What is the best soil mix for my basjoo?? HELP!
 

Im not sure if I screwed up but I bought musa basjoo plants off ebay. They looked good and I waited a week or so then transplanted them into regular potting soild they all looked good but one ( I had 4 total). I then read that a 1/3 mix of sand, peat moss, garden or yard dirt is the proper mixture. I take my plants do this mix and now they all are looking bad, leaves are wilted bad and I think Im going to loose them, any ideas for me?? Thanks.

Re: What is the best soil mix for my basjoo?? HELP!
 

answer these questions....

1. when did u get them
2. where are they located.
3. how much do u water them

Re: What is the best soil mix for my basjoo?? HELP!
 

had them for 3 weeks.
located by south facing window ( been at that location for 2 weeks)
Once I redone the soil mix I watered. I do think they feel damp.
They were dam good till I changed the soil mix, all leaves are lying down now onto the pot's they are in, looks sad!

Re: What is the best soil mix for my basjoo?? HELP!
 

pictures???? im not to much of a help in growing plants in containers....i have all mine in the ground and grow well....maybe its the water your wetting the roots too much and not enough sun to balance the intake....hope someone else will chime in and has better experience on growing containered plants :D

Re: What is the best soil mix for my basjoo?? HELP!
 

For potted plants:

1/3 horticultural or rinsed stucco sand (not playground sand, it contains herbicides and pesticides)
1/3 ground coir or peat
1/3 hard pumice (preferred) or perlite (o.k.)

The whole reason for using a pot is to keep it out of the local soil.

The place to check the soil is at a hole in the bottom of the pot. Stick your finger in there. If it is moist, it is not time to water yet. If the pot is sitting in a tray, make sure no water is standing in the tray.

:lurk:

Re: What is the best soil mix for my basjoo?? HELP!
 

For something that's easy to throw together by going to any big box store like Lowe's or Home Depot: I've been using a mix of bagged topsoil (without the fertilizers), perlite, and vermiculite. I apply the perlite and vermiculite at a rate of about 1 bag (8 quart) of each to every 2 cubic foot bag of dirt. Been using that mix for several years now and have had great results on everything from Bird of Paradise and Plumeria, to Heliconias, Gingers, and Bananas.

Re: What is the best soil mix for my basjoo?? HELP!
 

From big box stores, esp. in the western U.S.: I prefer Kellogg Garden "Patio Mix" -- for indoor or outdoor potted plants.

Re: What is the best soil mix for my basjoo?? HELP!
 

2 cubic bag of expert gardner potting mix, 8 qt. bag of perilite, 8 qt bag of cactus and citrus mix.....mix well. i mix a big tote of this and leave it in my den. this is what i use on all of my nana.

Re: What is the best soil mix for my basjoo?? HELP!
 

Go and get promix hp with biofungicide, or Berger high porosity, or any high perlite high porosity mix for indoor growing in cool temps. The smaller the plant, the more critical the soil is. The warmer the temperature where you're growing, the more moisture the plants can tolerate.
Small tc's need much more controlled and exact conditions than larger more established plants. That's why I hate to see people selling 2-3" tc's on ebay. You might as well put an ad in there that says "If you're new to banana growing, please just donate the money to me and don't even ask me to send you a plant, since we're both wasting our time sending this out...."

Re: What is the best soil mix for my basjoo?? HELP!
 

nicely put sandy

Re: What is the best soil mix for my basjoo?? HELP!
 

Thanks for all the input everyone.

Re: What is the best soil mix for my basjoo?? HELP!
 

BTW, just noted the above posts, but a reminder that when you work with vermiculite, you should wear a face mask (little surgical type is fine) as it contains asbestos and is heavily implicated as causitive in mesothelioma.

Re: What is the best soil mix for my basjoo?? HELP!
 

yikes! I have just planted new tcs and transplanted my basjoo. Each hole I put half gallon of playground sand ,perilite, growers mix, potting mix,compost, pea gravel and slow release fert. How bad is this playground sand ? I guess i figured if kids could eat it . It would be non toxic. So not bad for plants. Does it lose the herbicide after some time? I'll redo if need be.

Re: What is the best soil mix for my basjoo?? HELP!
 

For a few years we couldn't get vermiculite. I just found a big bag & there are warnings all over it .."contains less than 1% crystalline silica" It says it's the crystalline silica that causes the lung cancer & illness. It must be in all vermiculite to keep it dry(?).

I have a hard time believing that pesticides & herbicides are found in play sand. It is used for childrens sandboxes!! How can we find this out for sure?

Re: What is the best soil mix for my basjoo?? HELP!
 

my bananas that have 50% perlite and 50% compost are doing really well this year i just wish i did this 3 years ago,and i would have not lost many bananas,as air to the roots is just as important as drainage.