Al's (Tapla) Greatest Hits
Treegeek Z6a (Boston)
5 years ago
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Treegeek Z6a (Boston)
5 years agoRelated Discussions
OT~ Happy Birthday to Al ! ~ (tapla)
Comments (16)Oh boy - I said thanks again this morning, earlier, but it looks like it never made it to the thread, so I'll say it again. ;-) Thank you, guys! I really appreciate how well almost all of us work together to help the folks that need help & to share our experiences with each other so we can all learn and have fun. You all make it a LOT of fun to share, and I do soo appreciate the birthday wishes. Thank you again for your kindness - I'm a pretty sentimental guy, so your expressions do mean a lot to me. AL...See Morelink for sieves used by Al Tapla for mixes?
Comments (5)Hello Andy and Rina. Thank you both for your help. Rina - these are exactly the ones I was looking for. Andy - are the screens inserted into the frames for the ones that you show or are the screens made so that they are a permanent part of the sieve? Also, approximately how long would it take you to screen a 50 lb bag of turface using the sieves? The descriptions list the outer diameter at the top of the screens as ~ 13 inches - what is the diameter at the bottom? I understand from the descriptions the bottom diameter is made such that the sieve perfectly fits over a 5 gallon bucket to catch the material that falls through, Thanks, Brian...See MoreIs this ponytail palm savable?
Comments (5)Take this with a grain of salt, as I am not a root expert ... but the fact that the roots are a lighter color would seem to bode well. I'd keep trying, and I would water it asap. The sponginess is a real problem ... but first make sure it doesn't die. So, water it. With luck, someone who's had this happen to them will chime in. If you are new at house plants (which are more complicated than gardening in-ground, imo), I suggest reading anything by Tapla that you can find here, starting with the Containerized Soil threads. It is very data-rich and complex stuff ... I take notes. And here is one on container soil: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/1403195/container-soils-water-movement-and-retention-xvii Here is a list of all his threads - there is one on sick plants too : https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5570006/al-s-tapla-greatest-hits#n=16 Good luck!!! I like ponytail palms too. And I agree with cactusmcharris - they tend to be tough. That stump can store water, I think....See Morepruning Benji ficus
Comments (9)Just noticed your PM. My suggestion would be to avoid rushing things. It's not a good time to do heavy pruning because A) the plant needs it's foliage to produce enough food to avoid the need for the plant to rely on stored energy reserves. Reducing the foliage mass can limit the plants ability to make food/energy to the degree it's using more than it's making. Obviously, this is an unsustainable condition for the long term, and pretty much ensures the plant exits the winter at very low level of vitality (health). B) There is also the consideration that pruning out of sync with the plant's natural rhythms can find you removing the desirable compact growth which occurs during the summer months, and keeping the long/ lanky growth you don't want - the stuff that occurs between now and May. The ideal pruning strategy allows the plant to grow freely during the dark months. Asa the summer solstice draws near, all the long growth is removed. This even makes a difference in any future back-budding you can force by hard pruning. Judicious pinching during the summer months forces the back-budding that keeps your tree full. If it was my tree, I'd maybe do some light pruning now to keep the tree in-bounds; or, if you consider it to still be in-bounds, do nothing insofar as pruning is concerned. Next late spring, prune it hard, followed by a full repot when it starts back-budding (about 2 weeks). If you live in Alaska and because of the radical shift in day length, the timing I mentioned would need to be adjusted so you can plan the work when the plant's ability to produce food/energy is about to peak. Consider this reply to be a broad overview of my thoughts. If you want to delve deeper into anything I said, or have questions about factors I didn't cover - feel free to ask. I can also put you onto other threads that provide an overview of good growing habits, specific advice about tending Ficus trees in pots over the long term, or more general advice about long term care of woody plants in general for the long term. The later goes into more detail about repotting, and I can also post a pictorial tutorial (I know that would make a good starting point for a limerick) about repotting. What say you? Al...See Moretapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)