Moss everywhere!

26 Jun '06 5:26 pm

The usually predictable weather in my country has gone bonkers! We’ve been having much more heavy rain and thunderstorms than usual since last October until now. Usually, from mid January to February end and from late April onwards, there’ll be more sunnier to hotter days, but it’s not happening! Aargh...it’s causing ‘havoc’ in my garden! My prized Crown of Thorns had rotted and withered Sad

, my flamboyant Peacock Flower was water-logged, unhappy and had to be uprooted/destroyed Sad

, and moss everywhere in pots, beds and on bricks! Mad

Truly an eyesore! Any idea what’s the best method to deal with the moss?? I normally practice any of these 3 options: 1) leave it as it is; 2) remove; 3) loosen and till into the soil, to compost it? (am I wrong in thinking so?)
Any advice will be much appreciated. Thanks.
Here are some photos to share.

26 Jun '06 9:09 pm

Ah, Jacqueline! What gorgeous, divine creatures you just sent us! It is such a pity that some of them died because of water logging...

This Peacock Flower in the photo has such a refined Art on its leaves and blooms! And what a joyful combination of colours! As for Euphorbia Milii, I had fallen in love with a tiny one at the nursery of my neighbourhood (only tiny ones were sold), a couple of years ago!! I remember leaving the shop holding her in my hand like a diamond, and a lady entering the shop asked me "what is this tiny wonder??"! Unfortunately, I read in my book I had to keep her in a sunny spot, I did, by the window, but the sun was not enough, or my watering method the wrong one, and then she perished...I didn't try again to adopt another one... But YOUR Euphorbia in the photo IS a true , big wonder! And your Nolina , so sweet! Are these same plants that perished? If yes, I know you will adopt new ones and they 'll have a better luck... But it is so really sad being separated by loved ones, humans, plants, animals...

No, I have no idea to answer your moss question. I am sorry dear friend. Till next time, be happy!

27 Jun '06 8:50 pm

Thanks dear Liza, for your lovely remarks! Yes, these are the very same plants (excluding the Nolina) that perished recently and I’m terribly saddened by their loss and I miss them so. This beautiful Euphorbia had been with us since we started our gardens about 4½ years ago (purchased from a nursery as a tiny tot, less than 8” tall with blooms even then!) and it’s one flowering shrub that had never failed to brighten my day with its beauty, blooming everyday throughout its stay with us! Same too with the Peacock flower, a non-stop bloomer from the age of six months (planted from a seed about 2 years ago)! I’ll definitely be getting another red Euphorbia very soon. I’m not so sure about the Peacock flower though, because I don’t have proper ground/wide open spaces for its deep root system and spanning foliage. However, I’ve kept some seed pods just in case.

My dear forum friends, anyone....I'd appreciate if you can share your expertise on repotting root-bounded plants. I think my limited gardening knowledge would have contributed to the demise of my precious Euphorbia Sad

. I knew that it needed repotting into a larger one six months ago because it was definitely root-bound. I could see that this congestion led to fewer and smaller blooms, and irregular/retarded leaf formations leading to immature yellowing/drying. So, less than 3 months ago, with fingers crossed fully aware that we may be careless and injure it, we hacked the pot into fairly large pieces, remove the plant with the whole root ball ever so gently and placed it into an already prepared larger container at a different location, filled up the empty spaces with soil and prayed that it’ll thrive in its new home. Poor darling, it was a slow and painful period, lingering for about 3 weeks, I think because it seemed to be giving us hope for quite sometime. I recall reading about repotting, that the root ball has to be vertically cut into at different distances around it before placing into a larger pot. However, I daren’t experiment this on my precious, delicate beauty! Have you heard about repositioning your plants that it sometimes makes them unhappy, like humans yah? With remorse, I think that error in my repotting method, together with its new location and culminated with the unpredictable wet weather which seem endlessly pouring, were the culprits. My ignorance and wrong timing!! Rolling Eyes

Frankly, this is my first disaster (touchwood), all my other repotted plants survived. In fact, I've tried the vertical cutting method mentioned above on the root ball of a 7-8 year old Christmas Palm purchased from a nursery last year and it is thriving happily since transferred into a large container.

Very Happy

Today is our third sunny day at a stretch with no rain at all. I've been able to do some gardening, weeding, etc. - it sure is bliss! Hopefully, it's the start of hot weather, but slight showers of rain would be delightful! Wink

28 Jun '06 5:46 am

Hi Jacqueline. I just love your name by the way. I read you post carefully and I am wondering a few things you failed to tell us.

First off, what kind of soil did you use to re-pot the plant in to?

2}In what way did you water the plant when you moved it? How did you water it and how much?

3}How dry was the root ball when you got it out of the pot?

4}How big was the old pot and how big was the new pot.

5}How did you prepare the new pot?

6}How did you prepare the new soil? Or, how did you mix it?

7}Did you feed the plant when you transplanted it?

8}Where did you keep the plant right after you transplanted it?

These are things I need to know before I can tell you what I think. A combination of these points done incorrectly will kill even the hardiest plants. Please answer my questions as best you can and I will tell you what I think.

Your concerned friend,

Christopher the Gnome.

28 Jun '06 8:00 am

Dear Jacqueline, our Christopher is right! All these points he refers to are really crucial for the tranplanting of a rootbound plant, any plant actually...

28 Jun '06 8:55 pm

Thanks Christopher and Liza for responding! Haha! Christopher…I love my name too (chose this name for my baptism almost 40 years ago as I ‘idolized’ John and Jacqueline Kennedy then), but definitely not the shorter version: Jackie, which I normally use and have very much regretted so. It’s now unisex since the appearance of Jackie Chan, the popular Hong Kong actor! I’ve received lots of phone calls in the office asking to speak to Mr. Jackie….aargh!! Evil or Very Mad

Answers to your questions, dear friend :
Q1) & 6) First off, what kind of soil did you use to re-pot the plant in to? How did you prepare the new soil? Or, how did you mix it?
A. The same two types of soil mixture it was first planted into as a baby. These two types of soil purchased from our local nurseries are burnt clay soil which is grainy and black organic mixture without fertilizer. I normally mix both types in equal proportions for all my planting. In this instance, the new repotting soil was previously used soil mix which I have abundant stock, mixed with one fifth of some home-made compost. When you read my answers for Q4 & 5 below, you can visualize that the repotting soil used was very minimal.

Q2) In what way did you water the plant when you moved it? How did you water it and how much?
A. After repotting, the whole soil was watered thoroughly once. Need not water subsequently because everyday it was showered by heavy rain!

Q3) How dry was the root ball when you got it out of the pot?
A. Damp

Q4) How big was the old pot and how big was the new pot.
A. Old pot was 12” D x 10” H; New one was 15” D x 13” H; The compact root ball similar in size as the old pot.

Q5)How did you prepare the new pot?
A. Lined the pot base with thin netting, filled it with 2” soil mix, placed the whole untrimmed root ball centrally in, fill the spaces around the ball with soil, being mindful that the crown of plant and topsoil of root ball remain as is (uncovered). Nothing was done to its root ball, hoping for its 100% survival success Rolling Eyes

. Normally, in my other repotting successes with the hardier plants such as Macarthur Palm, Manila Palm, Umbrella Plant, Heliconias etc., I’ll trim down the width and height of their dense root ball, then vertically cut into it before repotting.

Q7) Did you feed the plant when you transplanted it?
A. No. Reasons being to allow it to adjust/stabilize and it’s useless with the pouring rain, I thought.

Q8 Where did you keep the plant right after you transplanted it?
A. Moved to an unshaded new location, where it was supposed to be sunnier with at least 4 hours of sun from 9am to 1pm, but the wet weather spoilt our plans. Unshaded, because I’d thought that it’s alright since the whole root ball was not ‘disfigured’ at all.

I’d greatly appreciate your analysis and advice, Christopher. Thanks. Any advice from others are also most welcomed and much appreciated.

29 Jun '06 3:50 am

Hi Jaqueline,

So sorry to hear about your losing those beautiful plants - the Peacock Flower certainly is a real gem.

I also love the euphorbia (in the first photo), although the stems do look rather scary with all those spikes!! Confused

Tell me, is that a chameleon sitting on it or some other kind of lizard? Do you get many such visitors to your garden? In England we do have some native snakes but they are quite rare and so we don't see them very often - I suppose our most common garden visitors would probably be the birds, like robins and bluetits.

I know what you mean about your name - mine is Antonia, but I get called Antonio all the time, which is the male form of the name, or Antoinette or variations on the theme. I love my name so it's not nice when someone gets it wrong!! Rolling Eyes

As for your repotting troubles, I'm no expert, and I'm sure Christopher or someone else will probably know more, but reading your answers to his questions, my first thought was that maybe the new pot wasn't large enough. Going from a 12" pot to a 15" one is only a gain of 3", which isn't really very much. I remember the copious repottings I helped my parents with when I was a child, and we always used pots that were quite big in comparison to the old ones, so the plant almost looked a bit silly in it to start with, but had lots of room to grow into - a bit like buying your children clothes for the next size up! Very Happy

But perhaps that wouldn't have made too much of a difference - I'm only really drawing on what I've known in the past.

Anyway, I hope you're able to salvage some of your beauties now the sun's out, so good luck Smile

29 Jun '06 5:42 am

Dear Jacqueline, I am sure, that Christopher will have his own observations. As for me, I have my doupts on :

1-- The good drainage system : what material did you use for drainage and how much? And what is "thin netting" in this case. Because this plant hates humidity in its roots! If there wasn't any good drainage system, the rains finished the job...

2-- I think you could cut a slice of the rootball's base, and also cut back the top of the plant , in order to force it to recreate itself (this is very effective during the growing season --Spring-Summer). But you had also give it something to be stimulated by, either some special hormon powder for transplanting , or liquid fertilizer, easily absorbed by the plant.

3-- As for the size of the new pot, I find it perfect, because this sort of plants hate much bigger pots when repotted.

29 Jun '06 8:29 pm

for your wishes and lovely comments. The thorny stems of the Euphorbia Milii does look intimidating, but they add colour and style as they branch upwards into different levels exhibiting their tips with lovely leaves and flowers. Smile

I love their self-styling forms, requiring no pruning at all as they grow very slowly, adding less than a foot every year! Bambi, that’s a garden fence lizard you’re seeing! I initially thought it was a chameleon too, but my son corrected me, saying that chameleons are more colourful and prettier. Currently, this is my one and only resident reptile! I think it was left orphaned last September when its mother was killed by a stray cat prowling at night Evil or Very Mad

. It seems to love residing in my garden, I’ve seen it resting on different plants, especially branches that camouflages its presence and it has grown much larger now. A cute fellow who’s seemingly unafraid of me even if I’m as close as 7-8’’. Thank goodness, we don’t get anymore visits from snakes now, though harmless according to my hubby, they do give me the creeps! A couple of years ago, when some nearby forests were cleared for residential development, we’ve had them gliding into our garden, even into our home (at least 5 occasions if I can recall correctly!). Birds, such as sparrows, starlings, magpies, hummingbirds and ‘burung merbah’ (locally named) are frequent visitors to my garden and a delight to watch, but irritating to my pet dog, Maxi who barks and chases them away, wonder why?
I’ve taken note of your comments too on repotting. Every experience shared is knowledge gained for the other, and will come in handy someday, nothing is wasted! Very Happy

Thanks again, dear forum friend!
Shown here http://toptropicals.com/html/toptropicals/misc/thailand/euphorbia.htm are other shades of Euphorbia Milii for your viewing pleasure.

29 Jun '06 9:08 pm

I have read what you have done and I see some problems.

I think that the pot you chose to transplant into was too small and prepared incorrectly. As well, the soil may not have been the appropriate kind or mix for the plant. I am learning that plants prefer soil that mimics their native land. According to my research of the Crown of Thorns, your soil should have been more sandy so it wold drain better. This plant does not like to soak its toes.

Here are some guidelines that I have learned and have been successful for me:

Prepare the pot.
For a large pot, make sure there are at least 5 holes in the bottom. The holes should be at least one half inch in diameter. Don't put screen in the bottom of the pot! This will trap silt and plug up the holes. Put at least 2 inches of gravel in the bottom of the pot. Don't pick gravel from a road as it has small sand and dirt that will plug things up. This gravel will work if you put it through a half inch screen first and wash it to strain out the bigger rocks. Or you can buy gravel in bags already washed. The best is one inch gravel, meaning all the stones are about one inch across. The gravel will make a natural barrier for the soil and allow water to drain away freely from the whole bottom surface.

Ideally, the new pot should be at least twice the size of the present one. So if it's in a 12 inch pot, then it should be going in a 24 inch pot. This is an ideal scenario and often the real world puts limitations on the ideal. Put the present pot in the new one. If there is at least 2 inches on all sides, then that will work. Just remember, the larger the pot, the longer it will be before it needs to be repotted again. Perhaps never, if the pot is big enough. This is a perennial and that means it wants to be in the ground and not in a pot, so more soil means it will be happier. As far as I know, only people who nurture Bonsai restrict the growth of the roots.

There should be unrestricted drainage under the pot. If it is to sit on a lawn then you should dig a hole 4 inches deep the size of the base of the pot and fill it with gravel. If it is to sit on a cement slab then there should be a way for the water to exit the underside of the pot. It could have built in feet or you could put it on wooden blocks.

Water Prep.
Mix water for the transplant. In a big pail mix in plant food. We use Miracle Gro All Purpose Plant Food and mix it as for indoor plants which is half the regular strength. You will need a plastic carafe to use as a ladle as well.

Soil Prep.
Prepare more soil than you think you will need. To the soil add Organic compost, Sand and/or Vermiculite or Perlite. The Vermiculite and Perlite help your plant to breathe and water to flow. They should both be soaked with water before adding. Mix well with your hands. We wear latex gloves. Rub the soil between your hands to help thoroughly mix it. Add water with the carafe so the soil is moist. Mix the water in well. All the soil should be the same when your done.

Do The Deed.
Start to transplant by carefully removing the plant from its present pot. If you want to use the pot again then you will have to turn it upside down and support it by the soil surface while someone else lifts the pot off. This can take some thumping and shaking up and down. This is not too tough on the plant so long as you don't jolt it or damage the plant. Or you can break the pot with a hammer and remove the shards.

Once out of the pot inspect the root ball. Most likely root-bound, you will need to loosen the roots on the surface of the root ball to help it.

If it is badly root-bound then you should soak the root ball in your water pail. The roots get so tight that it is hard for water to penetrate the root ball. Submerge the root ball in water and watch the bubbles rise. You will be surprised how much air is trapped in the root ball. Just soak it as long as air is escaping, then remove it to the work table. The water helps to loosen the root ball and you can pull the roots around more easy. It is all right to tear off some of the straggly roots and this promotes new root growth. I'm not sure about cutting into a root ball with a knife. This might be a species specific trick I am not familiar with. I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't want to cut any roots if I could avoid it.

Actually, you only need to loosen the outside of the root ball and remove the roots that are heavily matted.

Now you need to judge how deep you want to plant the plant. If the pot is 20 inches height and the root ball is 8 inches, then you need about 10 to 12 inches of soil in the bottom of the pot. Fill it up over the 2 inches of gravel and tamp it down with your hands. Test fit the plant to see if it is going to sit at the right height and adjust as necessary. Remove the plant once your sure it is right and pour a good cup of water in the bottom of the pot. Place the plant in the pot, be sure it is at the correct angle you want it, and proceed to add soil, tamping it down as you go, until you have filled the pot and covered the root ball. Tamp it down one last time to be sure it is even and there are no holes. The soil should not rise above the edge of the pot. It should be about an inch below the edge.

Now that it is planted give it a good watering with the magic water mixture, soaking the soil all around the plant.

Post Transplanting Care.
Your poor plant will be in shock after all this. It needs some quiet time in a protected area to give it a chance to establish itself. We keep our planters in the greenhouse for a day or two depending on the weather. After a couple of days, if it is nice out, you can put the plant in its new home, or its old place as the case may be. If the weather is bad then keep it protected from the elements. More delicate plants should be kept safe for longer to be better established before being put out.

I didn't invent this procedure. Deb's Mom taught me. I'm still learning. I am always interested to see what others think. Any points I missed? Please say so. I hope this helps you.

Christopher

Moss everywhere!

Moss everywhere!

Gorgeous creatures!

Repotting

To re-pot a plant.

I agree with Christopher!

Repotting a root-bound plant

Slightly off the subject...

Repotting...

Thanks Bambi....

What I think