Lovetogarden

I have a dwarf ladyfinger and when I took it out the roots look a bit overwatered . How often do I need to water? My soil is 50% miracle cactus and 50% peet moss. Just want to be careful with root rot. Any help would be appreciated.

Kat2

What prompted you to take it out of the pot? Generally houseplants are potted in a vessel with adequate holes on the bottom which is then filled with a lighter than MD clay dirt (standard potting soil worked for me). When my plants were inside, they were watered weekly. When they were outside, they were watered sometimes daily and sometimes even twice daily. If the soil looked parched, I watered. I never had root rot on any plant. IMO, if the roots are too wet, the soil is too heavy or you need more holes in your pots.

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JP

Add sand to your mix. I'd go with 40%. Coarse sand is better, not the fine stuff.

Lovetogarden

What mix does every one use for your soil mix? Is it 40% sand? 40% peet moss?

Kat2

Are these the only plants that you grow?

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Hammocked Banana

I'm not huge on coarse sand because it's too damn heavy moving in dozens of pots in the winter. Never use fine sand (play sand/beach) bc your plants will drown. I use a good quality potting mix and then add more perlite (or coarse sand) and some worm castings.

Hammocked Banana

That math doesn't add up....

scottu

alot depends on how well it is growing. If it is pushing a leaf a week you can almost not over water. in the thick of the growing season that is the case but the rest of the time it
depends on your soil and the other factors, temp, sun etc.
You have to figure that out for your self, takes a little time and attention.

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Viva La Banana

JP

I should have started with the basics;
1- update your location in your profile
2- where is it going to grow
3- what are the conditions like where it's going to be

I'll say for sure that you have to go way lighter with the peat moss...

Kat2

She hasn't updated her profile but I've been following so I believe she's in a zone 7 in MD. Zone 6 is west of DC or was. Unless she's east of Salisbury, she's got clay dirt outside. Regardless she will have to overwinter musas inside--on the cusp of DC all of my "tropicals" were in a sunny window come October. IMO she's fiddling with her new finds a bit too much. Lifting them out of a pot to check roots without a reason is just nonsense I believe. Not my plants so not my business. Oh, well...

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scottu

you guys need to take a breath.............. relax!

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Viva La Banana

Lovetogarden

I also grow fig , peach and blue berry and plum. However those are all out doors. The dwarf banana is my only indoor plant. I took it out to put it in a bigger pot.

trachcanman99

If you have holes in the bottom of your pot so it doesn't have standing water there I can't imagine how you can over water. Stick your finger as far into the soil as possible, if it is wet don't water, if it is almost dry time to water again. I would also look at your soil mix if I remember correctly cactus mix is acidic and I know peat runs around 4.0 -4.5 while bananas preferred pH is 5.5 - 6.5 so you could very well be burning off the fine roots on the tree. Unless you are growing blueberries there are several down sides to using a lot of peat in your mix, burning the roots is the big one. another issue is once peat dries out you have to soak it in water for 30 minutes or so to get it hydrated so it will retain water. You might want to look at replacing that soil with a regular soil mix with much less peat in it. Sand is slightly neutral so you could just mix mostly sand into the soil mix and re-pot your tree. the down side to sand is water and nutrients move thru quickly which is good because it prevents salt build up on your pots and bad because you are washing expensive fertilizers out of the pot every time you water. you also have to water more often with sand. that is just a few thoughts that ran thru the mind as I read your question.

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