Re: Earthy gratitude-a mystery solved!
Dear Graham Payne, 22
February 2001
Thank you on my behalf and everyone else's in Medit-Plants. It's like getting
a
pair of emerald slippers---ruby was a substitute when the green looked awful
on film---emerald slippers, emerald city.
I plan to use coarse sphagnum peat and and also experiment with coconut coir.
There is no sandy loam in California---there is desert sand and parched clay
but
we have a wonderful supplier of amendments here and OCL is close to sandy
loam-neutral, good tilth, organically rich and it looks nice.
I guess Mr. (Dr.?) Innes assumed no one would grow acid loving plants based
on the amounts of lime and chalk he specifies. These sound like great
mediterranean potting mixes if we add a part or two of pumice or expanded
shale.
I too share your memories of the compacted bales of peat---almost impossible
to break up and absolutely impossible to moisten. It's only been in recent
years that we have good sources of coarse milled sphagnum peat.
Thanks again. Bushels may be arcane but since evrything is by volume they
become charmingly irrelevant...sort of like royalty (shhhhhhh!).
Michael D. Barclay
"America's Garden Wizard"
operatic@earthlink.net
Graham Payne wrote:
> On Wed, 21 Feb 2001 22:14:38 -0800, you wrote:
>
> >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.
> snip
> >
> >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!
>
> When I was a garden apprentice, too many years ago I had the J.I. formula
> drilled into me. I have spent many days turning great heaps of the mixture
> several times to make sure that it was well mixed, only for the Head
> Gardener to say "turn it again boy, it's not mixed right" O happy days! Just
> to add to the pleasure in those days, and I am talking about the late 60s,
> the peat came in bales. These were large compressed blocks of dry peat bound
> together with slats of wood and wire. These had to be broken open, the lumps
> broken then sieved and wetted. If anyone has tried to wet really dry peat
> they will know how difficult it is. As for sterilising the loam, it had to
> be cooked in a sort of electric oven. It had to get up to 180F and stay
> there for 20 minutes. The oven took a bushel at a time. Strangely I can
> still vividly remember the smell of the soil as it came out of the oven, all
> steaming.
>
> The John Innes Seed Compost consists of :
>
> two parts good sterilised loam,
> one part peat and
> one part coarse sand (all parts by bulk).
> Add to each bushel* of this mixture
> 1 1/2 oz. superphosphate of lime and
> 3/4 oz. ground chalk.
>
> John Innes Potting Composts consists of:
>
> seven parts fibrous loam,
> three parts peat and
> two parts coarse silver sand (all parts by bulk),
> with the addition of fertiliser:
> 4 oz. John Innes Base and
> 3/4 oz. ground chalk or limestone per bushel.
>
> The John Innes Base is composed of:
>
> two parts hoof and horn meal,
> two parts superphosphate of lime and
> one part sulphate of potash (all parts by weight)
>
> The total mixture is known as John Innes Potting Compost No. 1.
>
> Some plants, particularly at the second or third potting, need a stronger
> compost than this, and should be given John Innes potting compost No. 2,
> which simply indicates that double the quantity of fertiliser (8 oz. base
> and 1 1/2 oz. chalk) is used per bushel. The even stronger John Innes
> potting compost No. 3 contains three times the amount of fertiliser per
> bushel.
>
> * A bushel is an archaic British measure. It is a box 10 inches by 10 inches
> by 22 inches.
>
> I do not have any American alternatives.
>
> This makes me feel far too old!
>
> Graham in the Algarve, Portugal
> ---- Graham Payne ---- dpsgkp@mail.telepac.pt ----
