply recite the advice that you shouldn't fertilize in winter usually tell you that the plant doesn't need fertilizer because it's not growing, but nutrients are used by the plant to keep its systems orderly and do more than grow, so your plant needs a full compliment of nutrients in the soil all year long. The plan I just laid out will help you maintain the proper ratio of nutrients at an appropriate concentration and prevent the ratio of nutrients (each to the others) from becoming out of balance, which can very quickly become a serious issue if you're watering in sips. More on flushing the soil if you actually plan on following that advice. You'll also find plenty of good info that will help turn your plant around if you follow the link. Speaking of, the plant that put out the deformed leaf is now producing leaves with holes...at first I feared it was pests, but it looks like they are just developing with holes in them. Would this be caused by the same water/fertilizing issues we've discussed? Very commonly, dry air causes a leaf of F lyrata to stick to itself before it unfurls. As the leaf opens, the 'stuck together' part often tears, leaving split leaves, or if the entire piece of tissue that's stuck to another part of the leaf's surface pulls free - a hole. This is very common in leaves that unfurl in winter when humidity is VERY low or in leaves that are in a cool, air-conditioned environment - especially if the cooled air blows over the plant. There are some nutritional issues that can cause weak or dead spots in the tissues of young leaves, but getting on a sound fertilizing schedule should put a stop to that. Al

The contrast between "people time" and "plant time" can cause the grower some anxiety and frustration until the grower realizes there's a distinct difference and makes the adjustment by giving in to the idea that a plant has its own ideas about how long it should take to bounce back from adversity. Fortunately, the best form of resolution is usually no more complicated than procuring a few more plants so they can work as a team to satisfy your need to nurture. SOIL: I have perlite so I will add in more of that. Not sure if this is a bad idea, but I do have gravel I could mix in If you decide to include some gravel, use it in the bottom 6" of soil where it will displace the organic fraction of your medium that would normally be filled with water. This is a form of ballast. Don't use it as a layer, just mix it half and half with the bottom 6" of soil where the perched water table (excess water) resides. This in itself will reduce the amount of perched water your soil will hold by 1/2), and my neighbor has bark in her backyard that she said I could have some of to mix in if that's a good option for now? Depends ..... all bark is not created equal. Size and type of bark is very important. BALLAST/WICK: In reading through your posts I understand there are several ways to set these up, but I have an extra terra cotta and plastic pot so I figure this might be easiest? You mentioned covering the drainage hole in this post That reference was to the overturned pot you would be using as a form of ballast such that the rim of the pot would be down and the drain hole would face up. You don't want soil to drop through the drain hole in the ballast pot, so cover it. , but I also noticed [here[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/dealing-with-water-retentive-soils-dsvw-vd~1415041) you said another option would be to leave the hole open and put soil underneath so that it acts as a wick. That is the pot-in-pot technique where the main pot is nested into another pot and rests on top of the soil in the lower pot. This soil acts as a wick. If the soil in the lower pot is deeper than the ht of the perched water table, ALL perched water should move from the upper pot into the lower pot. For this application, there should be nothing over the drain hole(s) in the upper pot - the one the plant is in. Would you suggest one over another in my situation? I would go for the pot as ballast + the gravel in the bottom 6" of soil as added ballast, and even a wick if you like (in the lower pot). I have two options for pots to put inside as ballasts, but I'm not sure which would be the best option. The terra cotta pot looks like it may not take up enough room to help with limiting PWT, but the plastic one may be too large? The plastic one is great - cover the drain hole in it. Ideally, there would be an inch or so of soil above the ballast pot. Fill in the sides with the 50/50 gravel soil mixture up to the top (former bottom) of the overturned pot - cover it with an inch of soil with no gravel - set the plant on the soil - fill in around the edges. As long as you're taking steps to eliminate perched water, it doesn't matter how large your pot is. You can put your plant in a 55 gallon drum if you like, w/o concern you'll be over-potting. ...... once I repot the plant into the better mixture and add the ballast, should I water the plant again or hold off given the amount of moisture already present in the soil? Plants do best when the soil is evenly damp/moist - never wet/soggy. Skip watering if your entire soil mass is moist. Keep in mind, with the steps you will have taken to eliminate perched water, over-watering shouldn't be a problem, as long as you're reasonable. You're making a soil serviceable that otherwise wouldn't be considered as such by a very large fraction of effectual growers, so it's best to try to minimize potential limitations. Use a 'tell'. If possible - site your plant away from heat sources, but in a warm spot with plenty of light. If possible, use a room humidifier and keep humidity in the 45-55% range. I keep my basement grow room at 55% by using a combination of home-made passive evaporative set-ups and 2 ultrasonic humidifiers. I have a R/O water system, so almost never have to clean the humidifiers. To eliminate potential for bacterial issues, I add an ounce of H202 (hydrogen peroxide) every time I refill the reservoirs. Al

I’ve had this guy for a few years and he’s always been healthy. He’s currently in a mix of 50/50 cactus soil and perlite, gets sun from south and east facing windows, and I water when he’s mostly dried out (using dowel test). I noticed the leaf veins are getting some brown spottage that has increased over the last week or two. It started as the veins turning yellow (which I noticed but tbh couldn’t remember if they were yellow previously), and now brown spots. See pics. Any ideas on what this is and how to prevent it from getting worse? Im a little worried it’s a root issue and had been planning on repotting within a month or so into 5-1-1. The current soil does take a bit to dry out but hes been fine for the last year so I haven’t been too worried.. until now! Ive been slowly transitioning to 5-1-1 and gritty for my plants but trying to take it slow until I learn the new mix watering needs. I get tons of sun so my plants tend to dry out quick. now I’m worried I should have switched this guy over sooner. (Ignore the yellow bottom leaf. Those are super old leaves which I assume are just naturally dying out and have been hanging out down there like that for months so I figure they are unrelated. It’s the bigger newer leaves I’m concerned about.) thanks for your help!

Hello! Ive been having issues with my fiddle getting yellow edges with little brown spots. As time has progressed the newer growth has developed yellow tips and it slowly moves inwards on the leaf. There are also little brown spots that have been developing even on leaves without the yellowing. On the little stem in the pot the growth has been stunted and is yellowing much faster and is gaining more spots. I water about 1-2 cups a week and just started fertilizing about a month ago. I realized that my soil wasn’t draining well about a week ago so I changed all the soil with over/under watering resistant soil from miracle grow and added a layer of rocks at the bottle so no water can sit on the roots. I’m in San Diego so the weather is about 70 degrees and the plant has been in my North facing room. Any advice? Thanks.