Billy,
Have you tried Tom Brantley ( of Ocala) soil. Seems perfect to me, and I
would prefer his coarse type ( very similar to my own)
I've brought MAAANYYYY trees back from Florida for myself or for retail, and
the FIRST thing I try to do if keeping them is get them out of that goopy
goppy Florida nursery soil. They stay tooo wet and , especially during
winter inside, it is slow death. Everything CAN get root rot. I got a large
BC from the same vendor you got your Buttonwoods from. It just SAT THERE
and did nothing for 1 1/2 months after the show. Two weeks ago i decided I
better get it repotted to make it through my winter. What a mess of goop,
rotted roots, and rotted large roots of OTHER TREES traveling through the
soil that were never removed. In lose aggregate new soil it is immediately
taking off.!!
but,
Are you SURE your dead plants were from the coarse soil you used? I'd surely
doubt it. I gave up on buttonwood in Ohio ( like trying to overwinter a
tomatoe plant) but I always thought they were one of the trees for you guys
that establish well with few roots ( Or NONE!!)
Dale Cochoy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Billy M. Rhodes"
To:
Sent: Sunday, August 01, 2004 5:22 PM
Subject: [IBC] Soil for Buttonwoods
I am repotting some recently purchased, collected buttonwoods. I am
always
disappointed to see how few roots these plants have. I have one that has
been
repotted by me to a 12 inch bulb pan using Metro Mix 500 and I don't think
the
roots have spread since I transplanted it a year or more ago. It is still
alive and putting out new growth, just no roots to speak of. Any other
tropical
would have filled the pot with roots by now.
My normal fertilizer is Osmocote 14-14-14.
Another buttonwood I just repotted this afternoon was growing in what
looked
like a mixture of Florida peat and bark. It had been purchased from a
vendor
in South Florida. It had a few more roots, but not many. I know it is
over a
year since it was collected.
I have tried bonsai soil of 1/3 Turface, 1/3 gravel and 1/3 composted pine
bark. Those plants are dead.
Billy on the Florida Space Coast
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