Plants

Should You Use Drainage in Your Pots?

It used to be very common to add drainage material, such as rocks, Leca, or clay pot shards in the bottom of pots for added drainage. Then it was claimed that this is a myth and it does not work. But then some new science this year upsets everything by showing drainage material may actually work.

Should a gardener use drainage material? What kind of material works best?

lady's hand putting leca beads into a pot.
Leca being added to the bottom of a pot of succulents, source: Depositphotos
Key Takeaways
  • Drainage material reduces the water in the soil.
  • It is best not to use drainage material in most cases, but it can be useful in the right situation.

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Growing Streptocarpus: Watering

Watering may be the hardest part of growing streptocarpus well. Not because they are difficult to water but because there is a lot of confusion and misinformation about their care. The goal of this post is to describe some watering experiments and provide clarity about watering.

5 or 6 flowers in a cluster, purple color with lots of stripes and spots of dark purple and white
Streptocarpus RP Dreamy Night
Key Takeaways
  • It’s better to keep streptocarpus wet than dry.
  • Leaves die back if kept too dry
  • Provided the potting media is porous, regular watering will not harm the plant.

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Repotting Myths Busted

Gardeners make repotting more complicated than it needs to be and in the process, they have created all kinds of myths about the process. It’s time to simplify repotting and bust the myths around it.

empty pot with a root bound plant laying beside it
Does this plant need repotting?, source: Depositphotos
Key Takeaways
  • Repotting does less damage to plants than you think and they recover quickly
  • Don’t listen to so-called experts online – learn to understand the plant and let its natural growth habits direct you.
  • Many of the repotting rules are myths.

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Growing Streptocarpus: Germinating Seeds

Streptocarpus seeds are some of the tiniest you will ever sow but they are also very easy to germinate if you follow these simple instructions.

top view of a pot showing very tiny green seedlings
Streptocarpus seedlings – 3 weeks after seeding – 4″ pot
Key Takeaways
  • Surface sow in pots.
  • Streptocarpus seed needs light to germinate.

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Growing Streptocarpus: Light Conditions

Streptocarpus are becoming popular houseplants and for good reason. They are relatively easy to grow, they don’t need high light and they bloom all year long in the right conditions.

How much light do they need?

Small plant with dozens of purple flowers which have a yellow center.
Streptocarpus RP Sassy Angel, bred by Robert Pavlis
Key Takeaways

Ideal conditions for Streptocarpus are at or above these values:

  • A DLI of over 7
  • 10,000 lux for 12 hours
  • 1,000 foot-candles for 12 hours

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Best Fertilizer for Indoor Plants and Containers

There are so many types of fertilizer it’s hard to know which one to use. Which NPK ratio is best? Is one brand better than another? Organic vs synthetic. Soluble vs slow release. This all seems so complicated, but in this post I will simplify the whole process of selecting the best fertilizer.

Key Takeaways
  • The best NPK ratio for most plants is 3-1-2, some like 3-1-3.
  • There is no such thing as plant specific fertilizer.
  • Mix fertilizer so nitrogen is at about the 100 ppm level.
  • Fertilize with every watering, use just water once a month to flush the pot.
Girls watering a plant
Best Fertilizer for Indoor Plants and Containers

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Mulching Trees Too Much | Mulch Volcanoes Kill Trees

As Penn State puts it: “Mulch Volcanoes are Erupting Everywhere“, and they are killing trees. It is a slow death, but one that is almost inevitable. Gardeners and landscape professionals see over mulched trees everywhere and they copy the method, not knowing that they are mulching incorrectly.

The main cause of death has been attributed to increased trunk rot, but that is a myth. This post will debunk this myth, explain the real cause of death, show you how to mulch trees and shrubs properly and how to fix the problems caused by mulch volcanoes.

huge cone shaped pile of mulch around a thin tree
An extreme mulch volcano. Notice that all of the trees in the background are also over mulched, source: Paul Hetzler, Adirondack Almanack

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Best Way to Water Indoor Plants

Watering indoor plants seems to be one of the most complicated things for new gardeners to learn, which is surprising since it’s really simple. The problem is that a lot of the information out there makes the subject complicated and it gives new gardeners bad advice.

In this post I am going to give you some simple rules that work for any houseplant and makes watering easy. I’ll help you decide when to water and show you the best way to do it.

Girls water houseplant
Watering Indoor Plants – Watering Houseplants

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How to Grow and Care for a Citronella Plant (Mosquito Plant)

Citronella is a great plant for the garden, containers, and window boxes and it even makes a good houseplant. It has lots of pink blooms and interesting lacy leaves. Its best feature is the lemony scent that fills the night air. It is easy to grow from seed or cuttings and can be overwintered from year to year. Here’s everything you need to know about growing citronella plants.

closeup view of citronella plant showing ferny leaves
Citronella Plant (Pelargonium citrosum), source: Rae Allen

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Mini-Forest Revolution, by Hannah Lewis – Book Review

Mini-forests are popping up all over the world and even my own town planted one in this past summer. I wanted to learn more about this new trend and the book, Mini-Forest Revolution: Using the Miyawaki Method to Rapidly Rewild the World, by Hannah Lewis, (Amazon affiliate link) seemed like a good place to start. It describes a movement to restore biodiversity by transforming empty spaces and degraded land into mini-forests. Here is a review of the book.

 

hand holding the book titled Mini-Forest Revolution
Mini-Forest Revolution by Hannah Lewis, source Topia

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