Need rich but very well draining soil for endangered houseplant repot.
Andrew Fellure
2 years ago
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
2 years agotsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
2 years agoRelated Discussions
Repotting to 'faster' soil
Comments (17)Thanks, Mike. Hi, Randi - Let me help you with a better term: "Root-pruning" :o) I'm teasing just a little, because in many plants the roots really CAN be manhandled with impunity. The logic is explained in my post above & has to do with the steady decline in plants over time. Potting-up, as opposed to repotting/root-pruning is a stopgap measure. The soil in the old root mass will calcify and harden, eventually restricting nutrient flow to to the above-ground parts of the plant - it's inevitable. As the plant's vitality wanes, insects, disease, or root rot sets in and claims the plant. Blamed, are the pathogens or an unnamed cause, when actually it was poor soil or lack of attention to roots that started the downward spiral. There is never a day on this forum that someone isn't complaining or asking in a current thread about this or that problem. How many of these plants are lost unnecessarily? 95%+, I'd bet. What are the symptoms? - bugs, disease, general decline .... What should we imagine to be the most common and most likely cause? I'm not at all bashful about being adamant that it's poor soils and inattention to what's going on IN the soil - hands down, that's the biggest problem. Here's an illustration: People at church think I'm some kind of miracle worker and bring me their dead/dying plants. I cannot remember the last one that died. I tell them to hang on until the weather is warm so I can keep the plant outside. I usually completely bare-root it and prune the roots hard. I repot it in a fast soil, fertilize it, and set it in the shade to recover. After it has started to grow well, I prune back the top & return the plant to the owner, who is invariably amazed. I'm not saying that to brag, because anyone can do it. All I do is follow a little plan & it works every time. I'll say too, that plants are plants. There are some with idiosyncrasies that we need to be familiar with, but mostly, they react pretty much the same. If we allow that there are bonsai trees of the same species as your houseplants that have been passed down through generations for hundreds of years, it's difficult to imagine why we can't keep our houseplants alive for more than a few years before we discard them. The ONLY difference in the hundreds of years old bonsais and our houseplants is the soil and the attention paid to the condition of the roots. It's actually MUCH more difficult to keep bonsai healthy because of the small volume of soil they grow in and the adverse affects of being grown in shallow pots, but still they persevere, seemingly forever. Here are some pics of how I pruned a scheff that someone from church didn't want & had given me. I'd posted these pics before, & a guy who was about to be married found the pics online & e-mailed me in a panic because he had killed 'her' scheff & wanted to know how to resurrect it. It was dead, so I offered him this plant. I can't remember if his GF called or wrote, but I shipped them the plant & she mailed a picture of it in tip-top shape a few months after it was shipped. An ugly plant, even before the work. a 'before' look at the root mass choose your weapons not being too gentle 3/4 of the roots removed on this one bare-rooted recovery ward - recovery just underway Joel's HP is a vigorous woody vine & can easily be treated in the same fashion. While the root pruning of your plants needn't be so aggressive as this, you can see that bare-rooting and root-pruning needn't be something to be feared, but rather another tool you can use to help keep your plants around for more than a few years. Al...See MoreHouseplant newbie: where do you get good soil and other matters..
Comments (4)If it were me, I would use as little peatmoss as possible and no compost at all..This is the reason why plants would decline in such a short time in these soils, unless you can repot every other month or so, before the compaction occurs. I would buy a "farfard" mix with more bark than peat. I would find a way to strain out most peat moss from any bagged mix and use the left over bark, perlite and very lttle peat. I would make my own of course, which is what I always do. Or, if you do not want to do all this work, you could mix half and half soil mix and perlite, and hope your mix does not hold water too long and compact just to get you to square one.. Your goal is to use a mix that holds its structure and allows the roots to move and breath as long as possible. It is to use a very course mix, porous and one that drains well. I would also fertilize with a water soluable fertilizer with the major and minor nutrients, or use Foiliage Pro what is what I use.. If you use an organic mix, watch for "fungus gnats", soil compaction which can suffocate roots quickly which causes decline. Watch for spider mites or others pest that like weaked plants, and watch for root rot. You could avoid the root rot from over watering, by placing the plant in a pot just big enough for the roots, but then too it can stunt the growth of your plant by keeping it root bound.. pebbles on the bottom are better left out. They impeded draining and only take up room in the pot. better is it to have more than a couple holes on the bottom of your containers for great drainage.. Mike..:-)...See MoreSuper Quick Draining Soil Mix
Comments (19)In all honesty, I cannot take credit for the wonderful examples and analogies quoted above... they belong to Al. They are important, interconnecting parts of the entire article on container soils and water retention he offers, but they serve to get the point across in a way we can all visualize, which sometimes works better. I recently mentioned in another forum... it might even have been this one... that the gardening industry as a whole exists for one purpose, and one purpose only... that being profit. They found a niche to fill, one where consumers are less likely to take the time and expend the effort to learn the basic science of plant culture and the physics of how water reacts in soils, or mediums... not to mention proper watering technique and nutrition regimens, and other variables that allow us to grow our plants to their genetic optimum. The general public has been sold the same methods and supplies for so long that the whole thing has become rather... stagnant, I guess would be the word I'm looking for... but our automatic reaction is to trust that the industry is offering us what we need, what works. It might work for us, the consumers... but we're not the ones planted in such mediums... our plants are! It also might work from the viewpoint of convenience, because we only have to water or feed so often with the heavier, peat based soils... but that doesn't mean our plants are happy or healthy residing in such soils, and more often than not, we are not getting them to grow anywhere near their genetic potential. An expert, or someone with an understanding of such heavy mediums, who has the experience and know how to properly water and feed to the best advantage they offer might have a fair level of success... but most of us are just average, everyday, weekend gardeners who don't really know what is happening under the surface of our soils. A lot of growers throw out the axiom "it works for me"... and it very well may... but no one else has their exact environment, climate, level of experience and knowledge, plant material, schedule of care, or other variables that could make a small or large difference. It's also kind of a sentence or argument ender for some. They may not want to explore the depths of container growing as thoroughly as someone else, and may feel that the convenience is ok for them. Not everyone is so devoted to growing well. Under the surface of that heavy soil, however, where there is a perched water table, and moisture is held for long periods of time before drying out... roots literally drown due to lack of oxygen, and they die. As the soil dries out, new live roots are then able to re-colonize those areas... and then we come along and water again... and the cycle replays. As this cycle continues to replay, decaying root matter accumulates, causing toxic gasses to form... and the plant is weakened by this continual cycle of death and regeneration, and an inadequate exchange of fresh oxygen and gasses at the root zone. All this prevents our plants from growing as they should... as they could. If we didn't re-pot on a very regular basis, those plants would surely meet their demise. I'd also like to touch briefly on something else we don't talk about nearly enough... the vast differences between growing in the confined space of containers... and growing in the ground. Once you understand the science of growing plants in pots, you understand why a more inorganic approach works best... one where we are in control of the moisture, nutrition, PH, and we're using a medium that holds its structure well, etc. We wouldn't really want to use organic methods with pots because the two environments, that within a pot and that in the ground, are so uniquely different. In the ground, Mother Nature has an entire army of tiny insects, worms, microscopic creatures, fungi and bacterias that all work in unison, decomposing organic matter into usable nutrition, and maintaining and balancing the environment, keeping it aerated, nutrition rich, and drained well. We don't have that same natural army within our containers doing all that work, actually maintaining the environment and keeping it all in perfect balance, and trying to duplicate Mother Nature within our pots would be next to impossible! Therefore, it makes sense to reserve organic gardening methods for the garden outside, and stick with a more inorganic approach for our containerized growing. Outdoors, in my vegetable garden and perennial beds, I use mostly organic methods. I fertilize using composted goat and horse manure, and the used pool water from a group of Muscovy Ducks. For pest control, I try to stick with natural predators and encourage beneficial insects to stick around, like praying mantises, spiders, toads, snakes, and other critters that eat the bad bugs. I use aged natural wood mulch to help protect roots from our frigid winters, and I generally try not to use chemicals or anything unnatural. With my containerized plants, whether I grow them indoors or outdoors, I realize that they depend on me to ensure proper moisture levels, aeration, drainage, protection from damaging insects, the proper amount of light, humidity and temperature... and they need a nutrition regimen in which the food is in a form that is immediately usable for uptake by the roots, and doesn't require anything to break it down further into usable form. Often, fertilizers like fish emulsion and other natural items aren't really broken down enough for immediate uptake, so it pays to check into that when shopping for a container plant food. The garden has a pretty steady food supply going on, so I try to maintain that type of buffet for my potted plants, by offering them a weakened solution of liquid fertilizer that's ready to be up-taken by the roots, and complete with the micro-nutrients needed. I offer it every time watering is necessary. There was more I wanted to mention, but I can't remember what it was, now... oh, well... it'll come to me later. Frank, there's nothing wrong with a grown man, or woman for that matter, getting excited over the pending arrival of new plants! I'd call it enthusiasm for something you enjoy greatly... and part of life is about attaining that state of happiness! I'm happy for you! :-) And I can't wait until next spring, when I'll be in the very same euphoric state, awaiting the arrival of whatever I decide to order! And don't worry so much about getting everything exactly perfect with the Gritty Mix... once you really grasp the concepts entailed, when you reach that epiphany moment, when the light bulb goes on and you think, "aha!"... you'll find that you will begin slightly adjusting the various ingredient ratios you use in a batch of mix to suit different plants, pots, and situations. And I think you've reached that point. Instead of using a topsoil or a manure compost as your "extra moisture retention ingredient", though, I would get a bag of high grade potting soil that doesn't have anything added, like those nasty moisture crystals, or extra feed. Miracle Gro potting soil has really tanked in quality over the past few years, so I pass on that. We use a different brand, though I can't recall the name at the moment. Sunshine is a good brand, too. You want something fairly even and nice in quality. And remember... turface holds a decent amount of moisture, so take care when adding anything else. Eddie Haskell?! No, no, no... you're much too intelligent and funny to play a secondary sidekick role like that! ;-) Thanksgiving... I know... time flies faster the older we get. Remember when you couldn't wait to be old enough to ride a two wheeled bike? And you couldn't wait to go from grade school to middle or high school... to be able to earn your own money... to get your driver's license... to be approved to drink alcohol... so many milestones. Every time I turn around, another decade is gone. I'm only 50, but I feel ancient sometimes. In fact, this has tired me... I'm thinking a nap sounds good. ;-) Have a nice day!...See MoreChop chop chop - repotting jade. Would very much appreciate advice
Comments (18)Thanks Gill and Rina :) Gill, I repotted the original big mama jade last night into a larger pot and I did find it's pretty unstable in the mix. I had to water in order for it to settle enough to hold them plant up! Once it dries out I may change the mix out for something with larger grit. I have purchased a couple colours of aquarium gravel for top dressing, may need to add some to big mama's mix. Rina, I have a front yard full of beautiful gravel - we went with a gold mix instead of the plain grey... There's a wealth of top dressing out there HA! Never even thought! Not to mention all the many, many other rocks I collect - Quartz and petrified seashell and wood, also seashells and beach glass ... It's a bit of a joke in my family. Some people can keep their rock collections on a shelf ... Not us, we have a yard full. Now we can top dress with all the pretties....See MoreAndrew Fellure
2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agotsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agotsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoAndrew Fellure
2 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
2 years ago
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