Soil Mix

From: "WEAVER,BILL (HP-USA,ex3)" bill_weaver at hp.com> on 2002.04.03 at 19:46:58(8441) I have been using a 50/50 mix of pumice and commercial potting soil for my amorphophallis. (Supersoil from Rod McLellan Co)I found that using a similar ratio of soil and perlite made the mix too light to hold up the growing leaf, giving it a tendancy to pop out of the pot on windy days. I found that vermiculite held way too much water and as such was unsuitable for my conditions. (San Francisco bay area) Bill Weaver +More bill_weaver@hp.com

From: "George R Stilwell, Jr." grsjr at juno.com> on 2002.04.03 at 20:24:26(8449) Surprisingly, one of our local aroid growers has found that Metromix 360 is better than anything else for potted seedlings/plants. I also have great luck with +More the stuff. It's certainly available and easy to use. Not as romantic as pumice, pine bark, Farfard, etc., but relatively inexpensive and it works. It's a Scotts product they inherited from W.R. Grace (I think) so it should be available anywhere in the USA at least. Don't use it in the beds though. Any soil-less mix will have trouble sharing water with soil, particularly clay soil. Ray GRSJr@worldnet.att.net ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.

From: "Clarence Hammer" chammer at cfl.rr.com> on 2002.04.04 at 16:36:25(8459) I find that seedling and young Aroids in small pots of 3 to 4" do well in soilless mixes. It's the larger pots, one gallon and bigger, that I think need the aeration of more 'crunchy' stuff. I've heard good things about Metromix, but have never seen it here in central Fla. Will have to ask around. +More Again, I think it depends your climate as to how moisture retentive you need your mix to be. The peaty 'straight out of the bag' mixes are probably an advantage in less humid areas of the country. Growing under cover, or out in the yard would be a consideration too. Russ.

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