Moss everywhere!

29 Jun '06 9:20 pm

thanks for your response! Frankly, I think there was no proper drainage system at all because the root ball was so dense (imagine being packed tightly in the same pot for 4½ years), but it had survived all these years because it was watered sparingly. I seriously think your observation 1 is the most logical answer! No good drainage and the rains finished the job (I like this phrase! Cool

). I’m of the opinion that it would have perished even if I hadn’t repotted because we’ve had the most unbelievable wet season for months, never experienced before! The thin netting mentioned is actually like mosquito netting, made of nylon material which I normally use to line the drainage holes at the inner base of the pot to prevent soil from dropping through.
My dear friend, all your repotting tips shared at 1-3 are food for thought and noted for further reference. Thank you very much. Very Happy

29 Jun '06 10:15 pm

You’ve given me an enormous treasure of information on proper gardening, much much more than I had expected! Ignorance is bliss, some say but I’m terribly embarrassed with mine! Embarassed

I’ve been reading over and over again to digest and for a start sieve out those very relevant tips for my gardening tasks. I’ve also saved your post into my gardening folder for future reference and guide, also hope to print it out when I do get a printer for hands-on reference! I’m so grateful. Thank you so much my dear friend, you’re a gem of a person, take a bow...a second...a third and...! A bouquet too for Deb’s Mom! Very Happy

1 Jul '06 7:13 am

I find exceptional Christopher's gardening analysis and guidance! Admirable in details ! But I still have a lot of doupts concerning the size of the new pot..I happen to be the mama of happy, very old plants, potted in huge pots,that normally live in the ground....And they have been living in big pots after a certain point of their growth, many years ago. How???

1 Jul '06 8:11 am

Dear Liza, You are right in what you say. Please excuse my presumption of being correct. I am still learning myself and I am always interested in what more experienced people have to say. I would be interested to see some of the pots you describe so I can learn more from you. What I know, Deb's mom taught me, but she has her limitations too. I must say that she had her nose put out of joint when I told her we were not moving our wild rose until the fall because of what I had learned on line. She is still a little ticked at me about that. I thought moving our Peony was the wrong thing to do so early in the season, but she wouldn't hear it and so we moved it, and now, no blooms until next year. She also told me we couldn't have a climbing rose and then I overheard her telling our neighbour how to care for one. So now I have a climbing rose. Wink

I would be pleased with anything else that anyone has to say about my essay on transplanting. It is such an interesting subject.

Christopher

1 Jul '06 9:15 am

Please, dear Christopher! You misunderstood my approach of expression! "I don't know better!!". I just felt awful with this thing you wrote! No, I don't know better. I myself knew nothing similar of the exceptional gardening guidance of yours! I just concentrate on the fact of " how bigger pot"! Because ...I've had my lessons in the past! My errors of gardening approach on this specific point! And the truth is , that a little plant planted in a huge final pot at once ---since it is normally a ground inhabitant, therefore he'll get also huge sometime--- will become sick, because its small root system will be incapable of absorbing all the extra humidity of its huge pot. And by trying this, it will die of rotting! So! The ideal is to repot the plant smoothingly, until it reaches the size you wish. Afterwards, you will cut out its root along the edges of its final big pot, about 10-15 cm deep and large, and replace it with fresh pot compost, always adding organic matter. Parallely, you will feed it every 15 days with liquid fertilizer during the good season. This adding-compost procedure is better in Spring. But I have tried it successfully also in Autumn. Every Autumn , you should prune your plant,too, in order to create balance between the stem and root systems.

And reffering to old, big plants I mean Nerium Oleanders, Camelia, Plumbangos, and Bougainvillea.

I have to add, how much I admire your tolerance and human respect towards your mun in law!!It is another proof of the diamond of a character you have! Lucky girls, Mum and Dabie!! I don't think that I can tolerate anything/anyone putting in danger the plants! I am strict and disciplinary on this matter! But I would love to be like you, because , I know, we share the same love and respect for our plants!..

Happy gardening , dear friend!

3 Jul '06 4:16 am

Just great to be pottering more in the garden these days due to our change of weather. My hubby and I spent a wonderful day yesterday (Saturday, from 9.45am till 5.15pm Rolling Eyes

) sourcing for new plants from our favourite garden nurseries situated about an hour’s drive from our home! We ended buying quite a number of flowering plants, amongst them were dahlias (yellow, white and magenta), marigold, pink asters, salmon coloured cape honeysuckle, yellow ixora, bougainvillea orange ice with lovely variegated leaves, mussaenda philippica dona aurora, carphalea kirondron, crossandra undulifolia (yellow + white), abutilon megapotamicum (haha! google searched names of the last four plants from my favourite picture gallery at toptropicals.com!) and some non-flowering plants with lovely variegated green leaves and design (don’t know their names yet!). And of course, including the lovely traditional flaming red Euphorbia Milii which had us scouting from at least a dozen nurseries before we finally found a healthy one. Mostly available were other colours of the current trendy varieties. A long search in the scorching heat, but worth every effort, I think! Returned home with rosy-red cheeks, sun burnt faces and head-ache, though very happy because mission accomplished!!

Christopher: dear friend, referring to your tutorial on repotting, you’ve mentioned about submerging the root ball in water (which helps to loosen the roots) until all the air bubbles escape. Can I know what the significance is and why air shouldn’t be trapped there? I’ll soon be repotting my badly root-bounded Lady Palm and I’d definitely be trying this method if it’s going to help in loosening its roots. Our previous repotting of it was really difficult where we had to chop its tough root-ball into two with a heavy kitchen knife which broke at its handle high-way through chopping! We didn’t know about this soaking method then. Thanks again.

Liza: my dear friend, your sharing of your extensive gardening experiences on pot sizing and your ideal method is an eye-opener and a great alternative, I think, especially for those gardeners like me who lack ground space and are forced to plant in pots. I've two very old fruit trees (a custard apple and a guava) planted in large pots (size 18"D x 18"H by my standard Laughing

) which I don't intend to repot because that's as large as I can manage at this age! So, your method of cutting out its root, deep and large along the edges of its final big pot and replace it with fresh pot compost and organic matter, complete with pruning has given me new ideas of tackling my problem. Thank you so much for your insights and the assurance that we can use large pots to plant those lovely shrubs/palms/trees that we fancy. Very Happy

3 Jul '06 7:55 am

Liza, My tender friend, No need to apologize. I'm afraid I am a little abrupt some times and I don't intend to be. Sometimes things don't translate the way I think they should. I too, am grateful for your insight and advice.

Jacqueline, The root ball can become dry in the center of it. As you are transplanting, you will cause the plant distress. It's a good idea to soak the root ball in water to get the whole root system wet and this helps the plant when it is recovering. Mom said that when the root ball drys out then water poured over the roots goes around the outside of the roots and can not penetrate the root ball because the air trapped inside acts like a balloon and water passes over it. To soak the root system for a moment to remove the air reestablishes the moisture in the heart of the plant and subsequent watering will seep in there more easily.

Another trick mom told me that I use all the time is this. When the plant in the pot gets dried out, water will not penetrate the roots and even though you water the plant it will die from lack of moisture.

Have a pail of water and submerge the whole pot, not the plant part, let it stick up above the surface. Put the pot in the water so the water covers the top of the pot by about an inch. Let all the air bubble out of the pot and then remove it and let it drain. I have 2 sticks I place across the top of the pail and then I set the pot on the sticks and the water drips in to the pail. I have saved many plants this way. I recently bought 2 Raspberry plants for 50 cents each that were so dry they were going to be thrown out. I soaked the pots, the plants revived, and now then are growing happily in the garden.

Christopher

3 Jul '06 3:33 pm

My dear Christopher, thank you so very much for your comprehensive explanation and additional info! Knowing how and why it should be done will sharpen my practical and mental skills and lead me to enjoy what I'm doing! Rolling Eyes

. Thanks again for your kind assistance, I appreciate very much your precious time spent.

3 Jul '06 3:43 pm

3 Jul '06 4:10 pm

How interesting to hear you do not like your moss. Back on the west coast of Canada, where I am from, there is a lot of moss about the place, being a tropical climate. we always liked the moss and would cultivate it. Some of it flowers. It is also a plant that is for sale there. I find it interesting that you see it as an eye-soar. Perhaps it is the type of moss.

Remove it all together, if you don't like it. Refrain from turning it in to the soil as the moss will propagate itself this way. Get it out of there for good.

I had a rare tree frog as a pet once. I made him a terrarium with a natural habitat inside. Moss was a big part of it.

In Richmond, where I am from, the whole island is made from peat bog. Basically moss growing upon moss and after centuries of this you get peat. In fact the peat in Richmond is over 200 feet thick. My old friend's dad had a peat farm and would mine the stuff.

Christopher

Moss everywhere!

Dear Liza...

My goodness, dear Christopher!

Gardening analysis!

You know better.

Forgive me!

Sunny and Hot Weather in KL!

Root ball info.

Re: Root Ball Info

Repost: Moss everywhere!

Moss and what I know about it.