Gary's Top Pot & Fertilizer Plan

cdh said:
Yeah, this works. The only things I can think of that don't fit this model are charcoal (which is organic, but essentially inert, and aerates--I think?) and certain clay products that, while inorganic, provide retention. Oh, rice hulls are also a kind of weird in-between. They're organic, though mostly inert silicon, and provide both retention and aeration.
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i knew i shouldn't have used the word organic as i was typing it, even with quotes lol
 
Thought I'd add to this.... For those of us in hot dry areas that uppotted fig pops into a one gallon or tree pot in a high porosity medium like promix and perlite thinking it was a good idea because we were matching the medium of the fig pop and it would be easier for roots to grow.... Next time I'm probably going to up pot into whatever dirt they have at Walmart and still add things to retain moisture

I am finding them so light with the growing leaves sucking all the water out that I'm having to water them ever day. Now I'm going to spend next weekend re-potting about 40 one gallons and tree pots into three gallons with something that will help retain moisture. It may be more like 50. I'm sure that every time I water it's flushing out my nutrients too. in my climate im going to have to pot in something more water retentive than most people here would. I'll take suggestions for anything anymore thinks I should add to help retain moisture. I did read through here and it was helpful

On a happy note. I've saved enough to buy a drip system with a reservoir to add fertilizer. But I'm scared to get the wrong thing or the wrong emitters and I'm not good with math so I am going to have to wait a week till after tax season is done (because that's his job) so he can help calculate what I need.

And I think I may do trench or post hole composting also next to my inground figs.... I love this forum. .... You guys always come up with ideas that mean more hole digging in rocky clay🤣
 
danssale11 said:
Just curious. How do you calculate retention: aeration ratio from the above mixes
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Moisture retaining is anything that holds water, organic or not, but usually ends up being organic, clay (or other fine mineral particulate) is an example of a non-organic one. Some organic examples were given above.

Aerating is anything that is a chunk, pebble, or particle of a certain size to provide a pocket of air around it. This is perlite, pumice, coarse sand, or other rock material usually, rice hulls were mentioned above for an organic one.

Some provide both aeration and some water retention, such as vermiculite, wood chunks, or clay pellets. These usually don’t hold enough water to fall under the moisture retaining category and go under aeration. But it is good to know that they hold some moisture just in case it matters to the grower. Usually things that can both hold water and provide aeration compress over time.

So you add up the percentage of each type of material included to calculate the ratio, they should add up to 100 together. Usually this applies to whatever is providing bulk to your mix and not any small amounts of amendments.

Example:

Aerating materials:
Perlite 20%
Pumice 20%
Sand 10%
= 50% aeration

Moisture retaining materials:
Peat 30%
Coco coir 18%
Compost 2%
= 50% Moisture retention

50 + 50 = 100
 
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RosyPosy said:
Moisture retaining is anything that holds water, organic or not, but usually ends up being organic, clay (or other fine mineral particulate) is an example of a non-organic one. Some organic examples were given above.

Aerating is anything that is a chunk, pebble, or particle of a certain size to provide a pocket of air around it. This is perlite, pumice, coarse sand, or other rock material usually, rice hulls were mentioned above for an organic one.

Some provide both aeration and some water retention, such as vermiculite, wood chunks, or clay pellets. These usually don’t hold enough water to fall under the moisture retaining category and go under aeration. But it is good to know that they hold some moisture just in case it matters to the grower. Usually things that can both hold water and provide aeration compress over time.

So you add up the percentage of each type of material included to calculate the ratio, they should add up to 100 together. Usually this applies to whatever is providing bulk to your mix and not any small amounts of amendments.

Example:

Aerating materials:
Perlite 20%
Pumice 20%
Sand 10%
= 50% aeration

Moisture retaining materials:
Peat 30%
Coco coir 18%
Compost 2%
= 50% Moisture retention

50 + 50 = 100
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@RosyPosy I got some decomposed granite left over from a project, and I wanted to mix it into my pots to add some weight to help prevent tipping over from wind. I will be using the following ratios of Promix HP, but do I need to sift out the small dust from the DG before mixing? If so, what is the recommended mesh size or particle size to sift out?

10 parts Promix HP
1.5 parts Decomposed Granite (DG)
 
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