This message was edited May 28, 2010 11:22 PM
Soil gets really hard
Are you using potting mix that is meant to go in containers, or are you using garden soil? If you're using garden soil especially if it's got a lot of clay in it I could definitely see that happening. I'd repot right away into some soilless potting mix (pretty much anything that's sold saying it's for containers will be soilless mix). Garden soil is too heavy and doesn't drain well enough to use in containers.
If you're using soil from the ground, unless it's loam, that explains what is happening. Even loam needs to be amended for use in containers. You probably don't have a compost heap. A mix of 1/2 loam and 1/2 compost is ideal.
Commercial potting mixes can be expensive. Miracle Gro is an example. But you don't need the added fertilizer and the moisture-retaining pellets. You can fertilize yourself as needed, and during a rainy season the pellets can retain so much water the roots of your plants can rot.
A solution that many gardeners use is to mix 2 or 3 commercial products. A half and half mixture of a quality potting mix such as Fertilome, which is expensive, and a much less expensive potting mix from a supermarket, sold in 40 lb. bags, works well. The latter adds humus which is a substitute for compost, and allows for good drainage. An aid in determining if the mix is humus is to pick up a bag. If it's heavy, it has too much clay soil or sand and is not so good. The lighter weight ones are plant-based. Good.
If you have access to composted cotton burs, they add nutrients to a mix. (Don't use them by themselves.)
For complicated reasons, if you do put the composted cotton burs in your mixture, be sure to add some soil also- again, loam and not clay. (You can buy potting SOIL by the bag, but it is for use in the ground.)
One additional thought- you are in MO, I see. Do you live in a wooded area where leaves have piled up year after year? One of the finest composts ever is leaf mould. If you can dig down into a high pile of leaves that have been lying in one place for several years, the lower layers are likely to be completely decomposed and are a wonderful and free additive to a potting mix. If you mix maybe 60% leaf mould and 40% garden soil, loam based, or purchased potting SOIL, there is no finer medium for use in containers.
Leaf mould can also be used as an extender for expensive brands of potting mix.
you could also amend your potting soil with some sand or some perlite which will improve your drainage and keep the soil from sticking together. you can also put some water retention crystals down by the roots and that will help keep more water in your containers and the soil from drying out.
Martha
Martha, I don't mean to contradict your suggestion, but water retention crystals can cause root rot just as a potting mix that doesn't drain well can. If there is a prolonged period of rain, and the plants are outside in the rain, they stay wet constantly and that can cause problems. Perlile or vermiculite would be preferable to sand, because sand tends to drift to the bottom of the pot every time you water.
This message was edited May 28, 2010 11:22 PM
Yes, that's most likely your problem if you're using garden soil. It doesn't drain well enough to use in containers, I'd definitely get rid of it and buy some container mix. While maybe there would be some types of garden soil that you could get away with in containers, it's a much safer bet to go get yourself some soilless mix, you'll make your job much easier that way.
This message was edited May 28, 2010 11:22 PM
Yes, you need holes. If nothing else, buy some cheap plastic pots and put them inside of the pretty ceramic ones. That is what I do.
It's essential that your containers have drain holes! That's not negotiable. When a container planting is watered, the water should run out the holes, or you have not watered the planting enough. The roots have to have oxygen, and if they are sitting in water, they drown, and the plants die. Glazed ceramic planters can have holes drilled through the bottom with a MASONRY bit used with a power drill. Turn the pot upside down and drill several medium holes spread out over the base rather than one large hole. The larger bits are more likely to crack the glaze. Go slowly but press hard-otherwise, the bit will bounce around all over the glazed area when you start to drill. Take your time. The bit may get very hot; give it a rest and don't push it. A 1/4 inch bit is large enough if you drill 6 or 8 holes. It depends on the size of the pots.
jlp, if you don't mind, I'll clarify your advice about the plastic pots. lily, if you take her advice and put plastic pots inside your pretty ceramic pots, when it's time to water, TAKE THE PLASTIC POTS OUT OF THE CERAMIC POTS. Water the plants good, let lots of water run out of the drain holes. Let them sit a couple of hours so they drain thoroughly. THEN set them back inside your decorative pots. That way they are not standing in water in the ceramic pots.
Oh, yes, glad you clarified that, sorry! Plus, if water ever does seep out of the plastic pots, just pour it out of the ceramic pots. Sorry, I should have been more thorough with my answer.
no need to be sorry. your idea was excellent- it just needed to be expanded upon a little.
; )
Here in Mass. sometimes we get horribly heavy rainy springs (right before the summers wheb it doesn't rain at all)! When I'm putting my plastic pots with holes (filled with soil-less potting mix) inside my decorative containers, sometimes I put them on a layer of marble chips or gravel or even a brick so that if it does rain really heavily and I can't get outside, they won't drown in standing water. Note that this layer to lift the plastic pot up out of possible standing water is outside the potting mix, not inside with the plant.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/933/
You can also drill holes in your ceramic pots, but I think it's a better idea to use them as cache pots and put your plants in plastic pots in the cache pot. Everybody's right about taking the plant out of the cache pot to water it. Or, you can make sure your cache pot is emptied every time you water.
Tjat's a word that needs to be in my active vocabulary, cache pot! Thank you very much.
And do you know how it's pronounced?
Sure, I think so, CASH - POT, it's actually in dictionaries as one word: cachepot.
good going, except people who use such a fancy word usually give it the French pronunciation which is, roughly, KASH poe. The A sounded roughly as the o in hot.
I was going by American Heritage dictionary's first choice pronunciation because I couldn't figure out how to make the fancy vowel signs to pronounce a French pot, which was their second choice, lol.
Say kahsh, rhymes with posh, and poe, like Edgar Allen Poe, and really impress folk! LOL
LOL I guess the AHD needs a new pronouncer, then! They have one of those click-the-icon and a disembodied voice pronounces it for you thingies. I took French from grades 6 - 12 and my kids from grades 1 - 12 but one doesn't want to come across as being too affected, now does one? (giggle)
I've always known it as cash pot, not with the French pronunciation. We have a river here in Colorado called Cache la Poudre, which we pronounce cash la pooder. I think cash is the American adoption of the French pronunciation. It could very well be one word.
Carrie, Cash Poe is the Martha Stewart pronunciation. Cachepot or cash pot is american.
Martha
gardenmart, if everything has to be pronounced "american," I guess you pronounce the s's at the end of Des Moines.
I think it's a matter of pronouncing it the way the majority of people do so that people know what you're talking about when you're looking for something. Correct or not, most people pronounce it cash pot, so if you want to ask for one in a store, that's how I'd recommend saying it. Pronunciations also aren't standardized, sometimes we keep the "foreign" pronunciation and sometimes we don't, that's why it's important to know how other people are saying it. And sometimes foreign and Americanized pronunciations get mixed...we have a city near me called Vallejo, it was named after a Mexican general so could be pronounced the way Spanish would be (ll pronounced as a "y" and the j pronounced as "h"), but people somehow wound up pronouncing the ll like it was English, but they pronounce the j like Spanish. But farther south, La Jolla which has those same two letters both get pronounced like Spanish. Go figure!
ecrane3, I agree that it's important that your listener know what you're talking about. I've just been having fun with cache pot. It just so happens that in my area, I've never heard it pronounced so that you hear the "t" at the end. I don't think KAHSH-PO sounds affected, because it is standard here. English is such a bastardized language that there are many pronunciations of words borrowed from other languages depending on where you are and who you're talking with. Your example of Spanish language names is an excellent one. We have our San Antonio, San Angelo, Val Verde, El Paso, and many others, all given Anglicized pronunciations. It would be affected to use the Spanish pronunciations in these contexts because the residents have the right to choose the pronunciation they wish. I used to live in Eldorado, pronounced el do RAY do. The people there were highly offended if someone said el do RAH do in an attempt to "correct" the "mispronunciation."
Same here in Colorado. We have a lot of Spanish names, but they do get bastardized. I'm a realtor and part of educating the buyers (especially from the east coast) is telling them how to pronounce local Spanish street names and community names. One of them is Buena Vista, which you would normally pronounce BWAYNA Vista. Not here. Here it's prounounced BEWNA Vista. And if somebody said CASH-PO to me, I'd have to ask them what they're talking about! LOL
Very interesting, revclaus! We have a street named Bosque which means 'woods' in Spanish, and is pronounced roughly Bose-Kay, but here it's BOS-KEE. Spanish speaking people can't believe it. I am really surprised about cache pot. In these parts, anyone who knows the term pronounces it closer to the French than to the Anglicized version. Most people have no clue there is a term for a utilitarian pot placed inside a slightly larger decorative pot.
Anything wrong with putting an earthworm in any kind of pot used? I'm thinking it would keep the soil loose.
Gary
lol we don't speak a lot of french here in MA. I am lucky the word doesn't have any r's in it. It would be a Flowah pot howevah Mahthah Stewaht pronounced it.
Mahthah
This message was edited Jul 3, 2008 4:42 PM
No, Gary, as long as there are earthworm ingredients (dirt, air, water) the worms should be happy and helpful. I don't know is the earthworms would be happy in a truly soil-less mix, with no organic ingredients, but if your soil has plenty of organic stuff in it, the worms should be happy, and if they're happy, they're helpful.
All of my pots that are on the ground get earthworms in them. I usually throw lots of stuff in the pots (leaves, bark, compost, whatever is on hand). I've found whole colonies in bigger pots. What confuses me is when I find earthworms in pots that are on my porch.