GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

Jonno[_4_] · 16-12-2006, 09:26 PM posted to aus.gardens

wrote:
On Sat, 16 Dec 2006 12:18:30 GMT, "0tterbot" wrote:

hello,
my first gripe - modern potting mix just seems to be useless!! stuff does
not grow in it properly!! (i fully expect my one potted tomato to drop dead
shortly. it's perfectly healthy for now, but with my new set against Modern
Potting Mix, it surely cannot last!!)

my second gripe is that my last batch had mites in it(!!) i was having a bit
of a bad day so i used it anyway, but the cuttings died & when i pulled them
out there were maggoty things in there. (baby mites, i'm assuming.) now i
don't know what to do about the rest of it. i don't want to spread mites. if
i cook it in the oven, will the mix still be any use afterwards? should i
cook it in the oven (or pour boiling water on it) & just dump it & try the
other bag instead? (which, being Modern Potting Mix, won't be any use either
whether it has mites or not g. ) or are mites quite all right in small
quantities in a garden?

on the bright side (i've finished griping now ;-) we have two loquat (i
believe) trees, which we've essentially ignored. today i realised one has
some ripe fruit! we ate one - it was fabulous!! so now i feel rather silly
that i never even watered the poor things - not even once - we might have
had more fruit (it only had 5 - ahem). the only, i might add, fruit we'll
probably get from any of our trees this season, as the frost killed off all
the peaches, apples, etc. next year i am going to do my best to ensure
loquats a go go, they're fantastic (and apparently frost proof). and
furthermore, our second crop of willy wagtail babies has just been born (in
the aforementioned loquat tree - it might not have many fruits, but is
producing baby willy wagtails quite well g. you'd think with all my willy
wagtail watching, i'd have noticed a few fruits before now, wouldn't you?)
kylie

What brand are you buying? If you get the cheap brands as sold by supermarkets, then expect
problems.

I've found Debco and Amgrow brands to be very good.

Debco is great, but a little expensive.
Suggest you get the ticked variety of potting mix, add some foul,sorry
fowl manure, (and make sure its the sorry stuff) not to0 much, and only
put it on the surface and water it in. Made a hell of a difference with
my fuchsias, but would work with other things too. Gently does it. A
small heaps at a time,and water in.
Tomatoes can quickly get too much manure and grow like stink, but with
little fruit, if you overdo it.
Better still your local market , (should you be so lucky to have one
near) should have lots of farm prepared mixes. Any potting mix worth its
salt would have been sterilized. Yours obviously wasnt.