Musa_Cavandish

Hello. i have a question once agian.. recently i've been repotting a few plants of mine into a equal mixture of Composted Cow Manure, Regular gardening soil, And perlite. is this a really good potting media for the following:
Super Dwarf Cavendish
Tropical Hibiscus
Castor Bean
Tomatoe
Datura
Poinsettia

is this alright soil for my plants.? the soil seems heavy and wet for a prolongated amount of time.. so is there a better method.? or should i stick to this.?

Richard

1. make sure your pots are not sitting in water.
2. to check if it is time to water, examine the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot. If they are wet or moderately damp, it is not time to water.
3. when you water give the pot 2 or 3 waterings a few minutes apart so that it soaks in each time.

Over time you will learn how often to water and only need to check the pots during seasonal changes.
Otherwise, your soil mixture seems good to me.

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Musa_Cavandish

Really. that sounds great , i really didn't have it in mind to repot it all again and have to buy more soil. but if you say so. what could i do to make it even more "loose" or runny.?

Musa_Cavandish

"when you water give the pot 2 or 3 waterings a few minutes apart so that it soaks in each time." explain this more. and all of them are suitable for this mixture.? and the overall question is: Is this a REALLY reasonable mixture.? because i want effortless and maximum results for happy plants out in full sun.

TracyWV

The banana and tomatoe should really like the compost/manure level. The Poinsettia will also do well as long as it isn't soggy. when they are actively growing they like the soil fertile and moist but not soggy. They also like a slightly acid soil PH of 5.5 to 6.5.

If your soil proves to stay too wet for too long after watering, you could try amending the soil with the addition of any one or combination of the following to your soil mix to improve drainage and aeration:
Very course sand (not fine sand, that will reduce drainage and aeration)
Pumice
cinders
course vermiculite

Also, make sure your pots aren't too large for the root ball of your plants. That will make the soil stay wetter for a longer time.

You may be able to improve the drainage of your pots by putting a layer of lava rock in the bottom of the pots befor putting the soil in. It may also help to drill more drainage holes in the bottom of the pots.

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mskitty38583

i have my nanas planted in the ground with a sightly different mixture. but your sounds good. just make sure yours arent getting to soggy from watering. if they are in pots and have a drip pan that you keep the drip pan empty after watering. you dont want rot.

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Richard

From the mixture you describe, I believe your soil is fine. If the soil is staying damp then you (or something) is watering too often.


Use a bucket or hose to water your pots. Basically, when you water you want to wet all of the soil in the pot. This will take multiple applications of water during the same watering event. Further, you don't want to water again (some future day) until checking at the bottom of the pot reveals that it is actually necessary.

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Richard

... as a followup to my post below: once you learn how often to water in your environment, you can make life easier by attaching a battery-operated timer to your hose and at the other end, a loop of soaker hose in the pot.

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