I've never used Al's Gritty Mix (though I'm going to try it out soon) but I will tell you that plumeria can handle a lot of disturbance and be fine.
If I were you, I'd take the plant out and wash off as much of the old potting mix as possible. I don't think it matters much though because the mix you're using is 3:1 perlite peat so there isn't much organic in it to breakdown anyway ...

cvcervantes,

Great, thanks! I'm going to tackle it this weekend. will post back. =)

Hi Staze,

I have root pruned a Celadine into Al's Gritty Mix and i have a thread that i posted a while ago. I will link it here to you so you can see what i did. Maybe this will answer some questions. Hopefully Al will see this and advise you on when is a good time to do this. I have always heard it is best to rootprune in the spring, but i will leave it to others to answer that.

Good luck with the Gritty Mix..I really love this mix and i can say that even using this for rooting cuttings, i have seen a difference. I just posted some pictures on my new thread on updates on cuttings... take a peek at the roots on the same two Miami Rose cutting and look at the size of the roots.. it is quite exciting!!!

Hope this helps!!!

Laura

Here is a link that might be useful: Root Pruning A Cealdine Into Gritty Mix...

btw, what soil do you use for your plumeria?

Hi Staze,

I think you are asking me about my soil for my Plumeria?

When i repot older trees, i like to replace the soil with the Gritty Mix. When i receive the barerooted trees from Nurseries, i plant right into the gritty mix. I will admit that i do worry just a little when the real hot months come along here in Virginia. But Al has told me as well as others that may worry about our need to water often....they can change the makeup of the 1:1:1 to 4:3:1 ratio meaning 4 parts of Turface, 3 parts of Pine or Fir bark and 1 part of Gran-i-grit or cherrystone.

My old mix that you may have viewed in the repot was a mess. I was experimenting on making a mix...you can also see that i even added Hydroponic balls at the bottom of the pot for drainage. Now i know that this is not neccessary, actually hurts the trees more because of it raising the perched water table making the roots stay in the water longer. We think that we are doing our best, but sometimes we are doing the wrong thing for our trees.

I do love the Gritty Mix. I will post another thread that Al was most gracious to help us here on this forum. I have made my own mix in the past, but it wasn't the best for my trees. If i do have to change it up a little i will just for my own needs here in Va. If you understand how it all works, it will become easier to understand the reasoning behind the makeup of this mix.

I sure hope this helps you!!! It did for me!!!

Take Care,

Laura

Here is a link that might be useful: Containers and your Plants Nurtition

Correction... Gritty Mix is usually a 1:1:1 Ratio, but can be changed 4:3:2 --- 4 Turface. 3 Parts Fir Bark (Pine) and 2 Granigrit. I have stayed with the 1:1:1 Ratio myself.

Sorry about the typo... It was late and i was tired.. : )

Take care everyone,

Hope this helps..

Laura

I wouldn't repot (as opposed to potting up) when your plants are in leaf. If your plants are suffering from root congestion now, you can saw off the bottom 1/4 of the roots & make a few vertical cuts in the root mass with a utility knife (if the root ball is large enough to tolerate it), and tease a little of the soil off the sides before you pot up. Then, I'd do a full bare-root/repot in spring at the onset of bud movement or just before.

It's important to avoid dissimilar soils in the same container, especially if one is the gritty mix and the other a heavy or compacted soil. Mixing soils tends to create areas that are either saturated or extremely dry, and makes it much more difficult to water appropriately.

Mixing 3:1 perlite:peat puts you just about at the point where there won't be any significant perched water, but perlite isn't internally porous, so your mix will dry out very quickly. Additionally, because the peat tends to simply pack itself into the spaces between the perlite, the perlite really doesn't significantly increase aeration. What it DOES, is reduce water retention, which IS a plus, but only a part of the picture. In the end, you can achieve better aeration AND more water retention by using the gritty mix .... and you come by it with no significant perched water to be concerned with. It's the soggy layer of soil at the bottom of the pot (perched water) that is actually the most serious limiting factor when it comes to the physical properties of soils. A larger particle size and uniformity in size are keys to eliminating perched water.

In addition to the links Laura so kindly left, you might also be interested in gaining a clearer understanding of the water:air relationship in your soils and how to manipulate it to your (and your plants') benefit. I honestly think that coming to understand this principle is probably the largest step forward a container gardener can take at any one time. For years, I was very reluctant to say anything so bold, but I have heard witness from so many hundreds of growers about the difference it has made in their ability to bring along healthy plant material, that I've actually been forced to accept it as true.

Best luck!

Al

Forgot the link. Seems I've contracted a bad case of the D/A (first word is 'dumb'). ;-)

Al

Here is a link that might be useful: Here's the link ......

Al,

Thanks very much. I do understand a bit of soil porosity from studying Bonsai and other container gardening for the last 10+ years. But it's certainly a bonus that someone did some of the leg work. It's actually fascinating from a Bonsai standpoint how people USED to think striated soil was good because it was more "natural", but have now come to realize that you ended up with areas where water/nutrients would "pool" between layers. Now, uniform soil is considered the norm, and ideal.

I actually had 2 of the 3 components around for "gritty" even before I'd heard about it. Turface has gained a lot of popularity in the bonsai community, and mixing in various levels of organic matter (sifted bark) is sometimes suggested (though there are many that just use straight turface). It makes a much more stable alternative to akadama (which tends to breakdown pretty badly after a year or two). Though, I'm using hemlock bark as it's what is easiest to get a hold of here in western Oregon. Plus, it's splinter free. I sift it all from the few yards we get for mulching every year. =P Turface, as people have complained about, has a LOT of fines. But, I'm imagining I'll be able to use those some day when I buy a LOT of turface to redo my front yard.

And I was lucky enough to find cherrystone at the local Coastal Farm supply (50# bag for $13).

Anyway, I made up 2 gals of "gritty" today, and replanted the out of left plumeria (it's been a weird spring here in Oregon), after bare-rooting it of the peat:perlite mix. It looked to be in good condition, but was a bit wet. The biggest issue with the mix is the fact that once it gets dry, peat is a real b*tch to re-hydrate without soaking it.

Anyway, I've digressed. The mix came out quite well, and I'm hoping will work well with the Plumeria. One of the biggest issues with Plumeria, as any attempted grower should know, is rot. But that's usually when starting cuttings.

I actually kind of wonder how well Gritty would work for things like Nepenthes. Heck, next time I get a wild hair to try Citrus, or even an olive, I will have to give gritty a mix. I just wish it wasn't so spendy (relative to the generic potting soil you can get at the store that's peat based). =D

Heck, this weekend I got to play with 2 new soil types. This, Gritty, and also Coconut husk chips that I used for repotting some orchids. Gritty is far easier, since the coconut husk I had to soak "all" the sodium out of. Though that makes me wonder... have you thought about Coir use in the 5:1:1? Obviously de-salted a bit.

Thanks Al!

btw, good link with similar info relating to bonsai soil.

http://bonsai4me.com/Basics/Basics_Soils.html

They have good links on watering too... which as the saying goes, is something you have to work toward many years when training. Watering makes or breaks a tree faster than just about anything. Bad pruning can be "fixed". under/over watering will kill a tree.

So the real question is, have you grown radishes in gritty? (bit of a joke since almost all talk of bonsai soil design, watering, etc all suggest trying to grow radishes as the test for if something works). I'd imagine they'd grow quite well. =)

Hi Staze! I'm just North of Roseburg. I pass by Eugene all the time. You can email me from my page if you want to meet for coffee and Plumie talk as I pass by.