The Innes potting mixes.
- To: m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: The Innes potting mixes.
- From: M* B*
- Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 22:14:38 -0800
Dear Medit-Planters,
February 21, 2001
One can not even read a good British nursery's catalog without constant
references to Innes #2, Innes seed mix, Innes plus...etc. I'm sure
there isn't a British gardener worth his salt that doesn't know the
Innes formulae by heart, perhaps at birth. They also know sequestrene
and don't even bother to state that it's a brand name.
I'm sure I can find complete information about John Innes and his potting
composts on the web and I'm not being lazy BUT would one of our many UK
members post about how these mixes were developed, where and when, and
what an ignorant Yankee can substitute to achieve the intents of the
various formulae.
It would be great if it were someone who has gardened in both the UK and the
USA but any attempt to help the benighted will be greatly appreciated.
By the way here in the US we have a product called Vitatone which is
"citrate" of
iron and beats Sequestrene to a pulp when one is trying to grow acid loving
plants in California's airless, alkaline, sticky clay in a district
where the water
is buffered up to a PH of 8.6 "to prolong the life of the ubiquitous copper
water piping."
A tip from me via Judith Beresford. If you are a tea drinker save all
your used
tea leaves and cold tea and dump them around acid loving shrubs and trees
like Japanese maples or rhododendrons. It is an outstanding soil
acidifier and
tonic-though it may keep certain delicate species up too late at night.
Cheers-
Michael D. Barclay, "America's Garden Wizard"
opga@wenet.net
better: operatic@earthlink.net
www.operalover.net
PS-Could our helpful expert state the ingredients in the Innes formula
first, and then suggest American alternatives, perhaps more than one.
Blessings!
