Dealing with Water-Retentive Soils
tapla
11 years ago
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jojosplants
11 years agolast modified: 7 years agosissysimone
11 years agolast modified: 7 years agoRelated Discussions
A better place for the Cat's Litter Tray & dealing with cat hair.
Comments (91)With limited options in a small apartment, I too make my own litterbox out of a large plastic storage container, sans lid, as the cats prefer an uncovered box. This completely prevents "missed aim" issues I had with store bought litter pans. The U shaped entry is in the short end of the box, not the middle, which pushes them further into the box and prevents missed aims outside the opening. I had to put a cat perch on two posts at the opening, so my older cat would naturally walk in further to the end of the box (doesn't like the overhang) when she uses the litter box. No more messes outside the box. Under the perch, is just a simple rug. It spreads their toes when they land on the texture, and much of the extra litter drops there and is easily cleaned. Between that corner and the rest of the room is a small wall built with inexpensive cinderblock. topped with air-purifying plants, so the cat corner is hidden from direct sight, the plants keep them from jumping up on the little wall and they walk out over the rug to reduce the tracking issue. You could also use a storage bench or low piece of furniture with the back side along the side of the litter box area. Keep it very clean, I use Fresh Step - only cat litter that I've tried that really works and also have an air purifier running right on the other side of their little privacy wall. No odor, very little tracked litter, privacy for them and pretty line of green plants with no unsightly litter box for me....See MoreSoil for newly propagated succulents
Comments (12)I realize this is an old thread, but generally speaking, commercially prepared potting media are a poor choice for any plant that doesn't tolerate wet feet w/o protest, and Crassula falls in that category. Even those media labeled as being suitable for succulents and cacti very rarely are good choices, it's not what's ON the bag that determines a medium's suitability, it's what's IN it that counts. Generally speaking, commercially prepared media are too water-retentive even for plants that prefer an evenly moist medium. The reason lies in how much perched water these media support, which commonly ranges from 3-6". Perched water is water that takes up residence in a 100% saturated layer of soggy soil at the bottom of the pot, and refuses to be dislodged by the force of gravity. It sits there until it eventually evaporates of the plant uses it. The trouble with the later is, soil saturation very quickly kills the fine roots which do the plant's heavy lifting. When these roots die, the plant's chemical messengers tell plant central to halt all top growth until a sufficient volume of new roots are brought online to support new growth. In most cases, the grower uses a digital moisture monitor, their forefinger, to check moisture levels. If the top inch or two of soil is dry, they add more to the saturated layer at the bottom of the pot, which is still waiting to evaporate or be used for the plant. This very often results in the cyclic and never ending death and regeneration of roots, which is paid for by energy that would otherwise be put toward growth or ensuring the healthy glow we all covet. Media that holds no, or very little perched water is a much better choice. These media will always be based on an VERY high % of coarse ingredients, usually between 75-90%, with some smaller particles mixed in to adjust water retention to suitable levels; this, because it's primarily soil particle size that determines how much excess water a medium can/will hold. Media with high % of peat, coir, compost, composted forest products, sand (other than horticultural sand which you would likely consider gravel), topsoil, in any combination lead to watering issues that rob plants of most of their genetic potential. The most productive media will hold water inside of porous particles, on the surface of all particles, and at the interface where particles contact each other, and there would be no appreciable amount of water in the spaces between soil particles. In order to achieve that end, a very large fraction of soil particles would necessarily be large/coarse to achieve that end. Something like this would be an excellent choice for a huge % of succulents and cacti: Al...See More100% Compost or 50% top soil, 50% compost
Comments (1)Well, your leaves and manure will do a lot of what the compost does, so I think I'd get the 50-50 mix. (I'd want to be sure it was yard waste with no pesticides too!!)...See MoreIdeas for managing this retention pond?
Comments (18)Re: Mosquitos. We have lakes and ponds and wetlands everywhere in my area; mosquitos are completely unavoidable no matter where you live here. The areas of water are treated with biorational control pellets -- Bti (a natural soil bacteria) or methoprene. They target mosquito larvae and therefore dramatically reduce the number of adult mosquitos. You can apply them by hand in smaller ponds like this, if mosquitos turn out to be a problem. We have a large wetland in the back and a pond in the front, both of which are periodically treated for mosquitos (pellets/larval control only) -- I think I have had two mosquito bites this year, and we spend a lot of time outside....See Moretapla
11 years agolast modified: 7 years agoengineeredgarden
11 years agolast modified: 7 years agotapla
11 years agolast modified: 7 years agohappy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
11 years agolast modified: 7 years agotapla
11 years agolast modified: 7 years agojodik_gw
11 years agolast modified: 7 years agoDMForcier
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9 years agolast modified: 7 years agoTheMasterGardener1
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9 years agolast modified: 7 years agojodik_gw
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7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoNil13 usda:10a sunset:21 LA,CA (Mount Wash.)
7 years agotapla
7 years agohalocline
7 years agoNil13 usda:10a sunset:21 LA,CA (Mount Wash.)
7 years agotapla thanked Nil13 usda:10a sunset:21 LA,CA (Mount Wash.)tapla
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