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soil MG Potting Soil...

DarkTrak

DarkTrak

Whats the big fuss about this stuff?? What makes it no good? AND: Whats this I hear about having a fan blowing on your plants to beef up the stem??
 
I don't know about the mix but the fan simulates wind just like they would get if outdoors, it really does beef the stem up quite a bit.
If you have got no fan simply brushing the tops of the plants with your hand will have a similar effect.
 
I've never used it, however, everyone says that it is either too chunky or packs down too hard in the pots, thus not allowing water absorbtion. and the too chunky side well I'd have thought that would keep the soil airated but not the case from what everyone says around here....
Hope that helps.

Novacastrian said:
I don't know about the mix but the fan simulates wind just like they would get if outdoors, it really does beef the stem up quite a bit.
If you have got no fan simply brushing the tops of the plants with your hand will have a similar effect.
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+1
 
Really? I should pet my plants? Is this a newbie joke lol? Seriously though, They are outdoors from day one so, that should be better than a fan right?
 
I did notice that it was a little more dense than the stuff I was using before. In order to aide in drainage, I bought a bag of "cidnders" to line the bottom of the pots. I am also debating on walking down to the beach with a 5 gallon bucket and getting some sand to mix into the MG stuff to aide in airation...Yay/nay?
 
No noob jokes mate, plants are smarter than people give them credit for. If the plant senses that it needs to get a thicker stem it will do just that to protect itself, if they didn't then all the trees outside wouldn't be erect they would be the opposite laying on their sides thinking "why didn't i grow a thicker trunk".

Oh yeah just thought i would give you a tip that i heard the other day, apparantly (i haven't tried it yet) if you put seeds that you wish to plant in your mouth and swish around for a minute or two it helps them germ. Got something to do with the saliva i am led to believe.
 
From what I understand the stem tissues of a plant get tougher as a response to the bending caused by wind. Similar to how you'll get tougher skin (calluses) in places that repeatedly are subject to wear such as friction. Same basic idea... kinda. It's the plant's way of toughening up for such external (windy) conditions, building a better defense (stronger stem) for the future.
 
Novacastrian said:
Oh yeah just thought i would give you a tip that i heard the other day, apparantly (i haven't tried it yet) if you put seeds that you wish to plant in your mouth and swish around for a minute or two it helps them germ. Got something to do with the saliva i am led to believe.
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Something tells me that putting a handfull of 7 pot seeds into my mouth might be a bad Idea. I sense newbie humor here.... :)
 
DarkTrak said:
Something tells me that putting a handfull of 7 pot seeds into my mouth might be a bad Idea. I sense newbie humor here.... :)
Click to expand...

+1 Lol, however I'm a newbie myself so you try it and let me know how it goes.
 
Novacastrian said:
Prolly bad as sand packs down depending on how much you use, i would try vermiculite or similar.
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According to the google machine, vermiculite is available in different sizes...and particular favorite size/grade?
 
That would depend on the size of your pot i would think, i have found that bits about the size of a small pea go alright. Don't know about grades.
 
The reason many of us do not like MG potting soil is because it contains nutrients that are usually unwanted in the early stages of growth. I prefer to add my own nutrients only when needed instead of being stuck with the time release.
 
I have MG organic potting mix and it is crap. I used it to plant some seeds and it forms up like cement. It does contain some big chunks and I had to shift through the mix to pull out the unwanted material. Getting ready to spread it in my yard just to get rid of it.
 
POTAWIE said:
The reason many of us do not like MG potting soil is because it contains nutrients that are usually unwanted in the early stages of growth. I prefer to add my own nutrients only when needed instead of being stuck with the time release.
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+1 Right on Potawie,
My experience with MG or any potting mix that has slow release ferts (anything thing that says feeds up to 3months etc..) is that the "slow" release is not always slow and I have had lots of plants suffer from fert overdose especially if you start adding your own ferts to your waterings , plus like Potawie said its much better to add your own because you have better control over how much your plants get.
Now with that all said I will admit that I do sometimes add a bag of MG to my raised bed mix but its very little in comparison to the rest of the stuff in the mix. and I have had good germination in the MG orchid mix, (but most people will say that theres too large of chunks in that stuff, which is true but I just remove the large pieces.)

-Rich
 
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