- Sun Sep 13, 2015 2:09 am
#243580
I experimented with some different media a while back, but honestly, I think people invest way too much time and effort (not to mention money) in complicated soil mixes. I've used plain sphagnum peat moss for years, and my one original sickly little $5.00 VFT that came in a pot the size of an espresso cup has multiplied, all by itself, into hundreds of healthy, beautiful plants. I've long since lost count of how many I've sold or given away, and I still have literally several buckets full left for myself. Some of those are so crowded now that I really need to divide them soon.
For the last few years, I've been experimenting with plain coco peat (coconut coir) and so far it seems to work just as well - maybe even better. It's definitely a lot easier to wet when you buy it. It soaks the water up like a sponge, instead of making it bead like dry peat moss will do.
I hear people going on about drainage and ventilation for the roots, etc., but honestly, I've never given any of that a moment's thought, either. And I've never thrown out old soil. I just mix it in with the new until I have enough for all the pots and re-use it. It's not like VFTs get much from the soil, other than moisture, anyway, so how could it become "played out" like potting soil does with other plants?
Foot-deep light-colored (so they don't over-heat) pots standing in an inch or so of water, sitting in the hot, glaring sun all day long, all spring, summer and fall, seems to do the trick without a lot of fiddling and babying. All I do is water them when the water tray is empty and bring them inside my enclosed but unheated porch in the winter to protect them from hard, Appalachian freezes. And whenever they get really crowded, I divide them and re-pot. Oh, and also I've discovered that covering the surface of the soil with marble chips keep the #*@^$& crows from digging them up, for some reason. That's it. Seriously.
Don't read too much into the name.
It's just my email address and an expression of the oxymoron that I often am.
Call me Tim, if you prefer.