FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Something I do when I'm starting my pepper and tomato seedlings in the early spring is to run a small 5-inch diameter fan to move the air around the seedlings to help keep the air fresh around them. I also try to have a window open if it is warm enough so they can get fresh air. Remember not to keep the plants too wet. This little moisture meter is something I've been using to judge the moisture in my plants. I used one for years with my houseplants and recently bought a couple more as my old one was failing (after probably 20 years!). They're really basic meters but consistent. They'll let you know instantly if the growing medium is wet, just right, or needing some water. I ordered mine off eBay but it looks like the seller is offline. They run around $10 each. Seems lots of vendors print their names on this generic meter and sell them. They're really all identical. Here's a link to one on Amazon: Moisture Meter I don't know if it'll help you with watering but it's helped me. I usually bottom water until the pot won't take anymore water....I'll pour about a half inch in saucer and let the peat soak it up, add a little bit more, let it soak it up, etc., decreasing the amount that I add each time until it won't take any more. The water left in the saucer is minimal and the (6-inch) pot is good to go for a couple of days. The small death cube pots only get maybe a 1/4" of water to start with... It might take 5-10 minutes to water the big pot and the small ones. This is just the way I'm doing right now...I'm sure I'll probably change my process as I learn more but this way I know I've got them moist enough but not too wet standing in water. The meter lets me know quick if I need to be watering them or to let them go another day. Just some of my thoughts. Best wishes.

That soil looks fine. The only time you want to do slip potting, that is when you slip the media out of one pot and fill in it around another, is when you know the media is good and you just need another pot. If the soil is at all old you need to completely replace the soil.

Ani wrote: ↑Sun May 15, 2022 3:04 pm How it arrived looking ( the medium ) for if the pic I tried to embed doesn't load: https://picbun.com/p/t4TAOJl1

and what it was supposed to look like: https://picbun.com/p/iRrO8DHT

I ordered the same mix. It seems ok to me, but that's looking through my newbie eyes. There is definitely perlite in it...whether 50:50 I have no way really of knowing. I re-potted two Walmart rescues, one for my granddaughter and one for myself. It seems to both hold moisture but drain well. They were re-potted nine days ago and they appear to not be dying. One thing I did *not* do is rinse the mix before filling the pot, which I wish I had...but, I'll top water a few times and it should be ok. Right now we're getting a good rain that is doing a good job of top watering!!!

What I did was I put a bit more than would fit in my pot (roughly 6" diameter x 5.5" tall) into a gallon zip lock bag and added a bit of water to it, closed the bag while squeezing the air out of it. I then kneaded it like bread to work the water into the peat moss. This help contain the dust. I checked it for moistness, added more water if it was still "dry'ish" and kneaded it some more...repeating this procedure until I found the mix was good and moist. I packed the first inch down good in the pot and then finished filling the pot up with a lighter firmness. The descriptions that I've read give the description of "brownie consistency" for the bottom layer and "moist cake consistency" for the rest (top portion) of the the fill. The firm mix at the bottom helps to wick water from the tray and into the rest of the mix. I'm not sure the firmer mix in the bottom actually does that much more wicking that just regular packed mix or not...I do know that a SWC that I built for some tomato plants is working great, though, and it uses packed mix for the wick.