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Re: Repotting

At 09:21 AM 10/17/97 EDT, you wrote:
>Most of my plants need to be repotted, the roots are coming out of the 
>drain holes.  I want to buy the proper mixtures that the plant manual 
>recommends and not just plain soil.  Does anyone use these mixtures (ex: 
>peat, sand, leafmold, etc)?  Does it benefit the plant?
>
>....Lysette
>
Lysette:

I make my own potting mixes:

4 parts sphagnum peat moss
1&1/2 parts vermiculite
1 part perlite 
1&1/2 parts sterilized topsoil (not potting soil which usually contains
perlite already)

If you are growing large plants which need a heavier mix to keep them
upright you can use sand or the baked clay pellets (leca, haydite) instead
of perlite.

For green plants and flowering plants like azaleas which like an acid soil I
use just that basic mix but add crushed eggshells (as much as I have) for
the flowering plants which need lime.  Because there is no food in the mix I
water with 1/8 strength fertilizer every time I water and flush out the pots
with clear warm water once a month to get rid of any fertilizer not used. 

A friend put her plastic foam meat trays through the blender until they were
broken up and used that instead of perlite in her African violet mix.

Potting mixes only need to hold the plant up.  Successful growing has more
to do with light, water and fertilizer.  Hydroponic growing shows this.

Hope this helps.   
Ruth Zavitz                                     
rzavitz@execulink.com                            
Freelance Writer & Gardening Consultant, zone 6 Southern Ontario
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