Beginner Gardening: Wandering Jew from cuttings..., 1 by tapla

tapla wrote:
No rooting hormone required - the plant often has preformed roots, even before you stick the cuttings, and roots readily.

Turface is a certain type of clay that has been calcined (baked) at such high temps it's become ceramic-like. It has high internal porosity, so it holds air and water well. The floor dry (part #8822) is similar, but it's calcined diatomaceous earth, instead of clay.

I'm not sure of how much you would like to learn about WHAT you grow in, but your soil choice probably has more bearing on your success than any other choices you'll make. Roots are the heart of your plant, and in most cases, root health and function don't get anywhere near the attention they deserve. If you keep in the back of your mind that a healthy plant is impossible w/o a healthy root system, you're on the right track and looking at the proper perspective when it comes to growing in containers. Not all soils are created equal, and on forum pages the difference between good soils and a poor soils is usually the underlying factor that determines success or failure more frequently than any other several factors combined, including light.

The soil below is what I grow all my houseplants in. It's made from 3 ingredients that I screen to a particular size range. If you have any interest in learning how to apply the same concept I adhere to for ALL my container plantings, I suggest you start by reading the 'sticky' thread at the top of this forum. If you think that was worth your time and you'd like to learn more about container soils and how to make them work FOR you, instead of AGAINST you, just let me know & I'll link you to some information I think will have a considerable impact on your ability to consistently bring along healthy plants.

Best luck!

Al

This message was edited Sep 1, 2012 11:00 AM