How necessary is vermiculite in a potting mix?
I need to re-pot some of my new AVs, and have a mix of potting soil and perlite, but don't have any vermiculite at the moment.
Found a place to buy some, but it will mean a special trip...do I really need it?
Am thinking about wicking, but at the moment am just watering when they start drying out...they are still in the potting mix they came in.
Any advice appreciated.
Sharon
Vermiculite???
I don't care for vermiculite and don't use it anymore.
My African Violets are all doing splendid, and I wick water
I use half Pro-Mix BX and half perlite.
:-)
This message was edited Nov 23, 2008 10:15 PM
There certainly are differing opinions about Vermiculite........just like everything else in the world. LOL
Personally I use it and have had good luck with it. But I order it in the larger sizes not the powder fine stuff you usually find on the shelves for sale.
If you have ever bought violets from Rob's Violet Barn, you may have noticed his soil is 50% or more vermiculite. I heard him talk once and he said he did that for PH reasons, I think.
Here is an interesting article on Vermiculite PH. http://www.schundler.com/pH.htm
Do you REALLY need it. NO
Good link, av_ocd_girl..
I do use the chunky vermiculite in my wicking mix but it only comprises 25%. That said, I think you can grow nice nice plants without it.
2manyplants - you can't use the wick watering method with the current soil you have meant for hand watering. It must be removed and a more appropriate mix for wicking used in your repotting.
Thanks for the great article av_ocd_girl! Between the fish tank and plants, I am always struggling with pH issues--Knowledge is power, and I need power to deal with pH! LOL
Thanks for the article...good 'un!!!
My plants came from two different ebay sellers with wicks already in, so just guessing I would think they would be wickable, although I am going to repot them just in case before wicking and put in my own wicks...
This re-learning AV care is hard on my overly mature brain...lol...
Sharon
Wow..after I posted this i went back and clicked on the horticultural main page...interesting stuff!
I didn't know you could grow orchids in 100% perlite!!!
Wonder if that would work for AVs?
This message was edited Nov 24, 2008 8:23 AM
This company has dozens of cool articles, that's just one.
For more info on perlite and growing: http://www.schundler.com/hort.htm
I have never heard of Schundler but I think I need to get to know them. I grew great for a year without any vermiculite.......but I am going back to it again. I just made a batch of peat moss, perlite and vermiculite to hand water. 1-1-1 and I am afraid that is too much vermiculite...........we shall see.
The article was very interesting.I have used vermiculite for years in indoor plants especially,but I had never considered it to be a big factor in PH.I have mainly used it for it's water holding ability.When I make custom mixes for certain plants,I vary the amount of peat moss,perlite,and vermiculite to add to a soil mix or soiless mix,depending on how fast I want the plant to dry out and if I want to water from the bottom or water from the top and let it run through quickly.