Question for Philcula!

I have seen you recommend potting Sarrs in Sphagnum moss a few times. Mine are potted in the peat/sand mix others seem to use. So, what should I do?

If I want to re-pot my sarrs in spaghnum, do I have to switch them over gradually? I just want the best mix for the biggest, healthiest plants. Thanks! Dode.

I like using sphagnum on some plants just because I like the results I get from the extra air circulation to the roots.. I still use primarily peat/sand or peat/pumice. If you want to switch some plants over to sphagnum you can just do it. There is no transitioning period required.

On a cultural note, the largest and best growth is achieved when there is an adequate supply of oxygen to the roots. As a rule I use peat/sand mix for pots 6 inches and smaller. Anything larger than 6 inches is potted in peat/pumice. I like the fact that the pumice does not allow the peat to compact....which is essential for great root development.

Thanks, phil!

I'll be out on a pumice hunt this weekend! What % of peat/pumice do you use? Thanks again! Dode

That would be gray pumice Dode. They don't sell it anywhere around here because the shipping is too expensive to us poor folk over here on the other side of the Rockies. That's one you have to mailorder. There is no getting around it. Trust me on this one, I've tried to avoid mail ordering it. I swear it is more expensive to ship it than to buy it. I think if somebody gifted me a few bags of that stuff I'd be on cloud 9. It is ridiculously expensive for us out east while all of THEM out west have it available on garden shelves at retailers for the taking.

I think, Phil, that you and I must be 'THEM'. I never thought I'd be a 'them'. But I admit to having a few bags of pumice in the greenhouse. Surely there is an eastcoast equivalent? We can't all be fortunate enough to live in the shadow of active volcanoes.

Dode- I use a mix ratio of approximately 2 parts peat, 1 part pumice. Also, you don't need to mail order pumice. If you have a public rockery in your area, you know...the kind that sells gravel, marble, sand...for construction purposes...you can usually find pumice there. It just needs to be washed really well. Use hot water for your first few washings...stiring with a stick to break up and oils or salts, rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat, then use regular cool water to finish your rinsing.

Pixy...I always knew I was a THEM. It's just that in the past it was usually referred to as a "THOSE people on the west coast"! LOL!!

Ahhhhh...don't you love opportunity Pixy?

What kind of pumice are you referring to oh great and powerful West Coaster? We really do not have gray pumice anywhere locally. I have scoured the material yards and I even asked my DH to try to locate some for me.

The other 'them' responds: if pumice it totally unavailable, what do other growers of cps east of the great mountains use? This is what I was meaning by an 'east coast' equivalent. Surely there is something that would serve the same purpose, be less expensive, and be more available?

BTW - remembering how Lauren doesn't like using perlite in her pots because it 'floats' to the surface, i decided to use some of my valuable pumice to lighten up some clay I was potting a water lily into for the pond. As I sunk the pot into the pond,my heart sunk with it as I belatedly remembered: PUMICE FLOATS, TOO!!!!. DUh..... A skimmer net is a valuable tool.

Lauren- I didn't know there was more than one kind of pumice. I thought all pumice was a volcanic product but if it isn't.....I would love to know what the differences are. Any kind of pumice would do well as far as I know. If pumice can't be found then perlite can be used. If the floating of perlite is a problem for some...I suggest top dressing the pot with either a layer of long fiber sphagnum moss or a 1/2 inch layer of peat/sand mix.

BTW....what does DH stand for??

I've heard 2 different things: Dear Husband, or D***Head, depending on what he's done wrong lately, LOL

DS is dear son
DD is darling daughter



This message was edited Mar 30, 2006 10:02 PM

I think all pumice is volcanic. Unfortunately around here they sell Scoria as red pumice. It's also sold as lava rock. It's that deep red landscape material sold by landscapers for spreading around plantings at cheap restaurants and malls. It confuses the heck out of people.

We have no gray pumice around here. I've been trying to get my hands on that locally for a long time. What I wouldn't do to be able to find that locally.

Hey Pixie, some of the gray pumice in a bag does float but no where near as bad as perlite. That darn perlite kept floating up and out on me everytime we had a rain. So far the gray pumice has never compacted on me.

I pot all of my sarrs the way Phil said in his last post. Peat/perlite for the bottom 2/3rds of the pot and then peat/sand for the top 1/3rd.

Yes, I don't have trouble with the pumice floating in the cp pots. This was a water lily, so I was sinking it into the pond.

good idea to put the peat/perlite mixture at the bottom of the pot.

As to what DH stands for, I believe it can stand for so many things:
dear husband
dratted husband
darn husband
derelict husband
delightful husband,
the list could go on!

LOL!