Every year I have some that end up in pots. But I find they stay too wet if I use traditional potting soil. Does anyone have an suggestions for a mix or blend to use in pots?
Potting Lilies
I use perlite in the soil when I put something in a pot. Walmart sells it and also most nurseries. It also keeps the soil from compacting.
I use Promix, this I found worked well.
This has always been a problem for me. Many potting mixes are high on the peat end. I am experimenting with the Miracle Grow potting mix which seems to have more shredded bark in it. Then about 1/4 - 1/3 volcanic pumice mixed in. Perlite should work well also. The indicator for a correct mix is that water should run right through it. Pots can get overheated in the sun so you will want to protect from that.
Potting mix is pretty weird stuff I always thought because of all the peat. There's a place in San Antonio, a place we go to often, called Gardenville. They make a potting mix with very little peat and a lot of shredded bark and other good stuff. This is the first year I've used it. Can't wait to see how it works.
I have used miracle grow potting mix, not the moisture retention type, just the regular, and have been really quite happy with it.
Me too. I use MG for all my potting. I would suggest using clay pots for plants that need to stay on the dryer side. Another suggestion, get a moister meter. They're not very expensive and I learned last year that all my plants would do better with less water.
Magnolia, I got the Miracle Grow idea from you-- one of your posts sometime back. Anyhoo, I am experimenting with it. Usually when I grow lilies in a container it means sure death by the second year (Arabian Red is now... gone!). Now I am thinking along a different line: really cheap potting "soil". We have a local (PNW) discount store called Bi Mart with their own name label. There is so much fine bark in it that it is more like a mulch lol. Cheap though, something like 3 bucks a so for a big bag. I am thinking of mixing this with a really good potting soil (I picked up some EB Stone with mycorrhizal fungi today) and the pumice, ratios to be figured out. Maybe 2:1:1. I need to come up with something good because I am expecting some L. nepalense to arrive any day now and I will be growing them in a cedar container that I can cover from the winter rains.
For us in Minnesota, cheap potting soil means heavy, heavy, heavy black muck, just to alert others. And that's obviously not a good thing.
Pard - EB Stone. ¿Cuál es ése? Qu'est-ce que c'est? Kaj je to? What is that?
Label... It is a potting soil found in better nurseries.
Pard, that looks like fantastic stuff!
I don't know if it is sold in other areas of the country. I believe this company is in CA.
Promix got too wet for me. It was too much of a water retainer.
Pard, looks like I will be on the look out for that good stuff. Expensive?
This may be helpful:
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/527353/
Do you think that adding sand to a potting mix would help? I usually add some rocks to the bottom of the pot. Primarily to weight it down so if the get really tall they won't be top heavy.
I like adding crushed granite (chick grit from the feed store). The particles are a little bigger than sand. I'm trying a few lilies in home-made leafy compost this year; everything else I've tried in that free draining mix of crushed leaves at various stages of decomposition and worm casings has loved it.
Good idea, weighing the the pot down. The tall ones get really top heavy. I'll have to remember that one next time.
Not sure I even want to bring this up, but here goes. I use to put rocks in the bottom of all my pots for drainage. Last year there was a post about pots and drainage and watering, and some really smart person was telling all of us that we were doing our plants a disservice by including a drainage layer. This person explained that because the rocks (or whatever) were there and not soil, the roots become shallow because the soil automatically establishes a moister line above where it should be. I can't really explain it. Maybe Rick knows more about this, but I didn't use any drainage material last year and I do think the plants in pots did better. Along with also using a moister meter, I think they appeared more healthy as the season progressed than what I normally experience. I did use a piece of screen at the bottom of all my pots to prevent soil loss.
I can't even remember which forum it was on. May have been Propagation as I'm not really into the Container forum. Good luck if anyone goes looking for it.
Beak, I think that was probably tapla's post that Neal linked above. I have also quit placing a differentiating layer at the bottom of my pots.
The things you learn on DG!
Oh yeah! I finally went pot shopping today. Sale is for buy 2 get one free, so I had a free for all. I ended up with 9 altogether but there is plenty of week left on this sale. Now to get those callas potted!
So now I want the weight at the bottom of my pot, but then I think I shouldn't ;)
You can always keep them propped up with a bike, LOL.
I don't recall having any problems with that last year. The Shirleys I had in pots got pretty tall and leaned a bit, but I stuck them in the garden and I think they were supported by all the other plants. Just don't put them in too small a pot. I would think one to three in a 10 inch pot would be fairly stable.
I'll have to measure my pot with the 5 tall lilies in there. But you are sooooooo right, I forgot about that bike idea!
I've used ProMix for years, but I always add quite a lot of perlite to help with the drainage. Too late to try MG this year, I've already got three big bags of ProMix sitting on my balcony. Hardly any of my tulips and daffs came up. They rotted. :-( But we had a LOT of snow this year, and all the snow melted in between blizzards. Wierd year.
You can always keep them propped up with a bike, LOL.
And such gleeful wit on DG too!
As per your inquiry, Beaker, when layers are defined, as tapla esplains, it can cause problems. But if they are NOT defined, puting rocks on the bottom should not cause a problem.
This is what you could do to still use rocks for weight:
make sure the rock layer is not all rocks. In other words, make sure you still have soil mixed with the rocks right to the bottom. This way there will still be the strong capillary force of the soil pulling water down to the bottom of the pot. The rocks will of course add the weight, but also aid in drainage with the continuous, large surface for water to follow and drain down. But for rocks to aid in drainage, the soil must be present adjacent to them.
In almost all applications, strong layering, without a gradation inbetween, in the soil/ground/container is a bad thing, IMO.
Personally, I liked doing without the rocks last year. The pots were a lot lighter and I do move them around quite a bit. If I have to amend soil to make it more free draining, I opt for the perlite and if you don't have that, sand. Sand can get pretty heavy too.
gemini_sage,
In my first garden last summer, my DH taught me about using the leaves as a layer in the pot. He fills them halfway with decomp leaves and then only halfway with the potting mix. The containers stay light!
P.S. I emptied all the "spent" containers to clean and repot. I threw all the leaves in various stages of decomp onto the compost pile to continue their breakdown.
This message was edited Apr 18, 2007 4:36 PM
Gymgirl, leaves have turned out to be a gift from Mother Nature for me. When they're crushed up they decompose quite fast.
I had to pot up a bunch of bulbs at the new place yesterday, and used equal parts MG moisture control potting soil, MG garden soil for veggies and flowers, premium fine textured pine bark, and pine bark mulch. It is mostly for summer bulbs in clay pots on the back deck, and felt like it would be a good mix for lilies.
Gemini,
How do you "crush" the leaves?
I've used the mower with a bagger, but the leaf blower/sucker I have is best. It vacuums them up and crushes and bags them. I can dump them right on the garden as mulch- I love it!
Ah, I believe the correct terminology is mulch and not crush. My leaf blower/vacuum also mulches.
I take whatever bagged stuff I have and generally mix it with sand and composting leaves from our pile to loosen it a bit....perlite is ok except then I have that white stuff in my garden after I plant the pots out......so I try to use it only for plants that are going to stay in the pot.
I would reiterate the comment above....you want a mix the water pretty much just runs through.....clay pots are heavier than their counterparts....
I use 1 small bulb to a quart size pot(big enough to start and later plant out) probably better to use 1 bulb/gallon size so you can get a better depth to allow for stem roots to grow on the lilies...more stable and then they can replenish themselves. The taller rather than the wider pots are better.
lookie...
one more...
I bet those smell divine! :)
Yum!
Reminds me of the Madonna's. I have 4 nice stems this year. Can hardly wait. They were one of my top 5 favs last year.
Very nice.
I use 4way mix with tiny tiny roofing pebbles mixed in with rocks at the bottom for drainage. I tend to under water my pots. Sometimes put pots in a container of water for a short time so roots get a drink without soaking the planting medium.
BTW, my lily/iris pots sit on gravel for good drainage too.
inanda