Batch of Bad Soil

[MelaQuin]

I sent an email to the supplier concerning some bad soil I had purchased. It seems a strange thing to complain about soil but it was dirty. Not just dirty, but this batch would accept water almost normally but something would not be quite right and a scratch would reveal the undersoil was bone dry and had to be soaked. Within a week I had repotted 7 trees and threw the old soil from their pots into the garden [and god help the garden!!].

Three days ago I did my morning round of watering and I do 1/2/3/4/5 trees than back to the first and again and then move on to the next lot of 5 or 6. I watch each pot to be sure the water is going in as it should. I was stunned to see water pooling in the pot of my favourite trident. I finished watering and put the pot on the table and it was still holding water, the large drainage holes all over the bottom were dry.

Maple water 1.jpg

Maple water 3.jpg

I removed the tree and washed most of the potting mixture off the roots while water still stood in the pot. Because the 6 cm deep plastic orchid pot has large holes all over it I had put a single sheet of newspaper over them to hold the soil in. I have done this anytime I have used this pot and by the time the soil stablises the newspaper is rotten and disintegrated. In this particular instance the excessive silt prominent in this dirty batch had coated the newspaper enough that overnight it blocked 95% of the water passage.

The pot was washed, I cut large plastic screening to fit the bottom and resettled the tree. That was Sunday morning. Sunday noon and on into Monday it teemed... 140mm of rain in my area. If the blockage had not occured when it did the maple would have been in danger of drowning as little water would have gotten through during the two monsoonal days. And I'm particularly fond of this maple having purchased the trunk several years ago and I've been working hard to develop branches and now foliage pads.

Maple water 4.jpg

[kcpoole]

Interesting.
One of the reasons I use Inorganic growing medium.
Inability to drain, or inability to wet properlyonce started to dry out is what started nme on the path of Diatomite.

Ken

[Bretts]

Was it sifted? Can you give us any other info on the actual soil you used.

[MelaQuin]

it's coarse crushed road base with some humus and dynamic lifter mixed in. I think there is a bit of zeolite as well. I have been using this for years and swear by it but a new supplier is using coarser rock and it hasn't been washed so the amount of silt is very noticeable. I am not happy. I should never have to repot 7 trees two months after the spring repot. This backlog of silt blocking drainage is bad. I will talk to the supplier first but I think I will be changing. If someone else was watering my trees during this little spell of medium trouble I could have lost every one planted in this soil. It was just lucky that I know my trees and recognised that there was something not quite right in the watering.

[Pup]

That is one reason I have made my own mix since I had 10 tree's that,way I know what is there and how much.

Pup

[MelaQuin]

Yes, you are quite right - it's better to do your own. But I have a worsening back, a tiny side passage access from front to back yard, small backyard and limited storage. The materials would have to be dumped in the street and moved to the back by buckets and much as I hate to admit it, I can't manage it. Much as I would like to, with on street parking it is hard enough loading trees into the boot for shows and club meetings... even bringing bags of soil in. There's a 15 cm hob between the footpath and my pathway. Lovely inner city cottage... not ideal for heavy work. So I have to buy prepared soil mixtures and cope with the hiccups when they happen. Happily I have taken the necessary steps before any disasters struck because all the trees affected were good trees, not just trees in training.

[Chris H]

Your mix sounds very much like the mix Koreshoffs used to sell and I wish I could still find it. After a stint with Rays mix, I too have started making my own mix and using the Akadama Bretts and Steve organised recently. It is a pain having to make my own mix though and I wouldnt mind finding a decent supplier in the area. I live not too far from you, if you find one let me know.