about to plant

[dirty]

i'm looking at throwing a couple of plants out the back of my house. I am growing to grow them in pots.

thinking of loading the base of the pots up with gravel or something to aid with drainage but I am not sure what to use for a soil mix.

what can you recomend.

My backyard gets plenty of sun, especially in the morning and I also have some nice afternoon shaded areas.

Is it too late in the year to put them in, will they fry with the summer heat?

any other tips would be great

[Guest Wilderbud]

Peat, compost and blood and bone.

 

Oh yeah, build some shade for the first few weeks - I use fly screen but you can get real shadecloth from the hardware shop. Some thin wood or flyscreen metal works as a frame.

Edited December 2, 2003 by Wilderbud

[dirty]

thanks man,

does anyone have experience planting this late in the season?

[wade ounce]

yeah no worries getting them in now.

last year i lost a plot to wallabies and had to plant out again at christmas.

i ended up with yields of between 8 and 14 onces.

one freak i even got 18

you gotta keep the water up though.

water crystals aren't a bad idea either. i've started using them this season.

chuck in a handful of dolomite into the bottom half of ya hole.

mullies seem to like it and it'll keep ya soils ph to about neutral if ya get a bit of a nute build up

[Guest Wilderbud]

Water crystals are cool but sphagnum moss from Woolies is better - just mix it in but dont waste it by putting it near the top couple of inches where no roots grow. Mulch is good too but dont put it near the stem or itll probably rot your stem and you dont need a massive bag for a couple of plants. You still need to water daily for a few weeks - after this every 3-5 days is plenty.

[dirty]

nice! I will probably give the crystals a try.

Watering shouldn't be a problem as they are just in the back yard and I live in suburbia so even if I crawled out the door and pull myself along the ground with my tongue it would still only take me 2 mins to reach the pots where they are.( don't ask me why the fuck I would want to try and do this)

 

Do I need to do anything differently if I grow them in pots as appossed to growing them in the ground.Wouldn't the drainage be better in a pot?

[D-B-B]

hahahahahaha

[99waystofuckyou]

Ive grown in soil and in pots and I'd go pots unless you have a big space for the ladies to spread out in.

 

The ones in the ground grew pretty well and had a good yield too but some were a little close together and competed too much. There was no problem with soil drainage and stuff cause the trench I dug was fuckin huge, about 4 foot wide by 10 so there was no cramping (not supposed to be anyway) and I could manage the water well.

 

The plants were transplanted from pots into the ground and on their first day were given a soaking with the hose, put it at the highest point of the trench and leave it on for about 2-3 hours, then do this about once a week to keep the soil moist and you shouldnt have to dick around with water before work etc and they are guarded against wilting more.

 

Plants in pots are good cause you can move them around for best light, relloes coming over for a barbie etc but they are limited by the size of the pot so bigger is better.

 

Those water crystals are good shit just make sure they are fully expanded when you put them in the hole, so make them up to about a handful of crystals to a bucket of water and you will get a mix of water and crystals (as opposed to no water and half filled crystals) then chuck it in the bottom of the hole. If you put em in 1/2 filled they will suck water out of the plant and soil, or push the plant out of the hole when they fill up.

 

My dad reckons don't put too many in the hole as they cause the plant to grow pissweak roots and not spread out looking for water.

[KerMit]

hey are the same crystals they sell at the fish shop to put in tanks? and can one use that fish shop gravel for the pots? i never thouight of this before ....i used to have fish as a kid so i had that gravel stuff, they died too due to moving and i guess the new places water was different and they got stressed or something, it was not a pretty site to see 2 dead fish floating on the water, devestating Edited December 12, 2003 by KerMit

[Guest Wilderbud]

Water crystals are wetting agents - they sell them where you get soil. I prefer sphagnum moss [from Woolworths] as water crystals isnt a natural soil amendment.

 

I wouldnt use any aquarium product for plants unless its an aerator.