Good Growing Practices - an Overview for Beginners

Love the analogy.
Only problem with it is, the freshman will actually pay someone to keep pouring beer in until they do drown...I think they call this fun?

Hi Rick it's good to see you posting again. You've been missed!

Hey, good to see you Rick. I have often wondered if that lilac I sent you ever grew. When was it, about 3 or 4 years ago? Seems longer. Probably was. There is really no reason it wouldn't do good in your area.

Hi, guys!

The cuttings lasted until the next door neighbor moved out, another moved in, and hired a "landscaper" to make his yard low-maintenance. His legs are worse than mine, so his only goal was "no standing required".

That killed an azalea of mine, your cuttings, and damaged several other bushes.

Once I realized what a moron this new neighbor had hired, I talked to him. Neither he nor the new neighbor knew the difference between a flowering shrub and a weed.

Even after I showed him that the leaves are totally dis-similar, he couldn't tell an azalea from a Rhododendron.

He also laid down heavy plastic everywhere, to defeat weeds, but then covered that with finely shredded bark, I guess to defeat the plastic weed-block. Or maybe just to weigh down the plastic film.

Of course weeds immediately grew freely in the fine bark top-dressing.

After the moron "landscaper" went away (leaving tools and a wheelbarrow scattered around the yard where the handicapped new neighbor had to pick it all up), nothing much happened until the neighbor saved up enough strength to do some "landscaping" himself. That involved a backpack sprayer of what must be a very persistent general-purpose herbicide.

I'm not planting anything else along that border for the foreseeable future.

That's a sad story but,as usual, your post made me laugh. Hope you plan on sticking around.

Oh, yes! He won't drive me away with herbicides.

The crazy neighbor on the other side almost got me to move - to prison - after incorporating her into my compost heap. But I held back. I figured that, eventually, her husband would HAVE TO axe-murder her. How he managed to postpone it as long as he has, I can't imagine.

Eventually her daughter had to move in with her - violating several Park rules, since it is an over-55-only park, forbids excessive people moving in to small homes, and REALLY FORBIDS parking outside your driveway and blocking the roads.

Now my crazy-neighbor has too many people living in her house, a too-young person, AND I have to maneuver around the daughter's car to get out of my driveway!

I'm happy as a clam.

Now, instead of her finding things to complain about in my yard, and making trouble with park management for me, and refusing to talk to me or look at me, I think they are afraid that I'll complain about them and make trouble for her daughter.

Fortunately, they don't realize that I wouldn't be THAT much of a jerk!

So now they never complain or make trouble, and the husband has even started waving and smiling, instead of looking away like I'm a leper.

Sooo glad I live in the country. No neighbors, at least not close ones.

The "persistent herbicide" neighbor is a good guy, but I thought he was wildly anti-social at first. Then he explained that standing hurts him so much that he'll do almost anything to avoid getting caught up in a (standing) conversation.

In his yard, he WILL do anything or kill anything to avoid the need to spend time standing.

Once I tugged on a weed and almost did a back-flip when it came out. I landed hard on my back and knocked my wind out ... plus I lay there for a few moments just being glad that my head missed that concrete paving stone wall by at least an inch, because it would have splashed.

He came limping out to make sure that I hadn't killed myself. Good neighbor!

Hi All,

I am newbie and I joined this forum as I was thinking of planting some plants in my apartment.
Thanks for the expert advice guys.:)

Hi, Wilson. Good to see you. Do you have any questions or comments related to growing things in pots?

Al

Hi WilsonJason-
Welcome. Is it Mesa Arizona?
What kind of window exposure do you have? This is important because a North facing window will not get direct sun, so different plants will like it there.

Hello, I was wondering about the perched water situation and root death that you described - what about the self-watering pots and planters that are getting so widely available? The principle is to always have water down in the dish for the plant to drink, and to water the plants 10 times less often... sounds like a great solution, but if the price of convenience is the death of the roots? Hmmm...

I have tried the self-watering pots a few times. I had good success with African Violets, as long as the water did not come up too high. Since I had to check pretty often to see if they needed more water (by picking up the inner pot so I could see how much water still left), it would have been just as easy to water them. Right now I have a Peony that did fine last summer, but once the rains started it seemed to be unhappy. I hope it has survived, I moved it under an overhang. Mostly I find them difficult to use- in none of them was it easy to see how much water was in there, and when watering they would tend to overflow. In winter, it was a soggy overflowing mess if out in the weather. I have gotten rid of most of them.
I might guess that for something like tomatoes, as long as the pot was deep enough so that the major root mass was above the liquid anaerobic layer they might be fine. I have never tried tomatoes like this so cannot speak from experience.
I have had good success starting seeds in trays on a capillary mat to suck up moisture from a reservoir, a similar idea.

>> I have had good success starting seeds in trays on a capillary mat to suck up moisture from a reservoir, a similar idea.

I do the same thing for seedlings, but with no reservoir. I just add enough water to the 1020 tray when the cotton flannel gets less than damp. Like 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup. I did not want standing water in the tray, just soggy felt plus some water in the "grooves" in the 1020 tray.

I figure that the felt pulls water down OUT of the cells if I overwater from the top, and supplies water TO any cell that gets dry faster. The bottom of every cell is exactly as damp as the felt, so I know when to water.

http://allthingsplants.com/ideas/view/RickCorey/646/Bottom-Watering-Seedling-Trays-with-Cotton-Flannel-Prevents-Water-Logging/

By the way, once upon a time, Al/Tapla said something like "if your mix drains right, and you water correctly, you don't NEED any wicks!"

But I have never been able to keep myself from over-watering. Hence the cap mat in the 1020 tray for seedlings.

I am having great success with the big self-watering pots from Ikea - the one you see in the picture above, with a red periscope watering tube. The huge tropicals that I repotted 4-5 months ago have given tremendous growth, and look very happy and bright, without fertilizers. You can see the difference between the new bright and the old dark leaves of this ZZ plant. Unlike the self-watering pots from Walmart that I highly do NOT recommend because they always keep plants unhappy and soggy. The bottom compartment of the Ikea pots is separated from the soil, and somehow the soil does not get soggy at all, even if the compartment is filled with water to the top (the buoy always shows the current water level) so you can fill the reservoir to the capacity and forget about the plant for a month. Walmart self-watering pots have no system, just drainage holes and a holding dish below, and the dish is always dirty and collects insects. Moreover, if you want to drain the dirty water it gets super messy since the dish is semi-attached (can fall off the pot if you lift it and will splash all over the place).

Rick Corey, thanks a lot for this link and the info, this is a great idea!

Hi Growin F thanks for the Ikea idea. I have a start of a ZZ I made from one I killed with overwatering, I may try this on my new one as yours looks terrific.

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it, GrowInFlorida. Most of my ideas are too gadgety and fiddly, but "lay down some cotton cloth under your sedlign trays" really does make bottom-watering easier for me. And anything that helps me overwater LESS is golden.

Hi, Pistil!

Posting to unstick...

I may have missed this answer but I just potted japanese maple in gritty mix. I have moved it to the shade. Do I wait to fertilize with dyna pro (?) for 2 weeks? And if I mix with a gallon I water, how much of the gallon should I use at one time? Won't it drain out of container with water??? Thank you in advance for help as I am stuck on this one step and don't want to lose any time if it should be done immediately 😳

Maples shouldn't be repotted in the summer unless you're willing to defoliate - and that requires the plant to be in great health. It's best to repot (which includes bare-rooting and a root pruning) in spring immediately before the onset of bud movement or just as buds are starting to move. You can pot up at any time, but it's best to avoid mixing two types of soils in the same container - so gritty mix AND the mix the tree came in are probably not very compatible.

Low fertility encourages root colonization of the entire soil mass, so I usually wait 2 weeks after repotting tropicals to fertilize. I repot temperate trees while they're quiescent (that resting stage after dormancy is technically over and low temps are inhibiting growth) but getting ready to put on the spring flush, and don't fertilize until after the spring flush has hardened off. This helps to prevent ugly, long internodes and huge leaves on your containerized trees. If you happen to be growing trees that will be planted out (in the landscape) at a later date, I still keep root pruned and I wait to fertilize until mean temps are above 60*. The reason is, at cool temps below 60*, ammonium toxicity is a significant issue with potted trees and fertilizers with high ammonium or urea content. It often occurs when cool temps limit soil's bio activity and the conversion of ammonium to nitrate. High levels of nitrate can be stored in plant cells without damage, where concentrations of ammonium damages cells (ammonium toxicity).

Al

Hi Al, I have a variegated split leaf Monstera Deloscia and it is growing pretty good right now. Getting one leaf after the other. Problem is, the white portion of the leaves, most of them, are turning black. I am sure it has a lot to do with the light due to photosenthesis. sic. How can I stop these white portions of the leaves from turning black? Thanks in advance for your help. Jnette

Your plant's variegation is the result of 2 different tissues living side by side on the same leaf, and it's not unusual to see symptoms of a limiting cultural condition made manifest in one of the tissue types and not the other. Usually it's the tissue with the limited chlorophyll expression that first tells you the plant isn't happy. There's no image to look at, but soil saturation is the first thing that comes to mind as most likely to be causal, which means getting watering under control, or better, getting the plant into a soil that virtually relegates over-watering to nonissue status would be the logical first step.

Short of that, I can post something that will help you cope with excessive water retention. The tips, combined with a little restraint & some monitoring of soil moisture levels will do the trick if the problem is actually what the odds favor it being.

Al



This message was edited Jul 24, 2016 2:18 PM

I have had house plants most of my 63 years. But my husband and I have downsized and I donated many of my larger plants to my daughters' Montessori school. Just recently though, while at a gardening center to hunt down some fill house plants for a friend, I picked up a collection of house plants in teeny tiny pots and planted them in a container about 6" x 9". Up until now, I have been a dramatic pruner....getting too big? Whack! Off goes your head! I've had fine success with that method with those plants. Pothos? Can hardly kill them. Thank goodness, I never whacked my faithful Norfolk pine! Still have him. But, I'd love some advice on keeping these little guys small. These are not bonsai type plants...just young house plants. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Stay cool out there.

I would think you could prune all of this like you have been Annie.

This message was edited Aug 4, 2016 5:19 PM

Don't be so good to them Annie!!

I was wondering if anyone has made Al's gritty mix in the United Kingdom
I can't find turface anywhere. Also was wondering where you got the uncomposted pine bark as I'm only finding bulk bags for industrial use. Perhaps it has a different name in the Uk
Much appreciated

Hi Annie-
I think you may have trouble with the Calathea insignis. I have one, It has been in the same pot for maybe 3-4 years now, The pot is too small, but I have not repotted because I will have to break the pot to get it out and I have not bothered. The opening is just 8" across so it is severely pot-bound. Despite this, the leaves are 28" tall (PlantFiles says they could get 48" long) so I doubt you can dwarf it enough for your purpose. It is a really nice plant, but I would recommend you put it in it's own pot.
Here is a photo, with a yardstick.

Thanks for sharing the tip it was really helpful, but I have a question.I recently bought some wicker baskets from a store nearby my house called wicker emporium and I would like to know whether they are durable? When I checked online it was said to line them up with plastic sheet and then sphagnum moss. Is this tip advisable or should I look for any other alternative? I have a couple back home and I really would love to use them as planters.

Wicker definitely rots if kept damp. People use wicker for planters by just setting the plant inside it in it's pot. I have tried this but find it difficult. Plants need drainage, and so we use saucers under to catch drips, but if you try to water the plant in it's basket you can't see if it is draining into the saucer, so then it finally overflows onto the floor. It can also be hard to grip and pull out the pot so as to water it in the sink. Anyway it has mostly seemed like too much mess and bother to me, but I know some folks do a nice job with wicker containers.

Carol, first I think you need to know who is taking them. Do you have raccoons? That could be. You would be surprised at what they take. How about the human kind? Do you have someone you know who would have a trail camera? That would help.

We bought one for less than $100 at Walmart. Motion triggers them. Does not turn on a light, just takes pictures of whatever is moving. Maybe you have one. Or could borrow one somewhere. Maybe rent one? Not sure where you could rent one. Might do a little investigating.

You don't know what to do until you know what/who it is. Jen

Hi ladies I just noticed that most of these posts were from 2011 I hope you guys are still actively using this site so I am starting seedlings of all kinds and my first I guess I picked the hardest roses I've read that I should start them in baggies with water that has had some hydrogen peroxide in it because that sucks so fungus from growing and then do the cold stratification in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 weeks inside the baggies and just make sure that they stay hydrated does this work or should I be using a gritty substance with the Pete on top please help

Yes it was started way back when, but just wait and if they are still on DG, they will see it. Sorry, I am not familiar with starting roses this way. jen

Does anyone have experiences to share with seed strips or seed tape? Pros? Cons? I've seen seed tapes and seed strips sold in the stores for the garden - mostly for things with super small seeds. Worth the extra expense or not? Easy to use? Any tips or drawbacks? Any info appreciated!

Never tried them so hope someone answers. Jen

This material is all really useful, thank you

A question about soils... Sorry if this has been covered, I've only been able to make it through the first page of posts...

I'm a little confused about adding pine bark chips to a potting mix. I've always been told that uncomposted organics will kill plants by starving them of Nitrogen among other things. Is this just another fiction passed on?