anthos flores av's and their HEAVY soil...

in cutting some leaves to send out today from my anthos flores av/s...i noticed that the "medium" they came in ..is not light or soiless...but quite heavy....of all my av's...these are the healthies and they have retained the moisture the best...coming from Canada...must be some peat in there?....i have seen before where AV's are "stuck" in very heavy soil for years....almost like a brick...and they just flourish like crazy....wonder if the water runs off and doesn't get absorbed through the top....i watered these in a tray from the bottom...hmmm...

I potted up an Optimara baby Spider sent me same way. The soil of opimara plants, and other Nurserys are same . I re-pot them all into my light soil-less mixture . I am learning the lighter the mix the better my plants grow :))

Allison I AGREE..but i want to know why these are working so well in the HEAVY soil...and why it is..we can go to someone's home who has had THAT a.v. sitting in that same pot for YEARS....and it is growing like crazy......lol....i'll bet all of us have seen folks with av's like that....and it's still flourishing...

I know exactly what you mean.....I recall visiting a few older ladies' homes with my Mom when I was a kid....some of these ladies had their HUGE and gorgeous AV's (blooming their li'l old heads of, lol!) growing in literal 'dirt' they'd scooped up from the backyard.....hard as a rock!

Nan..i remember it so well....there's got to be some secret there and i want to know what it is....lol....

I think it has to do with how they are watered. The lighter soil is definitely for wicking. I have a friend who has heavy soil and her avs bloom like crazy. She waters from the bottom but only when the top is completely dry.

thanks nanna...since the intro of the cornell mix many decades ago...most gardeners look to the light...airy mix with good drainage....i suspect that unless one ADDS nutrients to it...that it would not work as well as we like...perhaps some of these older folks with the av blooming in hard dry soil...have better nutrients in their soil...but, if it ain't broke...don't fix it.

tomorrow i am going to take one of my african violets and plant it in nothing but cow manure and see what happens..

I'm tempted to do the same with some of our beautiful soil , works well for grapes (and maybe mix some of my WELL composted horse manure too. I have a spot in my kitchen with no AV's so I wont have to worry about any critters in the soil - then again I could just bake it too

And since I've learned not to drown my babies any more (well not much anyway) I might be able to handle this test! LOL.

he he...Laurie...you're such a sweet riot....love it....when i lived in Mo 15 years ago before coming here to care for my parents....i had left L.A. after 28years and moved into a city of 60....that's right...60....i built a cedar log home on 17 acres above the Eleven Pt River....and built a solar greenhouse to heat the house and of course give plants...I managed a radio station there....but i had all the horse and cow manure i wanted...so i literally loaded the greenhouse with it....and oh my..the results were astonishing...cabbages were 30 lbs etc...well..you farmers know the rest of the story.....anyway...going to experiment with the av's just for fun....i do know that cow manure works wonders in my outside jungle....Hey...THIS is great fun!!

want to hear from others that have seen AV's growing in same pot in same soil for years and blooming like crazy

Well I use to put bat poop, or Bacto, kelp meal, worm castings, fish emolsion, in my soil-less mixture. But it got expensive. Now I'm wondering if it caused gnats more ? I still put Bay Poop in as I had bought a lot at one time.
But I'll still keep with my loose soil-less mixture !

Nice thing about the soil less mix I buy is that it has all that good stuff already added. Batty poopie, wormie poopie etc...

Laurie,
What kind of soilless mix are you using?

Oh poop!
Allison, I repotted all AVs on Saturday, since you pointed out that my babies were not meeting their developmental milestones! LOL. Here is what I noticed about your plants, the planting mix was VERY firm. Generally when I pot mine I don't pack them down so much- so what I want to know is, do you pack the mix down for a reason, did that just happen as a result of time, etc or was it on purpose? Is there a benefit to packing down the mix?

It's a 'master nurseryman's' product, I'll have to find the name, but I think it is called 'Gardener's Gold'

Here it is. http://www.masternursery.com

I also use the Bumper Crop in my planting beds along with their 'Pay Dirt' (tomatoes go insane!)

well there is no better fertilizer than bat guano..but it is expensive...unless one has bats in their belfry!!............................ROFLMBBO

ALLISON..april raises a very good question...why does yuor soil feel so heavy for a soiless mix....as yuo will see shortly in the pics i'm about to send....the plants you sent me are doing excellently....but tell us about your soiless mix..

Yes tell!

here are the pics i just took of the wonderful plants Allison sent to me...they are by far the best i have...take a look

and..

..

and

bump

Wow Bob! Those are simply fabulous! You're very lucky to have them!

Stunning! What a wonderful variety of colors/textures in the foliage, too!

OH Bob the plants I sent you look so good and happy ! How is your Chirita ? Any blooms yet ? Mine grow like a weed.
My soil-less mixture is very light. I use 60 percent perilite and Por-mix or something like it. Thinking of try SunShine mix .
Can't get much light than 60 percent perlite gives roots lot of air to move and grow healthy.
April I've never packed them down ?
My husband adds a cup of bat poop each time he makes a new batch. I go threw gallons a week and he can make it in his sleep .
One thing plants need to bloom is humidity, light, and a good feeding and watering program.
Now when I get plants from Bluebirds now their soil is heavy. I take 99-100 percent of the soil off and pot in new bleach pots with my light-soiless mixture.
Number one I always bleach new pots . I never re-use and if I was going to I would bleach clean them.
Funny Starfly and others say my soil is so light different from their's what should they do when they re-pot ? It is also recomended not to re-pot plants for 30 days from the day you get them. Let them adjust. I only do them right away if the pots are green molding, plants falling out of pots with large necks ..things like this.
I see your Alsobi Cygnet blooming Bob :)) Just one of my favorite plants. I have one in a 5 inch pan pot with zillions of babies needing to come off and be potted in their own pots just don't have the time.
Lot's of my babies still with Mom bloom, and 99 percent chance a plant of blooming size blooms all the time for me . Most plants will bloom fresh for months so I imagine by the time their dead new ones have formed under neath.

Grey Lady, Chocolate Soldier and Aussie Alice :))
My neighbor gave me an old shelf over the weekend and hubby srubed it up. I have some gessies, Begonias, leaves... on it !

April when you repotted your plants were they heavy and wet ? I keep mine on the dry side yet evenly moist but not heavy and wet.

love your new shelf Ali, nice!!

Another view

Thanks Lali their getting the sun much better . even on the bottom I have 3 large plastic tubs of leaves maybe about 100 leaves no room on light stands for them they get good light too. I do love growing Epsicas, Streps ..in natural light this will give me more room for doing this !
I moved this Begonia out of kitchen for now. Hope it does not mind. Soon it will go outside.

Grey Lady

Bob, Ali must have sent you some of her 'magic touch' too when she shipped your box! Well done in the growing department!

I believe now, that I've read your emails and posts here that there isn't anything that you haven't done, not a place you've not lived in! You have had an amazing life!! And somehow I believe your adventures are just beginning!!

Ali, looks like 'My Special Angel' up there in the right corner!!

Alsobia babies need to come off just have no time so many babues to trans-plant, water , on and on... sometimes the babies bloom too :)) She is in a 5 inch pan pot !

oh my goodness, drool, who is the variegated little one in front of Irene? slurp, drool, slobber.

There's just something so yummy about the metalic sheen that episcias have. I just got four from Cedar Creek.
They lost a lot of their mother stock, so all were subs from what I actually ordered, but I'm happy with all the varieties sent.

need to get a photo.

This plant Lali ?