Soil mix test results

[NBPCA]

minus 2 and minus 3! Huh Luxury.

I remember when I was young we lived in a shoe box in the middle of the road.

I had to be at work one hour before I got up and it was minus 6 or Minus 8

Apologies to Monty Python.

Grant

[Jamie]

just to add another spanner in the works. I have been trialling using a coarse layer at the bottom of pots, both deeper cascade pots, and shallow trays and the usual in betweeners.

with the deeper cascade pot which i have a juniper in, the one most recently i styled, i used a 20-25mm blue metal coarse layer at the bottom, then i added a mix of richgro aquatic and diatomite as the middle layer (medium) which i mounded up, then used a straight diatomite for around the medium and the top section of the pot, so far i have found this an excellent way to pot trees up,especially pine or juniper that like a "dryer" mix, the rate of drainage is unbeleivable much like turning on the tap in a sink it drains just as quick as water goes through the hose, and it becomes to that dry moist stage ready for the next watering. as i said, i am impressed.

the next medium sized pots (average 8cm deep) got potted with the same media and put in the same, not so much of a mound though, this has similar drainage ability to the deepr pot, but stays a little more moist then the deeper pot, obviously water tables are different, drainage the same, this i have found excellent for tropical species and the water loving trees.

the next one was my biggest surprise. a shallow tray, 45cm long, 32cm wide and 5-6cm deep, with a ficus in it, potted up the same as the deeper pot, but used a medium size media (diat. and richgro aquatic). no fine layer. It had the same great drainage as the previous, the difference between the medium sized pot (average 8cm deep) and the shallow tray was this has dried out a lot quicker much like the junipe in the deeper semi cascade pot, it makes sense as the medium used was a very coarse and a medium media ontop, lowering the water table right down making the trees needing a good water pretty much every day except if it rains hard.
the good thing i have found with this is that when it rains hard for a prolonged period, it drains very quickly and i havent had to put anything under one end to put it up on an agle to aid the water table in draining.

I probably should of put this in its own thread but beleive it to be relevent to these tests of late.

cheers

Jamie

[kcpoole]

minus 2 and minus 3! Huh Luxury.

I remember when I was young we lived in a shoe box in the middle of the road.

I had to be at work one hour before I got up and it was minus 6 or Minus 8

Apologies to Monty Python.

Grant

Sheer Luxury!

I woke up 1 hour before I went to bed, Had to be at work 1 hour before I woke up

for thos too young, see the Skit, "The Four Yorkshiremen"
http://www.phespirit.info/montypython/f ... iremen.htm
And for those that cannot read, A video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1a1wHx ... re=related

Ken

[GavinG]

When I grew up, all we had was Bandstand, James Dibble and the telephone. Horrible, horrible. And the endless bloody cricket.

Gavin

[Gareth]

Hi guys,

Jamie, i have been doing the same thing with my pots and grow boxes, so as to block the holes in bottom without having to use mesh.

But what i have been using is orchard, in a thin layer, maybe 20-50mm in the bottom.

It will hold some water, but not too much i wouldn't think. i have been having good success with it so far, and have also noticed it drains faster.

With the orchard mix, i think it could be draining just enough to get rid off excess water, but soaking up enough water and keeping the lower layer of diatomite moist, later on, when re-potting, i would assume it would have broken down enough that i don't have to pick out large chunks when i go to reuse the diatomite.

At least that's what i hope.

i believe i could also get the same effect by using a larger grade (15mm perhaps) to lay down on the bottom of the pot, allowing water to escape easily, but still keeping the advantages of diatomite, water absorbtion etc.

Gareth

[Jamie]

Hi gareth

yea i could see orchard working to, i dont know how it will go with the break down though and if it does it could cause probs later down the track if it breaks down then gets compacted?

as for the 15mm diatomite i have been interested in that to, i havent tried it yet but would say it would be pretty good!

I still use the mesh over the drain holes, mesh doesnt cost much and a little goes a long way, with me using the blue metal is that i know it isnt going to break down and clog up down the bottom and it is also reusable. even when it gets washed out with the diatomite it wont take to much to screen the blue metal out

cheers

Jamie