Another plant

Do you have perlite in the soil mix ? That looks similar to mine when I bottom water and the perlite floats to the top.

Yes I have about a 70% perlite to 30% soil mix I top water if that matters. Its only the top layer that is like that

Geo is on to something....I was going to ask the same thing about the perlite. Are those clusters perlire particles with mildew growing on it? Or are we totally off base?

The white is the perlite I am not sure what the orange is

the orange is peat stained perlite ...

heat some water .... throw some peat into it and let it seep .. and you will see that it stains the water ... then float some perlite in it for a few days.. and presto ... you will see how it stains it ... in that rusty color ...

for the plant you have in it.. that might not be the best media mix ... how did you come to that ratio??

the plant you have in it.. i think of as a rainforest vine.. think tarzan ...[work with me here ... lol] ... and when i think of the native soil it grows in ... it is not a perlite like media ... too much drainage.. and too much potential to be sopping wet.. and then bone dry in hours ....

in fact.. the lesson i learned long ago ... is that if your perlite floats .. then there isnt enough peat or other stuff.. to hold it in place ... so you reduce perlite and increase other things.. until you dont have the floaters anymore ...

ken

Thanks for the info, Im glad its not mold. I got the ratio from the forums here. Because all i had was potting soil people said to mix a large amount of perlite (60-70%)in for my hoyas if that was the mix i was going to go with. Ill probably repot all my plants in specific mixes for each next spring but for now this was all i could afford. The small vine one is a golden pothos cuttings they are just in starter pots. My hoyas and another plant i have(which is growing insanely fast dont know what it is) seem to be doing good in the mix although as i said id like to do a more advanced mix for each plant in the future. I just keep track of watering and check the soil daily. They all sit on my desk so they get checked quite often. I am quite new so ive been trying to do as much research as possible for them. I know their medium isnt the greatest but hopefully it will do for now or until i have the extra to make my own mixes.

There's nothing wrong with your mix....we don't need to emulate native soils when growing cultivated plants in containers. Few plants require custom potting medium recipes, either. (Some do.) Your predominantly perlite mix is atypical, but a worthy growing medium as long as you keep an eye on it and it sounds like you are.

I often use 100% perlite to root cuttings.....yes, roots grow like gangbusters in a coarse medium like that.

Have fun experimenting. Just remember that the easiest mixes to be successful with will always be porous, coarse rextured, and fast draining. Mine is mostly pine bark, by the way. I don't make my own anymore....this stuff comes in a bag, ready to go.